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Markups & Pricing

Settings > Markups & pricing controls how the cost of work is translated into the price your client sees on every estimate. Changes here take effect on all new estimates.

These settings drive real pricing

Unlike Estimating notes (which are internal team notes only), the values you set here are applied directly to estimate calculations. Get them right before you send your first estimate.

Tier Markups​

ContractorScope AI applies markups by cost tier. A markup is the percentage added on top of your raw cost to produce the client-facing price.

Example: If a line item costs $1,000 and you have a 20% markup, the client sees $1,200. Your $200 margin is built into the price — it is not shown as a separate line.

To configure tier markups:

  1. Go to Settings > Markups & pricing.
  2. Set the markup percentage for each tier.
  3. Click Save.

You can override markup on any individual estimate or line item without changing these defaults.

tip

Most general contractors use between 15% and 30% markup depending on trade, market, and project size. Start with 20% and adjust based on your experience and competitive landscape.

Contingency​

Contingency is a reserve percentage added to an estimate to cover unexpected site conditions (rotted framing, hidden plumbing, unknown structural issues, etc.).

  • The maximum contingency is 20%.
  • Contingency appears as a separate line on the estimate so clients can see it clearly.
  • Set it to 0% if you prefer to bake uncertainty into your individual line-item prices instead.

Tax Rate​

Your default tax rate is applied to line items marked as taxable (typically materials, not labor — though this varies by state).

You can override the tax rate on any individual estimate.

Payment Terms​

Set your default payment terms here:

  • Due on Receipt
  • Net 15
  • Net 30
  • Custom — Enter your own terms text.

Payment terms appear in the estimate footer and carry over to QuickBooks invoices when you use the QuickBooks Integration.

Estimate Validity​

Set how many days your quotes are valid. After this period, the estimate status changes to Expired. Common choices are 30, 60, or 90 days.

You can override validity on any individual estimate.

Next Steps​