The problem
Your truck payment is $680/mo. Insurance is $240. Tools and consumables run another $150. That's over $1,000/month you're paying whether you work or not.
When you quote a job, do those costs show up? For most contractors: no. They quote materials and labor and hope there's something left over. There usually is. It just never seems to be as much as it should.
A job that "cleared $800" after materials might have actually cleared $500 once you admit the truck and the insurance exist. You didn't lose $300 on that job in a dramatic way. You just never counted it.
Why we built it
Overhead is the hidden tax on every job. We built overhead spread so that when you set up your business profile in DIRT, you enter your monthly fixed costs once — and DIRT allocates a share of them to every job, proportional to hours worked. The profit number is finally honest.
Hard costs (materials, subs) show up because you write a check. Soft costs (truck, insurance, tool wear) disappear because nobody invoices you per job for them. Both eat margin. Only one usually makes it into the math.
How it works
In your business settings, enter your monthly overhead: truck payment, insurance, subscriptions, tool amortization — whatever you actually pay to stay in business. DIRT divides that by your average billable hours per month and adds a per-hour overhead allocation to every job.
When you open a job, you'll see a soft-costs line — that's your allocated overhead. Net profit and effective hourly rate reflect it. Nothing is hidden behind "I'll figure overhead at tax time."
Example shape: $1,070 a month in fixed costs across 120 billable hours is roughly $9/hour riding on every job whether you see it or not. (Illustrative — use your real numbers.) Once it's on the job screen, you stop pretending that hour was free.
You can update overhead when rates change. The allocation follows. Old jobs keep the history; new jobs use the current setup.
What changes for your business
Before
You calculate profit from revenue minus materials and labor. Overhead is invisible. You think you're making $65/hr and you're actually making $48/hr.
After
Every job carries its share of overhead. A $65/hr EHR is $65/hr for real — after the truck, after the insurance, after everything. You quote with that number, or you raise the quote until the number is real.
Common questions
What is overhead spread in contractor job costing?
Overhead spread is the process of allocating your fixed monthly costs — truck payment, insurance, tool amortization, subscriptions — across the jobs you work. Instead of treating those costs as invisible, overhead spread adds a per-hour charge to each job proportional to hours worked. Your profit number becomes honest.
How do I include truck and insurance costs in my job estimates?
In DIRT's business settings, enter your monthly fixed overhead. DIRT divides that by your average billable hours per month to get a per-hour overhead rate, then allocates that cost to every job. When you open the job detail, the overhead slice appears in soft costs and is included in the net profit and EHR calculation.
Why does my profit always seem lower than I expect?
Usually because overhead is invisible. You account for materials and labor but not the truck payment, insurance, or tools spread across your jobs. If your fixed overhead runs $1,200/month and you work 120 billable hours, that is $10/hour coming off every job's effective rate — whether you see it or not.
Should I include overhead in my hourly rate?
Yes. Your hourly rate should cover your overhead, your labor, and your target margin. If you charge $75/hr but your overhead costs you $12/hr, you are actually working for $63/hr before any other costs. Overhead spread in DIRT makes this visible on every job so you can price correctly.
What costs should I include in contractor overhead?
Monthly vehicle payment and insurance, business insurance, tool amortization (what tools cost divided by useful life), software subscriptions, and any other fixed costs you pay whether you work or not. One-time or variable project costs (materials, subcontractors) are hard costs, not overhead.
Is overhead spread automatic in DIRT?
Once you set your monthly overhead in business settings, DIRT allocates it automatically. Every job that logs hours gets an overhead slice added to its cost total. You do not have to remember to add it to each job manually.
Start free
Try it free.
Every DIRT plan includes this feature — Solo included. No credit card, no trial that expires. Set up in minutes and use it on your next job from the truck.