The best time to catch a margin leak is before the quote leaves your desk. Once the client has seen the price, fixing missing costs becomes awkward.

Review the cost base

  • Labor assumptions and seniority
  • Subcontractor or supplier costs
  • Software, licenses, materials, and tools
  • Travel, meetings, admin, and handover
  • Taxes, payment delays, and finance costs
  • Revision limits and change-order triggers
  • Contingency and hidden internal items

Use the margin leak checklist as the starting point.

Confirm margin

Check the quote against your minimum profit rules. The SBA’s cost guidance is useful background because overhead must be recovered in real prices.

Check scope and assumptions

Make sure the quote says what is included, what is excluded, and what changes the price. That protects the work after approval.

Review pricing strategy

QuickBooks’ pricing strategy overview is a helpful reminder that cost, value, and market positioning should all inform the final price.

Use a repeatable workflow

Do the same review every time: cost scan, margin check, scope check, terms check, PDF preview, send. The process in protecting margins before signing fits this routine.

Make it easy in ququ

ququ helps you reuse products, add hidden internal costs, redistribute them cleanly, and send branded PDFs only after the margin check is complete.