Actually, the numbers for the houses were changed to protect the innocent and to simplify discussion. I think the guy expected me to deduct my parts cost AND markup (which would have saved him a bunch of money) because he knew that a sell price is derived by applying a markup percent to the job costs - so using the afore mentioned numbers, the sell price would be $1750. Which brought me to a mind numbing period of deep thinking. The excepted method of obtaining a sell price is to markup up the job costs, which includes any material cost. If I did 4 of those houses, I would say "I made $600 on that one, $600 on that one, $350 on that one and $600 on the last one". Something's not right. I made $250 less on the job with no material cost, even though I had the same resource cost (sent out the same guys, the same number of days, same number of hours, same overhead). The way it looks to me, the material should have no bearing on the sell price (other than allowing for its cost (including handling & storage)) by applying a markup to it. My success depends on making $X per manhour - regardless of the material, if any.
