Roooster · Free
Holiday Lighting Bid Calculator
Holiday Lighting Bid Calculator
Holiday lighting is a 10-week sprint where one bad bid can eat a whole week of installs. This calculator covers roofline and ridgeline per-foot rates, tree and specialty pricing, the company-owned vs. customer-owned margin math, and a bid worksheet that amortizes product cost over three seasons.
What's inside
- Per-linear-foot rates: rooflines, ridgelines, hedges, trees, wreaths
- Lease vs. customer-owned: full-service vs. install-only pricing
- Season structure: minimums, early-bird, takedown, storage, service calls
- Bid worksheet: product amortization, install and takedown labor, overhead
- Renewal playbook: locking 70%+ of customers before the season starts
Quick questions
Company-owned or customer-owned lights?
Company-owned is the industry standard. Product amortizes over 3 seasons and renewals run 60-70% gross margin. Customer-owned installs price at 50-60% of full-service rates with workmanship-only warranty.
What margin should a first-year install hit?
Target 45%+ net contribution in season one after amortizing a third of the product cost. Renewals in seasons two and three carry the real margin.
Trusted by operators
“I built my entire pricing sheet from this. My average ticket went up 18% in 30 days.”
Owner, Crystal Clear Pressure Washing, Tampa, FL
“The margin-per-crew-hour math finally made it obvious which jobs were quietly losing me money.”
Owner, Sunrise Window Cleaners, Austin, TX
“Printed the checklist, laminated it, gave one to every truck. Callbacks dropped fast.”
Operations, Big Sky Exterior Co., Boise, ID