Build a billable labor rate that absorbs wage, burden, vehicle, tools, insurance, and overhead, so every hour sold makes money. Reach for this before any estimate or flat-rate book.
Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.
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---
name: build-the-loaded-rate
description: "Build a billable labor rate that absorbs wage, burden, vehicle, tools, insurance, and overhead, so every hour sold makes money. Reach for this before any estimate or flat-rate book."
---
# Skill: Build the loaded labor rate
A quote on the technician's wage is underwater before it starts.
## Step 1 — Sum the cost stack
Wage + burden + vehicle + tools + insurance + overhead per billable hour (§3 #1).
## Step 2 — Divide by billable hours
Spread the cost over realistic billable (not paid) hours (§3 #3).
## Step 3 — Add the margin
Apply the target margin to set the billable rate.
## Step 4 — Sanity-check the market
Compare to the regional service rate, dated/marked (§3 #8).
## Output
A fully-loaded billable labor rate with the cost stack and target margin shown.
