Who this is for: Managers
💼 Why this matters
The Profit Allocation planner tells you what your business needs to generate right now. The planning tools in this article answer the forward-looking questions: what would happen if I raised my prices? How many jobs do I need to hit my income goal? What gross revenue do I need to earn a specific take-home? What does it actually cost to hire someone? These are the questions most contractors never calculate — they just hope the answer works out. These tools give you the math before you make the decision.
All of these tools are accessible from the Projections card in your Tools grid on the home screen. Some are also available directly from the Profit Allocation planner.
Tax & Profit #
What it does: Enter your annual gross revenue and business expenses, choose your filing status and state, and the calculator shows your full tax picture — federal income tax, self-employment tax, Medicare surtax, effective rate, marginal rate, and the amount you actually keep. Works for sole proprietors and S-corps.
When to use it: Before setting your prices for the year. After a strong month when you want to understand your tax exposure. Any time you’re trying to figure out what a revenue number actually means in your pocket.
Access: Tap Projections in your Tools grid.
Profit Allocation #
What it does: The foundation of all your pricing. Enter your desired take-home salary and your costs, and the planner calculates the gross revenue your business needs to generate every month to fund your salary, overhead, Tax Reserve, savings, and upgrade fund — in that order.
When to use it: During initial setup. Any time your costs change significantly — insurance renewal, new equipment payment, added an employee. Reviewed quarterly as a habit.
Access: Tap Projections → Allocation in the toolbar, or tap YOUR PRICERIGHT FORMULA on the home screen.
Into the Black #
What it does: Takes your Profit Allocation Formula obligations and calculates your exact revenue floor — the minimum your business needs to generate to cover every obligation and turn a profit. Shows the number of jobs per month and per week required to hit that floor based on your average sale amount. Also includes a surplus allocator that shows how to deploy any revenue above the floor.
When to use it: After completing your Profit Allocation setup. When you want to know the honest minimum your business needs to survive — not thrive, just survive — and how many jobs that translates to.
ℹ️ Note: Into the Black requires your Profit Allocation Formula to be completed first. If you haven’t done that, it will prompt you to run the Formula before the calculator can open.
Access: Tap Projections → Into Black in the toolbar.
Revenue Goal Planner #
What it does: Enter your target take-home income and your average revenue per job, set your estimated keep rate, and the planner tells you exactly how many jobs per year, per month, and per week you need to hit your goal — and the gross revenue required to get there.
When to use it: Setting an annual income target. Planning how many jobs you need to land a new piece of equipment or take on an employee. Checking whether your current job volume is on pace with your goals.
Access: Tap Projections → Revenue Goal in the toolbar.
Work Backwards #
What it does: The reverse of the Tax & Profit calculator. Instead of entering gross revenue to see what you keep, you enter the take-home amount you want to keep and the calculator works backward to tell you the gross revenue you need to earn to get there — accounting for federal tax, state tax, SE tax, and your business expenses.
When to use it: When you know what you need to take home — a mortgage payment, a salary goal, a financial obligation — and you need to know the gross revenue target to set your pricing around. Tap Use [Amount] on Main Screen to pre-fill the Tax & Profit calculator with the result.
Access: Inside the Tax & Profit screen, this tool is accessible from the Advanced Options section. Standard tier required.
What-If Scenarios #
What it does: Opens from any of the main planning tools and lets you adjust pricing, time, tax, and allocation variables with sliders to see how changes ripple through your numbers in real time. Save named scenarios to compare them side by side. Premium feature.
When to use it: Before raising prices — model the impact first. When considering a business change that affects multiple variables at once. When you want to see what happens to your take-home if you work two more hours a week vs. raise your rate by $10/hr.
Access: Tap What-If in the toolbar of Tax & Profit or Revenue Goal.
Hiring Planner #
What it does: Activates inside the Profit Allocation screen. Once enabled, it uses your Formula obligations and average sale amount to calculate exactly how much additional gross revenue your business needs to generate each month to support a new hire — on top of everything your business already needs to cover. Shows the additional jobs per month required to afford the hire.
When to use it: Before you commit to hiring. The question isn’t whether you can afford to pay someone — it’s whether your current or projected revenue can support the full obligation. This tool gives you that number before you sign anything. Premium tier required.
Access: Tap Projections → Allocation, scroll to the Allocation Percentages section, and toggle on Hiring Planner.
Payroll Cost Calculator #
What it does: Enter a prospective employee’s hourly rate or salary and the calculator shows the true employer cost — including payroll taxes (FICA, FUTA, SUTA), workers’ comp, and benefits overhead. Shows the additional revenue your business needs to generate to support the hire without losing ground.
When to use it: Before hiring. The most common mistake contractors make is calculating a hire’s cost at their wage rate and not their total employer cost. This calculator closes that gap. Premium tier required.
Access: From the home screen, scroll to the Accounting section and tap Payroll Cost Calculator.
Saved Projections #
What it does: Saves any Tax & Profit calculator result as a named projection — gross revenue, business expenses, tax year, filing status, state, full tax breakdown, and the amount you keep. Load a saved projection back into the calculator at any time to compare it against a new scenario or use it as a baseline for forward planning.
When to use it: After running any meaningful scenario in the Tax & Profit calculator — a conservative year, an optimistic year, a goal. Save them both. The gap between your current projection and your goal projection is your target revenue increase, stated in exact dollars. Free tier allows a limited number of saves; Standard tier saves unlimited projections.
Access: Inside the Tax & Profit screen, tap Save Projection. To browse saved projections, tap the Saved button (folder icon) in the Tax & Profit toolbar. Your home screen also shows a Recent Quotes section under Catalog with your 3 most recent projections — tap any row to open it in the calculator.
🚀 Smart Business Tip
These tools work best when they build on each other. Start with Profit Allocation to set your baseline. Run Into the Black to find your floor. Use Revenue Goal to set your target. Save that target scenario as a projection so you can compare it against your current-state projection any time you want to see how far you’ve moved. When you’re thinking about hiring, run the Hiring Planner first — then the Payroll Cost Calculator to confirm the full employer cost. Open What-If any time you’re considering a change and want to see the math before you commit. The contractor who runs these numbers before making decisions is the one who stops guessing and starts knowing.
How to get started
If you haven’t completed the Profit Allocation setup, start there — most of the other tools pull from it. Set Up Your Business Foundation: Costs and Overhead →
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