Goldenseal Estimating Software Topics-- Updating Labor Costs

Updating Labor Costs

How do I keep up with changing labor costs?

The Assemblies in Goldenseal estimating software store the number of hours it takes to do each type of work. That probably won't change with time, so the only thing you'll need to change is the net cost of labor.

You can calculate that from the wage rates that you pay, and your employer "burden".

How do I calculate the net cost of labor?

To calculate burden, add up the cost per hour for all of the taxes and insurance that you pay on top of the wages you pay. Also add the hourly cost of any benefits that you provide. Click here for more about calculating labor burden.

To calculate your net cost per hour of work, take the wage rate that you pay to your employees, and add your employer "burden" to it.

For example, if you pay your average workers $10 an hour and have a 55% burden rate, then your net cost of labor will be $15.50.

If you have different types of workers, repeat the calculation for each group of employees.

How do I enter Labor Costs into Goldenseal?

To enter new labor costs into Goldenseal estimating software, follow these steps:

Choose Cost Items from the Costs menu.
Locate the labor cost. HINT-- Use the Find command to look for items that have Labor in the Cost Area field.
Enter the current net cost of labor into the Purchase Price field.
Hit the Enter key to save changes. Goldenseal will automatically update the price of all Assemblies that include that type of labor.

What if I have different types of workers?

If you use different types of labor, create a Cost Item for each of them. When you build an assembly, you can include each type of labor that goes into that type of work.

When you are updating prices, calculate the net cost for each type of labor. HINT-- different labor rates may have a different burden percentage, if those employees have a different worker's comp insurance rate, or if they get different benefits.

How often should I update labor costs?

You might want to update labor costs once or twice a year, unless wage rates are changing very rapidly, for some reason.

Click here to return to estimating topics .