How do I set labour rates, markups and VAT in my quoting software?

Closetforge is a white-label 3D wardrobe configurator and quoting tool for fitted-wardrobe makers. Every quote is priced on the server from your own rates. Customers never see those rates, only the total they produce. This article explains where the rates live and how to make them yours.

The starting figures

When your workspace is created, your pricing is filled with starting figures for your country. They are reasonable, but they are not your workshop's numbers. Until you confirm them, the setup guide says so: "Your prices still use the starting figures, not yours — check them and confirm."

The rates step: six numbers

The fourth row of the setup guide, Your rates, opens /admin/setup/rates. It asks for the six numbers that move a price most:

• Workshop rate: what an hour of cutting, edging and assembly costs. Every workshop minute on a quote is billed at it.
• Installer rate: what an hour of fitting at the customer's home costs. It can differ from the workshop rate.
• Material markup: added to boards, edge banding and consumables. 0 is allowed.
• Profit margin: taken on the subtotal of materials, fittings and labour after their markups, so it does not stack on top of them. 0 is allowed.
• Delivery call-out: charged once per delivery, however far.
• Per kilometre driven: charged out and back, so a customer 30 km away is 60 billed km.

The same page has a My prices include VAT switch. When you have checked every number, press These are my rates. Saving is not confirming: if you change a number later, the guide asks you to confirm again ("You have edited your rates — confirm they are yours").

The full Pricing page

Everything else starts from typical values and lives on Pricing (/admin/pricing), in six tabs: Labour & markups, Boards & painting, Edge banding, Accessories & hardware, Services & installation and Quote terms. While the page still holds the starting values, it shows a banner, "Pricing is at the default values", with a button: I've checked these — they're my rates.

Markups

There are five, each a percentage:

• Material markup: on boards, edge banding and consumables.
• Hardware markup: on fittings and accessories.
• Workshop overhead: on labour (rent, machine wear, software).
• Risk / warranty reserve: on the subtotal.
• Profit margin: on the subtotal.

Labour

Labour is built from time, not from a price per item:

• Baseline per quote: design, admin, quality checks and packaging, added once per wardrobe whatever its size.
• Minutes per component: one line per fitting, such as Shelf install, Hanger rod install, Mirror install or LED strip install. A few, such as a pull-out hanger rail, can be left empty to be billed like their closest relative; the page shows that number greyed.
• Edge banding, in-house or outsourced, and a painted finish, sprayed in-house or sent out.
• Consumables (glue, screws, dowels) per square metre of cut panel, and packaging per cabinet.

VAT: included or on top

Under Money & VAT you set your currency, your VAT rate and one switch: Quoted prices are VAT-inclusive.

• On: the price your rates and markups produce is the price the customer pays, with VAT inside it. Workspaces in the UK and Slovenia start this way, because homeowners there expect an all-in price.
• Off: VAT is added on top of the subtotal, and the quote shows it as its own line.

Pick the one that matches how you quote today, and check it on your test quote.

Where else prices come from

Boards are priced per square metre on the Materials page (boards and decors). Hinges, runners and handles come from your hardware defaults (fittings). Delivery, installation and measurement visits are covered in installation, transport and measurement visits.

Then send yourself a test quote and read the pricing breakdown on the workshop PDF line by line. It is the fastest way to find a rate that is not yours.