Job price and margin

Cost the job, set the margin, and see the price and the price per watt before and after certificates.

Price ex GST $11,800

Cost$8,850

Margin$2,950 (25% margin, 33.3% markup)

Per watt$0.89/W

STC value$2,964

After STCs$8,836

Per watt after STCs$0.67/W

Price inc GST, before STCs$12,980

How it's worked out

Price = cost ÷ (1 − margin). Margin is profit as a share of the price; markup is profit as a share of the cost, so a 25% margin is a 33% markup.

Your own costs. GST at 10%. How a point-of-sale STC discount sits against GST depends on how the certificates are assigned: check with your accountant. Checked 21 October 2026.

Solar Base keeps every job on one record, from the first enquiry to the meter alteration, and does the portal work for you. See how it works

Margin is not markup

Adding 25% to cost gives a 20% margin, not 25%. Pricing from the margin you want, cost ÷ (1 − margin), keeps the profit you planned once discounts and variations start eating into the job.

Price per watt is the number customers compare quotes on, so it is worth knowing before and after the STC discount, and before the battery muddies it.

Price = cost ÷ (1 − margin)

Worked example

Panels, inverter, racking$7,210

Labour and overheads$1,640

Cost$8,850

At a 25% margin$11,800 ex GST, $0.89/W

Questions installers ask

Should a battery go into the price per watt?

Price per watt only says something about the panels. Compare a battery on its price per usable kWh instead.

Where do the STCs come from?

Work them out with the STC calculator and bring the count across.

A tool does one sum. Solar Base does the whole job.

The STC count, the NMI, the meter alteration and the invoice, worked off one job record, with the last step left to you.

$11,800
$0.89/W

Show the breakdown