How to price cutting, edging, grooving and packaging

Start with who supplies the material

A bill of materials describes the resources a job needs; it does not, by itself, say which resources the customer is buying from your shop. Record the supply arrangement before calculating a selling price.

For shop-supplied boards, check the selected stock and its current selling rate. For customer-supplied boards, separate the material from the services you will charge for. Agree any inspection, handling or replacement terms with the customer rather than silently adding a board sale.

Precut is a different question from customer-supplied. A customer can bring full sheets that still need cutting, or bring sized parts that need only edging or grooves. Confirm both supply responsibility and the operations required; one flag should not be used as a substitute for the other.

Measure each operation in the right unit

Keep the rate and its unit together. Cutting might be quoted using a shop-specific sheet, part or service basis. Edging is often measured by treated length, but the selected tape and any minimum charge also matter. Grooving needs its own scope and rate rather than being hidden inside an edging amount.

Illustrative measurement: two 720 × 560 mm parts with tape on one 720 mm edge each require 1.44 metres of net edging. Taping all four edges of both parts gives 5.12 metres. These figures exclude allowances and minimum charges; they are not prices or a prescription for a particular job.

• Use quantities when calculating total treated length.
• Match tape specification and thickness to the requested treatment.
• Record groove requirements separately from edge treatments.
• State any allowances or minimum charges clearly.

Make packaging an explicit decision

Packaging can involve protective materials, bundling and labour. Decide whether it is included, excluded or charged separately, and confirm the basis of the charge. Turning packaging off must not leave an unexplained packaging charge in the quotation.

Likewise, adding packaging after a quote has been accepted changes the commercial scope. Review the revised total and get the necessary approval before using the earlier quote as the basis for release.

Recheck the quote after a scope change

Use a simple test before sending: can each charge be explained by a material you supply, an operation you perform or an agreed service? Then check that the quote reflects the current cutlist, not the version that existed before a supply or packaging change.

AnyCutlist brings cutlist review and quoting into the same workflow. Review the resulting line items and your organization’s pricing configuration; software cannot decide an undocumented commercial agreement for you. For precut or customer-supplied jobs, this final check is particularly important.