Price the work.
Protect the business.

1. Measure the real appointment

Use the service and dog profile to load an example, then replace it with the time you expect for this dog. Keep extra coat, handling and clean-up time separate so nothing is counted twice. If two people work for 30 minutes, that is 60 person-minutes of labour.

The coat profile helps set an example; changing a selection alone does not silently replace your entered costs. Select “Apply example for this groom” to load the matching assumptions.

2. Build the cost base

Loaded hourly labour = wage × (1 + employer burden ÷ 100). Grooming labour = grooming minutes ÷ 60 × loaded hourly labour × the optional labour intensity multiplier. Travel labour uses the same hourly rate without the multiplier.

Direct costs include grooming and travel labour, products, equipment wear, utilities and vehicle costs. Monthly overhead ÷ expected paid appointments gives overhead per appointment. Add this overhead and the fixed transaction fee to direct costs to get the core cost base.

Use net-of-recoverable-tax costs. Where purchase tax cannot be recovered, it is part of your cost. Owner labour is a cost even where no salary is paid.

3. Solve the selling price

Let C be the core cost base, m the target margin, b the contingency and f the percentage payment fee, all percentages expressed as decimals. Let t be the applied tax rate.

This version assumes payment fees apply to the customer total including tax. If your provider charges fees only on pre-tax revenue, the final term is simply f. The combined percentages must leave a positive share to pay costs; the calculator rejects invalid combinations rather than silently changing them.

The recommendation is the greater of this price and your pre-tax minimum, rounded upwards to the nearest cent. Tax is then calculated on that price and rounded to the nearest cent. Variable fees are modelled from the selected fee basis without per-transaction rounding, so provider settlements may differ by a cent.

With a cost base of 60, a 40% target and no fees, reserve or tax, the price is 100. With a 2% fee and a 3% reserve, it becomes 109.10. A 40% markup would instead give 84.

4. Understand the two profit measures

Gross profit = pre-tax revenue − direct job costs. Gross margin = gross profit ÷ pre-tax revenue. Accounting classifications can differ between businesses.

Profit after overhead, fees and reserve = gross profit − allocated overhead − fixed fee − variable fee − contingency. The calculator conservatively protects your target in this second measure, so the accounting gross margin will usually be higher. This is a planning surplus before income/corporation tax, financing and any omitted costs, not guaranteed net profit.

A 3% contingency reserves 3% of pre-tax revenue. It does not model the probability or full economics of no-shows. Use realistic paid appointments for overhead and avoid reserving twice for the same lost bookings.

Country and tax references

References reviewed 29 September 2026. Rates remain editable. The tool does not decide whether you must register or whether a specific sale is taxable.

• Ireland: 23% standard VAT. Revenue classifies dog grooming at the standard rate; see current rates.
• United Kingdom: 20% standard VAT. HMRC rates.
• Australia: 10% standard GST. ATO GST reference.
• Canada: GST 5%; HST 13% in Ontario, 14% in Nova Scotia, 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. CRA rates and place-of-supply rules. Other provincial taxes are not included automatically. Check whether PST or QST applies and override the combined rate where appropriate.
• United States: enter your applicable state/local rate manually. Zero is a placeholder, not a claim of exemption. Check the relevant state revenue authority for grooming taxability.
• Custom: enter a currency code and rate. The model applies one combined percentage to the pre-tax price; it does not model compound taxes or different tax bases.

Changing currency changes the display only. It does not convert cost inputs, suggest local wages or establish local grooming prices.

Compatibility with the Pro Toolkit

The web edition uses the same core pricing method as the Dog Grooming Pricing Toolkit: loaded labour, service products, equipment, utilities, overhead, travel, fees, contingency, minimum and a margin-based price. Its service examples build on the workbook menu.

There are deliberate improvements in the web interface: the optional intensity multiplier starts at 1.00, fees default to the tax-inclusive customer total, contingency is shown separately from retained profit, gross profit before overhead is explicitly labelled and prices round upwards to currency minor units. Match these settings when comparing results.

The downloadable Pro Toolkit extends the model into service costing, quote building, profitability review, monthly planning and break-even analysis. Get the Pro Toolkit for €24.99.

Your estimates stay with you

Calculations run in your browser. The calculator does not send input values to a backend, add advertising trackers or collect contact details. The hosting provider may process standard access logs to serve the site.

“Save settings” stores the current inputs in this browser's local storage. “Clear saved settings” removes them. A downloaded JSON estimate contains your inputs and calculated results, so treat it as a business record. No customer names are requested.

Before you quote

Assess the dog and scope, replace the examples with your own figures, confirm the applicable tax and explain any extra work to the owner. Your pricing decision should consider both the calculated economics and the service you can safely deliver.