Quick Bid - 08.04 What Are (Section) Markups? (Escalation, Tax/Burden, Overhead, and Profit) - QB

Section Markups refer to Escalation, Tax and Burden, Overhead, and Profit, and are applied to each Section used in the Bid based on the information entered under Default Markups and Indirect Expenses. Section Markups are added to Material, Labor, Subs, Equipment, and Other costs after Indirect Expenses* are applied.

In the Markup Detail, there are checkboxes next to the Indirect Costs buttons (Stock, Clean, Supervision, and Per Diem). If checked, Quick Bid applies Overhead and Profit to the Indirect Expenses (applied to Materials and Labor, only of course). If unchecked, Overhead and Profit are still applied to the Bid costs (Material, Labor, Subs, Other, Equip), but not to the amounts of the Indirect Expenses applied to Material and Labor.

Markups are calculated using Straight or Gross Markup method, see Related articles for an explanation of the difference between these two Markup Methods.

Type of Markup	Description/How it is used...
Escalation	Escalation is a global modifier for costs associated with Material, Labor, Subs, Equipment, and Others expenses and is usually job-specific. Escalation is expressed as a percentage and may be entered as a positive or negative value. Escalation is an added cost to a Bid and does not affect the unit cost for an Item in the Condition Item Grid, however, Escalation does affect the selling price of each Condition (the "marked up" Unit Cost, in the upper-right hand corner of the Condition Detail).
Tax/Burden	Tax refers to sales tax on Materials and Burden refers to taxes, fees, and insurance on Labor. Tax and Burden can be changed directly via the Markup Detail for Material, Subs, Equipment, and Other expenses, but because Burden (on Labor) is a calculated percentage based on Payroll Settings for all Payroll Classes used in a Section, it cannot be changed for individual Sections on the Markups Tab. See Labor Burden Override for more information.
Overhead	Overhead is applied as a percentage to the total costs in a Bid (Material, Labor, Indirect Expenses (optional), and Tax/Burden). Some estimators include Overhead with Profit leaving the Overhead field blank. Overhead is considered part of the cost of a Bid and therefore, Profit is applied to it.
Profit	Profit is entered as a percentage to add to the total costs of a Bid, including Overhead (Material, Labor, Subs, Equipment, Other, Indirect Expenses, Tax/Burden, and Overhead).

*Escalation and Tax/Burden are not applied to Per Diem Indirect Expenses which is why Per Diem is located below Escalation and Tax/Burden in Markup Detail.

Let's start with looking at how to adjust a Section's Markups.

Configuring Per Diem Indirect Expense

Adjusting Markups for a Specific Section