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How much can a detailing business make?

Project your monthly and yearly income before tax from your own jobs, prices, and costs. The answer depends on your numbers, so use real ones.

Example projection$1,628 a month before tax
View result

Example values, not typical figures. Replace them with your own prices, costs, and bookings.

Your workload and costs

Results update as you type
Paid jobs in an average working week.
What a customer pays you for one job, on average.
Leave out weeks lost to weather, holidays, and time off. Enter 0 to 52.
Cleaners, pads, towels, and other supplies used up on one job.
Fuel, tolls, and parking for one job. Enter 0 for a shop.
The share of each payment your card processor keeps. Enter 0 to 100.
Insurance, phone, software, vehicle payment, and other bills you pay every month.
Include travel, setup, and cleanup. Leave blank to skip income per hour.

Example projection

About $1,628 a month, or $19,530 a year, before tax.

That is the money left from 12.5 jobs a month after job costs and fixed costs.

Monthly income before tax$1,628Revenue minus job costs and fixed costs
Yearly income before tax$19,530Monthly income × 12
Income per job$130After job costs and each job's share of fixed costs
Income per hour worked$33Income per job ÷ hours per job

The math

  1. Jobs per month3 jobs a week × 50 weeks ÷ 1212.5
  2. Monthly revenue12.5 jobs × $180.00$2,250.00
  3. Card fee per job$180.00 × 3%$5.40
  4. Job costs per job$18.00 products + $12.00 travel + $5.40 fee$35.40
  5. Monthly job costs12.5 jobs × $35.40$442.50
  6. Monthly fixed costsAs entered$180.00
  7. Monthly income before tax$2,250.00 − $442.50 − $180.00$1,627.50
  8. Yearly income before tax$1,627.50 × 12$19,530.00

This is the money left for you before income tax and self-employment tax. It is not a wage. Your own time is not counted as a cost unless you enter it, for example as pay in monthly fixed costs. Loan payments, repairs, and any cost you leave out reduce it further.

How much do car detailers make?

There is no single answer. Income depends on how many jobs you book, what customers pay, and what each job costs you. This projector works from your numbers, not from an average. The default values are example values, not typical figures.

The calculation

  • Jobs per month = jobs per week × weeks worked per year ÷ 12.
  • Monthly revenue = jobs per month × average price per job.
  • Job costs per job = products + travel and fuel + card fee. The card fee is the price × the fee percentage.
  • Monthly income before tax = monthly revenue − monthly job costs − monthly fixed costs.
  • Yearly income before tax = monthly income × 12.
  • Income per job = monthly income ÷ jobs per month. Income per hour = income per job ÷ hours per job.

Fixed costs are due every month, even when you book no jobs. A month with too few jobs shows a loss. The projector shows a loss with a minus sign and says so in the result.

A worked example

These are example inputs, not typical figures or measured results. Three jobs a week for 50 weeks is 150 jobs a year, or 12.5 jobs a month. At $180 a job, monthly revenue is $2,250.

Each job uses $18 of products and $12 of travel. A 3% card fee on $180 is $5.40. Job costs are $35.40 per job, or $442.50 a month. With $180 of monthly fixed costs, $1,627.50 is left each month before tax. That is $19,530 a year, $130.20 per job, and $32.55 per hour at 4 hours per job.

What this number is not

The result is before income tax and self-employment tax. It is not a wage. Your own time is not a cost in this model unless you enter it, for example as pay in monthly fixed costs. It also leaves out setup costs. To see when your equipment pays for itself, use the break-even calculator.

Count every hour you spend on a job, including travel, setup, cleanup, and messages. Weeks lost to weather and time off belong outside weeks worked per year.

For a longer look at margins and costs, read is car detailing profitable? To set the price you enter here, use the pricing calculator.