Revenue is vanity. Profit is sanity. The job profitability report shows you how much money you actually kept from each move — after paying crew, truck, and materials.
What this covers
How to read and use the job profitability report to find which jobs, crews, and move types make you the most money.
Who uses this
Owners — this is the report that tells you if your pricing is working.
Opening the report
Go to Reporting → Job Profitability in MoveRight.
You can filter by:
- Date range — this week, this month, custom
- Crew — see how each crew performs
- Move type — local, long-distance, commercial
- Job size — small, medium, large
How to read the report
Each job shows:
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Revenue | Total invoice amount |
| Crew labor cost | Total crew wages for the hours worked |
| Truck cost | Allocated truck cost (fuel, depreciation) |
| Materials cost | Boxes, tape, padding, specialty materials |
| Gross margin | Revenue minus all costs |
| Margin % | Gross margin ÷ revenue × 100 |
What good numbers look like
| Margin % | Assessment |
|---|---|
| 40%+ | Excellent. Your pricing is strong and operations are efficient. |
| 25-40% | Good. This is the target range for most moving companies. |
| 15-25% | Marginal. Look for ways to increase rates or reduce crew time. |
| Under 15% | Problem. You’re barely covering overhead. Something needs to change. |
Common patterns to look for
”Revenue looks great but margin is low”
This usually means your crew labor cost is too high relative to the job price. Either:
- You’re sending too many crew for the job size
- Your hourly rate is too low for the crew cost
- The job ran over the estimated time
Fix: Adjust your crew sizing rules or raise your hourly rate.
”One crew consistently has lower margins”
Some crews work faster. Some take smoke breaks. The profitability report tells you who’s efficient and who isn’t.
Fix: Compare the top crew’s job time vs. the bottom crew’s. If it’s a skills gap, have the bottom crew shadow the top crew. If it’s an effort gap, that’s a management conversation.
”Long-distance jobs have terrible margins”
Long-distance moves have more costs — driver pay, weight certification, transit time, potential storage. If you’re pricing these like local moves with a distance multiplier, you’re underpricing.
Fix: Use a dedicated long-distance rate card with weight/tariff pricing. See: Pricing Strategies
”Small jobs are more profitable than big ones”
This is common. A 2-bedroom apartment at $800 with 1 crew for 3 hours might have a 50% margin. A 5-bedroom house at $2,500 with 4 crew for 10 hours might have a 30% margin.
Fix: Don’t avoid big jobs — they pay the bills. But make sure your pricing accounts for the lower efficiency on larger jobs. Add surcharges and specialty items aggressively.
Using this data to set prices
If your average margin across all jobs is below 25%, your rates are too low. Here’s how to fix it:
- Pull the profitability report for the last 3 months
- Calculate your average margin %
- If it’s under 25%, raise your hourly rate by 10-15%
- Run the report again next month
- Repeat until you’re in the 25-40% range
Small, regular rate increases are better than one big jump. Your customers barely notice a 5% annual increase, but they’ll notice a 25% hike.
Common questions
Does the report include overhead (insurance, office rent, marketing)? No — this is gross margin, not net margin. Gross margin only includes direct job costs (crew, truck, materials). Overhead is tracked separately in your accounting system (QuickBooks).
How do I know if a low-margin job was my fault or the crew’s? Check the crew notes. If the job ran over because of an access issue the customer didn’t disclose, that’s a surcharge opportunity. If it ran over because the crew took too long, that’s a coaching opportunity.
Can I see profitability by lead source? Cross-reference the marketing dashboard (revenue by source) with the profitability report (margin by job). If your most profitable jobs come from referrals, invest more in referral programs.
What happens next
- Marketing ROI: Reading Your Marketing Dashboard
- Pricing: Pricing Strategies
- Configure rates: Pricing Rule Configuration