THE NUMBERS, EXPLAINED
How to use this calculator.
Itemises the supplied costs for one job. Mean power and material usage are measured or estimated inputs. Failures, shipping and taxes are included only if you add them to overhead.
Start with your inputs
Enter material used (g), material price (£/kg), print hours, mean power (w), electricity (£/kwh), labour hours, labour rate (£/hour), allocated overhead (£), markup (%). Keep amounts in the units shown on each field. The example is a starting point, not a recommended value.
| Input | Example value |
|---|---|
| Material used (g) | 100 |
| Material price (£/kg) | 20 |
| Print hours | 5 |
| Mean power (W) | 200 |
| Electricity (£/kWh) | 0.25 |
| Labour hours | 0.5 |
| Labour rate (£/hour) | 20 |
| Allocated overhead (£) | 3 |
| Markup (%) | 20 |
A worked example
With the example inputs above, material cost (£) is 2. Change the inputs to explore your own scenario.
Putting the example numbers into the formula
Material cost (£)
(100) × (20) ÷ 1000 = 2
Energy cost (£)
(5) × (200) ÷ 1000 × (0.25) = 0.25
Labour cost (£)
(0.5) × (20) = 10
Total job cost (£)
(100) × (20) ÷ 1000+(5) × (200) ÷ 1000 × (0.25)+(0.5) × (20)+(3) = 15.25
Quote before tax (£)
((100) × (20) ÷ 1000+(5) × (200) ÷ 1000 × (0.25)+(0.5) × (20)+(3)) × (1+(20) ÷ 100) = 18.3
| Result | Example answer |
|---|---|
| Material cost (£) | 2 |
| Energy cost (£) | 0.25 |
| Labour cost (£) | 10 |
| Total job cost (£) | 15.25 |
| Quote before tax (£) | 18.3 |
How this is calculated
Material cost (£)
a × b ÷ 1000
Energy cost (£)
c × d ÷ 1000 × e
Labour cost (£)
f × g
Total job cost (£)
a × b ÷ 1000+c × d ÷ 1000 × e+f × g+h
Quote before tax (£)
(a × b ÷ 1000+c × d ÷ 1000 × e+f × g+h) × (1+i ÷ 100)
Symbols and units
- a
- Material used (g)
- b
- Material price (£/kg)
- c
- Print hours
- d
- Mean power (W)
- e
- Electricity (£/kWh)
- f
- Labour hours
- g
- Labour rate (£/hour)
- h
- Allocated overhead (£)
- i
- Markup (%)
Use the units shown. A list keeps the order in which you enter its values. The symbol ^ means “raised to the power of”.
Assumptions and limits
Itemises the supplied costs for one job. Mean power and material usage are measured or estimated inputs. Failures, shipping and taxes are included only if you add them to overhead.
Calculations use the values you enter. Blank or invalid inputs show an error instead of silently substituting zero. Results are displayed to useful precision; calculations retain the underlying numeric precision.
Questions about this tool
What does the result tell me?
Material cost (£); Energy cost (£); Labour cost (£); Total job cost (£); Quote before tax (£). The result applies to the method and inputs described above. Check the units and assumptions before using it in a decision.
Why might another calculator differ?
Differences in units, rounding, timing or model definitions can produce different answers. Compare the input definitions and the method, rather than only the final number. For this tool: Itemises the supplied costs for one job. Mean power and material usage are measured or estimated inputs. Failures, shipping and taxes are included only if you add them to overhead.
Are my inputs stored or sent to AI?
Calculations on this page happen in your browser. The separate AI question finder sends its submitted conversation to OpenAI; these calculator fields are not sent. Favourites and recent tool names are stored locally. A shared link contains the inputs you choose to include.
Further reading
OpenStax: algebra and proportional reasoning ↗
Background reading; this does not imply endorsement or independent review of SumFizz.
Review status
Software example and browser checks are recorded in our quality report. No external expert review is claimed. Created with coding assistance; calculations run as ordinary browser code.
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