How do you guys estimate a jobs cost?

[syzer]

How do you guys estimate in a jobs cost, such as fuel, maintenance, travel time, and all the other stuff im missing? Going to give first est. tomorrow and would like to have an idea what to factor in. Thanks.

[OBRYANMAINT]

pretty straight forward

how long travel time ?
how many man hours to get job done?
equipment cost per hour needed/minimum?
materials
insurance

add all this together that is your cost
add what you need to profit either % or flat rate

[GlennZ]

Syzer,

Please be very careful. I see many landscapers loss their shirt. There are actually software programs and a few consultants in the green industry which can help you with this task. Unfortunatly the consultants get called when the company is going down the tubes and they have to come in and save them. These are big companies I am talking about to. It takes a smart business person the get help early rather then learn the hard way.
You must know every cost of overhead almost down to the penny and then mark this up correctly to make a profit evry time.