Set one comparable decision contract
Record these assumptions before calculating
- A normal comparable job and price. (not complete)
- Incremental labour, dispatch, travel and safety resources. (not complete)
- Standby or availability cost and allocation rule. (not complete)
- Daytime work displaced or recovery time required. (not complete)
- Response promise, exclusions and local compliance review. (not complete)
after-hours incremental contribution = after-hours price - normal comparable price - incremental labour - dispatch/travel uplift - standby and displaced-capacity cost
- incremental labour
- After-hours labour cost above the normal comparable service (CU per job) — roster, payroll or contractor quote
- standby and displaced-capacity cost
- Cost of availability and contribution lost from affected normal work (CU per job or service period) — business record or labelled scenario
- incremental contribution
- Additional contribution from accepting the after-hours job versus the stated alternative (CU per job) — derived
Keep one currency, indirect-tax basis, time horizon and cost boundary throughout. Scenario values below are invented currency units (CU), not benchmarks.
Worked example: Emergency and After-Hours Pricing
Invented comparison: normal job price 280 CU; after-hours price 450 CU; 70 CU incremental labour, 30 CU dispatch/travel uplift and 40 CU standby/displaced-capacity cost.
| Line | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Incremental revenue | 450 - 280 | 170 CU |
| Incremental cost | 70 + 30 + 40 | (140 CU) |
| Incremental contribution | 170 - 140 | 30 CU |
| After-hours price at zero incremental contribution | 280 + 140 | 420 CU |
| Case | Changed input | Decision result |
|---|---|---|
| No displacement | Incremental cost 100 | 70 CU |
| Base | Incremental cost 140 | 30 CU |
| Long recovery | Incremental cost 200 | (30 CU) |
Turn the calculation into an operating decision
- Define the normal comparable service.
- Map every resource changed by after-hours acceptance.
- Allocate standby on a declared period and demand case.
- Include displaced work and recovery time.
- Test low, base and high duration/response cases.
- Document the promise, exclusions and review trigger.
- Applying a percentage to price without costing the service.
- Counting wage premium but omitting standby and dispatch.
- Ignoring fatigue, safety and next-day capacity.
- Promising a response the roster cannot support.
- Calling an economic result a legally permitted charge.
Questions to settle before acting
- Should standby cost be assigned to every job?
- Use an explicit allocation across the service period and stress low demand; do not assume enough jobs arrive to recover it.
- What if there is no normal comparable job?
- Build the full after-hours job contribution directly and state the alternative use of the resources separately.
- Does urgency justify any price?
- No. Economics, clear disclosure, customer value and applicable local obligations all need separate consideration.
Sources and methodology
- Emergency and After-Hours Pricing: calculation boundary — Margin101: Formula, unit, assumption and limitation reference for the primary decision handoff.
- Manage your finances — U.S. Small Business Administration: General cost-record context only; it supplies no emergency premium or service term.