Marine service job estimator and quote builder
Build an itemized quote for a boat job, check your margin, and print it or save it as a PDF for the customer. Labor, parts and zincs, materials with markup, per-foot work by length overall or waterline, trip and marina fees, and California sales tax on the parts. Everything stays in your browser.
Subtotal
$371.50
Sales tax
$6.28
Total
$377.78
Gross margin
82.0%
$304.50 over the costs you entered. Without a labor cost, this includes your own pay.
Parts and materials are 21.8% of this job before tax. CDTFA treats a repairer who charges separately for parts (or whose parts are more than 10% of the charge) as the retailer of those parts, so tax applies to them and you generally need a seller's permit. See the notes below.
Preview: this is what prints
Your Business Name
(555) 555-0100 · you@example.com
- Prepared for
- Customer name
- Boat
- Boat name, 38 ft sailboat
- Location
- Marina, slip
Scope of work
Dive clean the hull, running gear and through-hulls. Replace two shaft zincs and inspect the prop, shaft and cutless bearing. Photos of the finished work sent by text.
| Item | Detail | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Hull cleaning (dive) | 38 ft LOA × $3.50 / ft (sail rate) | $133.00 |
| Replace zincs and inspect running gear | 1.5 hrs × $95.00 | $142.50 |
| Shaft zinc (taxable) | 2 × $28.00 | $56.00 |
| Bottom-cleaning pads and supplies (taxable) | 1 × $25.00 | $25.00 |
| Marina vendor day fee | Marina / harbor fee | $15.00 |
| Subtotal | $371.50 | |
| Sales tax (7.75% on parts and materials) | $6.28 | |
| Total | $377.78 | |
Notes
Zincs not used are not charged. Additional work only with your OK.
Accepted by: ______________________________
Date: ______________
How this works
These are your numbers, not market prices. The defaults are a worked example so the tool shows something useful; they are not what anyone charges in your area. Replace them with your own rates and costs.
Each line is priced on its own, then added up:
- Labor = hours × hourly rate.
- Materials = quantity × price each, where price each = your cost × (1 + markup %), rounded to the cent. The quote shows the price each, never your cost or markup; your cost counts toward the margin.
- Parts and zincs = quantity × price each.
- Per-foot items = boat length × rate per foot, using the length overall or the waterline length (pick one per item), with a separate sailboat rate if you enter one, and never less than the minimum charge.
- Trip and marina fees are flat amounts. A marina fee you leave without a cost is treated as passed through at cost.
Subtotal = all lines. Discount (percent or dollars, never more than the subtotal) comes off the subtotal and is shared across the lines in proportion to their amounts, so the taxable part shrinks by its share. Sales tax = (parts + materials, less their share of the discount) × your tax rate. Total = subtotal − discount + tax. Money is worked in whole cents and rounded to the nearest cent.
Gross margin = (price before tax − the costs you entered) ÷ price before tax. It counts only the costs you fill in. If you leave your own labor cost blank, the margin includes your pay, which is what a solo operator usually wants to see.
The example: a 38 ft sailboat. Hull cleaning at $3.50/ft sail rate = $133.00; 1.5 hours of labor at $95 = $142.50; two shaft zincs at $28 = $56.00; $20 of supplies + 25% = $25.00; a $15 marina fee. Subtotal $371.50. Tax at an example 7.75% on the $81.00 of parts and materials = $6.28. Total $377.78.
Sales tax on boat repair in California
California sales tax applies to goods, not to most service. Under CDTFA's guidance for the watercraft industry, separately stated repair labor and installation labor are generally not taxable, but fabrication labor (making something new, such as custom canvas or cushions) is taxable.[1] A repairer is the retailer of the parts and materials, and tax applies to them, when their retail value is more than 10% of the total charge or when they are charged separately; the invoice then has to show the parts separately from the labor.[2] That is why this tool taxes only the part and material lines and lists them on their own lines.
The rate depends on where the sale takes place. CDTFA publishes the combined rate for every city and county.[3] The 7.75% in the example is only an example.
Tips for a quote customers trust
- Say which length you use (length overall or waterline). Owners compare quotes, and a mismatch looks like a price difference.
- List zincs and parts with quantities, and say that unused parts aren't charged.
- Put an expiry date on the quote and say how extra work gets approved.
Related guides and tools
Sources
- California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Publication 40, Watercraft Industry: Fabrication, Repair, and Installation Labor (July 2026).
- California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Regulation 1546, Installing, Repairing, Reconditioning in General.
- California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. California City and County Sales and Use Tax Rates (October 1, 2026).