How should an appliance repair business price a call?
Build an appliance repair ticket from diagnostic, standard and complex calls, then test parts, repeat visits, route capacity and break-even.
Published by StartFigures · Editorial standards · Correction guidance
An appliance repair business should price the complete job record: intake, travel, diagnosis, customer authorization, labor, parts handling, return visits, testing, documentation and callback risk. In the StartFigures two-technician case, a weighted $425 retained ticket and 70% contribution margin leave $297.50 per completed job. With $21,667 of monthly fixed costs, the continuous threshold is about 3.36 completed jobs per field day across the company. The practical Year-three plan uses five.
The business serves household washers, dryers, refrigerators, dishwashers, ranges and similar appliances within documented technical and regulatory authority. HVAC, commercial refrigeration, gas-line work, building wiring and other licensed trades remain excluded unless separately authorized. Work that could release regulated refrigerants proceeds only with the applicable EPA Section 608 technician certification, equipment and procedures.
The $425 ticket, outcome mix, job volume, 30% sales-linked cost envelope and time examples are authored assumptions. They are not national prices, local quotes or repair instructions.
Define a completed repair job
A lead, booked appointment or first visit is not automatically a completed repair. The job record closes in one mutually exclusive outcome:
- diagnostic-only service is completed and collected;
- an authorized repair is completed, tested, accepted and collected;
- the call is stopped under the written terms and the earned diagnostic amount is collected.
Unresolved estimates, uncollected balances, parts awaiting installation and open callbacks remain visible outside completed repair revenue. Retained revenue excludes sales tax and true pass-through amounts. Discounts, credits, refunds, warranty denials and no-charge returns reduce retained revenue or contribution.
Intake records appliance type, brand, model, serial, age, symptom, error code, prior work, warranty status, utilities, access and photos when appropriate. That screen reduces avoidable dispatch but does not replace diagnosis.
Build the $425 ticket from outcomes
The StartFigures mix uses three mutually exclusive completed outcomes.
| Completed outcome | Mix | Retained ticket | Weighted sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diagnostic-only call | 25% | $125 | $31.25 |
| Standard completed repair | 60% | $425 | $255.00 |
| Complex completed repair | 15% | $925 | $138.75 |
| Weighted retained ticket | 100% | — | $425.00 |
The diagnostic fee, labor, parts, shipping, taxes, refrigerant or specialty steps, authorization, warranty and collection must be defined consistently. A standard repair that requires a return visit remains one job, but both visits and all paid hours stay in its operating record.
Calculate operating break-even
The model assigns 30% of retained revenue to parts, payment fees, route fuel and other sales-linked leakage. At $425, that is $127.50, leaving $297.50 contribution per completed job.
Year-three fixed operating costs total $260,000: $165,000 payroll and $95,000 vehicle, insurance, equipment, software, marketing and other overhead. The web calculator rounds this to $21,667 per month.
$21,667 ÷ $297.50 ÷ 5 ÷ 4.33 = 3.36 completed jobs per field day. Because jobs are whole and uncertain, four is the minimum practical day in this simplified view. The Year-three plan uses five across two vans.
At five completed jobs, monthly retained revenue is 5 × $425 × 5 × 4.33 = $46,006.25. Contribution is $32,204.38, leaving a simplified $10,537.38 monthly operating surplus.
The annual case uses 50 field weeks and produces $531,250 of revenue, $371,875 of contribution and a $111,875 operating result. The monthly and annual views differ because one uses 51.96 weeks and a rounded fixed input.
Stress ticket, contribution and overhead
| Case | Ticket | Margin | Fixed/mo. | Jobs/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower ticket | $325 | 70% | $21,667 | 4.40 |
| Base | $425 | 70% | $21,667 | 3.36 |
| Higher ticket | $525 | 70% | $21,667 | 2.72 |
| More repeat visits | $425 | 60% | $21,667 | 3.92 |
| Higher fixed cost | $425 | 70% | $25,000 | 3.88 |
The lower-ticket case nearly consumes the five-job target just to cover fixed cost. That is why diagnostic-only mix, declined estimates, discounts, parts margin, collection and repeat visits must be measured together.
Make repeat visits explicit
A return visit is not automatically a callback. It can be planned because a diagnosed part must be ordered. It can also result from incomplete diagnosis, wrong part, installation error, defective part, customer delay or a different failure. Record the reason because the financial treatment differs.
Suppose the first visit and documentation use an authored two paid technician-hours. If 10% of jobs require an additional 1.5-hour no-charge return, the average adds 0.15 paid hours per completed job. At a 20% no-charge return rate, it adds 0.30 hours. Across 1,250 Year-three jobs, those cases add 188 or 375 paid hours before extra travel and parts handling.
| No-charge return rate | Added hours per completed job | Added annual hours at 1,250 jobs |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | 0.00 | 0 |
| 10% | 0.15 | 188 |
| 20% | 0.30 | 375 |
These are capacity examples, not observed failure rates. Keep booked, arrived, diagnostic-only, authorized, first-time completed, planned return, no-charge return, canceled and collected outcomes separate.
The paid financial model uses customer cohorts, customer-billable hours and hourly rates. Translate diagnostic and repair categories into billable hours and rates, keep travel, parts research and ordering, planned returns and no-charge callbacks visible, and reconcile workbook revenue to invoices. Appliance Repair financial model.
Control technical scope before dispatch
Census defines NAICS 811412 around household appliance repair and maintenance without retailing new appliances. HVAC and commercial refrigeration sit outside this case. Census NAICS sector detail.
EPA states that technicians maintaining, servicing, repairing or disposing of equipment in ways that could release regulated refrigerants need the applicable Section 608 certification and describes four certification types. EPA also summarizes flammability, toxicity and pressure considerations for refrigerants. These sources do not determine the exact appliance, refrigerant or procedure. EPA Section 608 certification and EPA refrigerant safety.
OSHA's hazardous-energy resources describe controls for servicing and maintenance. The actual employer program, manufacturer information, de-energization, verification and task procedure remain specific to the work. OSHA control of hazardous energy.
California also provides one jurisdictional example: its appliance-service-dealer information describes registration, a $190 fee per location and written estimate and customer-authorization requirements. Check the operating state and locality rather than applying that example nationally. California dealer FAQ.
Treat tools and parts as a system
Current listings provide component anchors: Fluke shows a professional digital multimeter around $304.99, a Home Depot category includes an 800-pound-duty appliance hand truck around $199, and SupplyHouse lists a Fieldpiece recovery machine around $1,174.70. Those products do not form a complete kit, prove suitability for a task or verify the $25,000 equipment allocation. Fluke 117, appliance hand trucks and Fieldpiece MR45 listing.
The parts ledger records diagnosis, supplier, cost, markup or pass-through policy, customer authorization, order date, expected date, receipt, installation, return eligibility, warranty, credit and write-off. A broad opening inventory can consume cash without improving completion if it does not match the supported appliance and brand menu.
Pay both technicians
BLS lists 40,500 home appliance repairer jobs in 2025 and May 2025 median annual pay of $50,990. It does not set a local technician offer or owner salary. BLS selected occupations.
Year-three payroll is $165,000 for the paid owner-manager and lead technician, one employee technician and employer-cost allowances. IRS Publication 15 provides federal Social Security and Medicare components. Add unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, overtime, leave, benefits, training and certification. IRS Publication 15.
Owner time spent on intake, difficult diagnosis, parts, scheduling, customer disputes and training remains labor. Removing it from payroll overstates the case's return.
Read the five-year case
| Year | Completed jobs per field day | Revenue | Operating result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2.0 | $212,500 | -$51,250 |
| 2 | 3.5 | $371,875 | $24,312 |
| 3 | 5.0 | $531,250 | $111,875 |
| 4 | 6.0 | $637,500 | $156,250 |
| 5 | 7.0 | $743,750 | $195,625 |
| Year | Sales-linked costs | Payroll | Other overhead |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $63,750 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| 2 | $111,563 | $148,000 | $88,000 |
| 3 | $159,375 | $165,000 | $95,000 |
| 4 | $191,250 | $185,000 | $105,000 |
| 5 | $223,125 | $208,000 | $117,000 |
The result excludes depreciation, financing, income tax, replacement capital, working-capital timing and distributions. The $50,000 opening reserve is $1,250 below the simplified Year-one loss before monthly cash timing, so the launch must stage the second vehicle and employee or provide additional committed funding.
Years four and five require six and seven company-wide jobs per field day. Confirm route time, first-time completion, supported brands, parts access, technician skill and dispatch before accepting that growth.
The next test is 40 paid calls in a narrow appliance and brand menu. Record booked, arrived, diagnostic-only, authorized, completed and collected outcomes; drive and paid work time; parts; planned and no-charge returns; safety stops and callbacks. Release the second van only after the evidence supports qualified demand and completion.
The Appliance Repair Business case contains the full allocation and forecast. Its evidence register separates sources from assumptions, while the business plan and financial model explain product fit and the job-to-hour bridge.