Upholstery Shop Job Profit Calculator — Chair and Sofa Price, Break-Even, Bench Hours

1. What you sell

Dining chair seats sold

Seat price ($)

Seat bench minutes

Seat fabric, foam and supplies ($ each)

Armchairs and accent chairs sold

Armchair price ($)

Armchair bench minutes

Armchair fabric, foam and supplies ($)

Sofas and sectionals sold

Sofa price ($)

Sofa bench minutes

Sofa fabric, foam and supplies ($)

2. Labor and the bench

Upholsterer pay ($ per hour)

Payroll tax and extras (%)

Bench hours available per week

Season length (months)

3. Machines, rent and fixed costs

Tools, compressor, sewing machine and tables ($)

Seasons you will use them

Rent and utilities ($ per month)

Other fixed cost this season ($)

4. Designer trade blocks and margin

Trade accounts buying a block

Block price ($)

Seat jobs in each block

Target margin on each job (%)

Enter your numbers or load the example, then click Work out the season.

Result

Each service

Service	Price	Cost	Profit	Margin	Per bench hour	Price for target

The season at different volumes

Volume	Jobs	Revenue	Profit	Bench hours	Bench used

The arithmetic, and what it leaves out

Each job costs its bench minutes at the upholsterer's pay plus payroll extras, plus its fabric, foam and supplies. Profit is price less that cost.
Profit per bench hour is price less supplies, divided by the hours on the bench, before the upholsterer's pay, so it compares jobs on the one thing a busy season runs out of.
Fixed cost is the tools and equipment spread over the seasons you will keep them, rent for the months you are open, and the other fixed cost you type. The season result is every service's profit, plus the trade-block line, less fixed cost.
A trade block is revenue once, against the seat jobs the account sends. Its break-even is the block price divided by what one seat job costs you.
Not modelled: your own pay as owner, pickup and delivery, sales tax, card fees, insurance, hiring a second upholsterer, and income tax.

Common questions

How much should an upholstery shop charge to reupholster a chair?

Add the bench hours at your upholsterer's loaded hourly cost to the fabric, foam, batting, webbing and tacks or staples the piece uses, then divide by one minus the margin you want. Stripping an old chair and rebuilding it takes far longer than it looks, so a price copied from the shop down the road can lose money if your hours run long. Type your own hours and costs and read the price off.

Is a prepaid designer trade block worth selling?

A block is cash up front for work you do later, so price it against the number of seat jobs the account will really send. The result shows what each job earns and the block size at which it starts losing money. Count honestly: a designer who sends everything in one week costs far more bench time than the one who forgets.

How many jobs does an upholstery shop need to break even?

Fixed costs for the season (the tools and equipment spread over the seasons you will keep them, rent and utilities for the months you are open, and anything else) divided by what each job contributes after labor and materials. The calculator prints the break-even count at your mix and a table of the season at 50 to 150 percent of the volume you expect.

Why does the bench-hour figure matter?

A shop has a fixed number of bench hours in a busy season, and a sofa can hold the bench for a week. A service that earns more for each hour on the bench is the one to push when the bench is full, and the one to raise first when it is not. The result ranks your services by that figure.

What does this leave out?

Your own pay as owner, fabric resale markup beyond what you type as materials, pickup and delivery, sales tax, card fees, shop insurance, a second upholsterer's hiring cost and your income tax. It is a planning aid, not an estimate of record.

Is my data uploaded?

No. Everything runs in your browser tab and nothing is sent anywhere. There are no accounts. The share link keeps your numbers in the link itself, which you choose whether to send.