Project profitability calculator
A project's margin is its revenue minus all costs — above all the hours worked, valued at the true cost rate rather than the billing rate. This free project profitability calculator shows you in a minute whether a project actually made money. Most teams only learn the answer after the project ends, when it is too late to steer.
Result
€0/h
Minimum break-even rate
Quote & Billing
Gross: 14,280 €
Effort
Cost Structure
What does an internal working hour cost you (salary + overhead)?
Project result
Your Project
Gross profit
3,000 €
25 %
Pistacio benchmark for agencies: 40–60% gross margin. Below 20%: critical.
Disclaimer
This calculator is for guidance purposes only and does not replace professional financial advice.
All benchmarks and calculations are based on data available in 2026 and are not legally binding.
Why your billing rate is not your cost rate
The rate you charge clients includes margin, utilization risk and overhead — it says nothing about what an hour actually costs you. Your cost rate is built from gross salary, employer social security contributions (roughly 20 percent on top in Germany), vacation and sick days, plus a share of rent, software and administration. If you post-calculate with the billing rate instead of the cost rate, every project looks healthy. As a rule of thumb, the true cost of an hour sits well above the gross hourly wage.
How to read the result
A common agency benchmark: a margin of roughly 40 to 60 percent is considered healthy, 20 to 40 percent is tight, and below that a project often fails to cover even its share of overhead. Treat these as orientation, not law — what is healthy for you depends on your cost structure, utilization and industry. One weak project is not a disaster but a signal: is the quote, the scope or the staffing off? Pistacio tracks this automatically as your team logs hours.
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