Include business expenses in your mobile detailing prices
By Auto Costbook · October 26, 2026 · Example calculations, not suggested local prices
Your mobile detailing prices need to cover supplies and fuel, as well as insurance, equipment and other shared business expenses.
Separate direct costs from shared costs
Job costs include products used on the vehicle, tolls and parking for that appointment. Shared expenses include insurance, software, equipment wear and storage.
Do not count the same expense twice. If travel fuel is already included in a job’s travel expense, it should not also appear in that job’s overhead allowance.
Estimate your business costs per job
Suppose your shared business expenses total $360 a month and you expect to complete 30 detailing jobs. Dividing $360 by 30 gives a $12 allowance per job. If only 20 jobs are completed, the same total would be $18 per job.
This gives you an estimate, rather than an exact cost for every job. A maintenance wash and a paint-correction job use different amounts of time and equipment. Dividing some business expenses by working hours may suit your business better.
Check the estimate against your real costs
- List the shared expenses you have included.
- Choose a realistic number of completed jobs or working hours.
- Include pay for your time before calculating profit.
- Compare your allowance with actual costs periodically.
- Update the allowance when your workload or costs change.
Use this calculation to check your costs, then consider the prices customers will pay in your area.
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