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Some of the fastest money a shop leaves on the table sits in jobs it already has: the deductible you never collect and the scope you never fully write. Both are process problems, and this calculator shows what the two of them add up to over a year.

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Three ways to use this calculator

• On a computer: run it right below. Four inputs, and both leaks add up as you type.
• On a phone, or to keep your numbers: make your own copy in Google Sheets.
• No Google account? Download it for Excel and open it in Excel or any spreadsheet app. </aside>

https://gem-resource-hub-calculators.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/cash-leak/index.html

How to use it: in your Google Sheets or Excel copy, edit only the highlighted input cells (your jobs per month, average deductible, the share of deductibles you do not collect, and the average under-scoped amount per job). Your annual leak updates automatically.

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The formula. Two leaks, added together. They are separate problems and the math keeps them separate.

• Jobs per year = jobs per month × 12
• Deductible leak = jobs per year × average deductible × share of deductibles you do not collect (if some of your jobs carry no deductible, enter jobs per month as only the insured jobs that do)
• Scope leak = jobs per year × average under-scoped amount per job
• Annual leak = deductible leak plus scope leak

If the sheet and this page ever disagree, the page governs. Tell us and we will correct the sheet.

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Worked example. 15 jobs a month, a $1,000 average deductible, 30% of deductibles never collected, $450 of scope under-written on the average job.

• Jobs per year: 15 × 12 = 180
• Deductible leak: 180 × $1,000 × 30% = $54,000
• Scope leak: 180 × $450 = $81,000
• Annual leak: $54,000 + $81,000 = $135,000

In this example the scope side is the bigger of the two, and it is the one owners argue about least, because nobody sees it leave.

Where the two inputs come from, because neither is sitting in your accounting system. The deductible share is countable: take your last twenty closed jobs where a deductible was owed and count how many were collected in full. The under-written amount is not countable, because by definition it is work nobody wrote up and nobody billed, so it will be a judgment. Ask two experienced estimators for a per-job figure separately and use the lower one. Do not back into it from supplements you did recover, since those belong in the calculator named below. Write down both inputs and the date you set them, so the next run measures a change rather than a new guess.

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Better process and documentation close both, and neither fix needs a new account.

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Before you treat the deductible leak as a business choice, check your state. Not collecting a deductible is not always yours to decide. Whether a contractor may pay, waive, absorb, rebate, or decline to collect a customer's insurance deductible is set by state law, and your state's law may also make advertising that you will do so a separate offense, so look up yours. Texas puts it in Bus. & Com. Code 27.02, and the two subsections do different jobs. The offense sits at 27.02(c), a Class B misdemeanor, and it carries no dollar threshold at all, so there is no contract size below which absorbing a deductible is safe. The $1,000 figure belongs to a separate duty at 27.02(b), which requires the prescribed boldface deductible notice in a contract paid from insurance proceeds at a contract price of $1,000 or more. Reading the $1,000 as a floor under the offense is the common mistake, and it is the expensive one. Colorado bars it for residential roofing at C.R.S. 6-22-105. Other states have their own versions and they are not uniform. Look up the rule in every state you work before you enter a number above 0 in the uncollected-deductible field, because in those states the honest answer to that leak is a compliance fix, not a collections improvement.

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Where this one stops: this calculator covers the two upfront leaks, the deductible you never collect and the scope you never fully write at the start. Dollars you find and capture after the estimate is approved belong in the Money Left on the Table: Supplement Recovery Calculator. Count post-approval supplement recovery there, not here, so you do not enter the same missed-scope dollars twice.

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Important: please read. This tool is provided free of charge by RocketLevel as a general, educational estimate and starting point only. The results are illustrative estimates based solely on the figures you enter; they are not a guarantee of any outcome, value, cost, or result, and they are not legal, financial, tax, accounting, insurance, or other professional advice. Using this tool does not create an attorney-client, advisory, or other professional relationship with RocketLevel. RocketLevel makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of this tool for your situation, and provides it "as is." You are solely responsible for verifying any figures and for consulting your own attorney, accountant, financial professional, or other qualified advisor before making any decision. To the fullest extent permitted by law, RocketLevel and its affiliates, officers, and employees disclaim all liability for any loss, damage, or claim arising from its use.

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Tools for this play.

Keep going: close the first leak the lawful way with The Deductible: Collecting It, and the Line You Cannot Cross, catch the second before submittal with Template: The Estimate QA and Scope-Completeness Checklist, and build the file that holds the scope with Documentation That Gets the File Approved the First Time.

Do it yourself or have it done. This calculator and a count of your last twenty closed jobs are all you need to put a number on both leaks, and closing them is estimating and collections discipline that stays inside your shop. The part that takes dedicated people to staff is a steady run of new commercial meetings, the thing that makes every tighter job worth more. That upstream part is what RocketLevel's inside sales team does: booking meetings with property managers, facility directors and owners while your people run the work.

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Part of the free GEM Resource Hub by RocketLevel Commercial. Playbooks and tools for running the whole restoration business, A to Z, while specializing in building commercial revenue you own. RocketLevel is a bolt-on inside sales team that strengthens your commercial pipeline. Explore more in the GEM Resource Hub. New here? About RocketLevel and what the system has produced. When you're ready, see what your market is worth or book a Commercial Growth Call.

How we source figures: every number in this library names its source or is labeled as RocketLevel's own working figure. Read the sourcing standard.

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