> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.flashquotes.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Service Pricing

> Configure pricing for your services using flexible pricing components

export const ScaleBadge = () => <span style={{
  backgroundColor: '#FFF7ED',
  color: '#EA580C',
  padding: '2px 8px',
  borderRadius: '4px',
  fontSize: '12px',
  fontWeight: '600',
  marginLeft: '6px',
  display: 'inline-block',
  verticalAlign: 'middle',
  border: '1px solid #FED7AA'
}}>
    Scale
  </span>;

export const PlusBadge = () => <span style={{
  backgroundColor: '#EFF6FF',
  color: '#2563EB',
  padding: '2px 8px',
  borderRadius: '4px',
  fontSize: '12px',
  fontWeight: '600',
  marginLeft: '6px',
  display: 'inline-block',
  verticalAlign: 'middle',
  border: '1px solid #BFDBFE'
}}>
    Plus
  </span>;

## How Service Pricing Works

In Flashquotes, pricing is configured directly on each service. You can combine multiple pricing components to create the perfect pricing structure for your business.

<Tip>
  Pricing rules let you handle variations like duration, guest count, and event type **within a single service**—no need to create separate services for each scenario. See [Structuring Your Services](/services/structuring-services) to learn more.
</Tip>

## Pricing Components

Each service can use any combination of these pricing elements:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion icon="dollar-sign" title="Base Price">
    The foundation of your pricing:

    * Fixed amount added to every quote
    * Use for setup fees, minimum charges, or equipment costs
    * Can be the entire price for simple flat-rate services

    **Example**: \$500 base for photo booth rental
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion icon="clock" title="Hourly Rate per Staff">
    Labor-based pricing:

    * Charged per hour, per staff member
    * Choose how hours are counted: **shift hours** (full crew shift — packing, unloading, on-site setup, service, and teardown) or **service hours** (the customer-facing service window only)
    * Both modes exclude travel — bill drive time separately via [travel fees](/services/travel-fees)
    * Automatically multiplies by hours and staff count

    **Example**: \$75/hour per bartender. A 4-hour service with 1 hour packing/unloading and 30 min setup + 30 min teardown bills **6 shift hours** (\$450) or **4 service hours** (\$300) per bartender.

    <Tip>
      Use **shift hours** to charge for your crew's full on-the-clock time. Use **service hours** when you only want to bill the customer-facing portion of the event.
    </Tip>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion icon="users" title="Price per Guest">
    Scale with event size. Choose how the guest rate is applied:

    * **Per guest**: Flat rate multiplied by guest count. Great for per-person food, favors, or fixed per-head costs.
    * **Per guest per hour**: Rate multiplied by guest count and event duration. Ideal when consumption or service scales with both attendance and time.

    **Example (Per guest)**: \$15 per guest for appetizer service — 50 guests = \$750

    **Example (Per guest per hour)**: \$3/guest/hr for bar service — 50 guests × 4 hours = \$600
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion icon="layer-group" title="Tiered Per-Guest Pricing">
    Offer volume discounts as guest counts grow. Replaces a flat per-guest rate with rate bands.

    * Set per-guest tiers (e.g. \$20/guest for 1–49, \$15/guest for 50–99, \$12/guest for 100+)
    * Only works with the **Per guest** mode (not Per guest per hour)
    * Optional **minimum hourly guests** floor — bill against a minimum guest count for short, low-attendance events

    **Example**: \$20/guest under 50, \$15/guest at 50+ — a 75-guest event bills \$15 × 75 = \$1,125
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion icon="boxes-stacked" title="Price per Resource">
    Resource-based pricing. Choose how the resource rate is applied:

    * **Per resource**: Flat rate multiplied by resource count. Great for setup, delivery, or unit-based equipment fees.
    * **Per resource per hour**: Rate multiplied by resource count and event duration. Useful for equipment that bills by run-time (machines, generators, espresso bars).

    **Example (Per resource)**: \$50 per espresso machine — 2 machines = \$100

    **Example (Per resource per hour)**: \$25/machine/hr — 2 machines × 4 hours = \$200
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion icon="cubes" title="Per Unit">
    Charge per individual item your customer selects:

    * Set a unit name (e.g., "churro", "paleta", "espresso shot")
    * Configure a price per unit and optional min/max quantity constraints
    * Customers choose their quantity on the lead intake form

    **Example**: \$3 per espresso shot, min 50, max 200 — a customer who enters 75 shots adds \$225 to their quote
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion icon="shield-check" title="Minimum Price">
    Protect your profitability:

    * Sets the absolute minimum you'll accept
    * Overrides calculated price if it's too low
    * Ensures every booking meets your minimum requirements

    **Example**: \$800 minimum for any event
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Pricing Formula

Your service price is calculated as:

```
Final Price = MAX(
  Base Price + (Staff × Hours × Hourly Rate) + Guest Component + Resource Component + (Units × Per Unit Rate),
  Minimum Price
)
```

The **Guest Component** depends on the guest pricing mode set on the service:

* **Per guest**: `Guests × Per Guest Rate`
* **Per guest per hour**: `Guests × Hours × Per Guest Rate`

The **Resource Component** depends on the resource pricing mode:

* **Per resource**: `Resources × Per Resource Rate`
* **Per resource per hour**: `Resources × Hours × Per Resource Rate`

This ensures you're always paid at least your minimum while allowing flexible pricing based on event specifics.

## Common Pricing Strategies

### Flat Rate Services

**Setup**: High base price, no hourly or per-guest charges

**Example**:

* DJ Service: \$1,500 base price
* Covers up to 5 hours
* Simple, predictable pricing

### Hourly Services

**Setup**: Low/no base price, strong hourly component

**Example**:

* Bartending: \$100 base + \$75/hour per bartender
* Scales with event duration
* Fair for both short and long events

### Per-Person Services

**Setup**: Base price for minimums, per-guest for scaling

**Example**:

* Catering: \$500 base + \$25 per guest
* Covers fixed costs + variable food costs
* Profitable at any event size

### Per-Person Per-Hour Services

**Setup**: Per-guest rate that also scales with event duration (use "Per guest per hour" mode on the service)

**Example**:

* Bar or beverage service: \$4/guest/hr
* 75 guests × 5 hours = \$1,500 from the guest component alone
* Ideal when consumption or service intensity scales with both attendance and time

### Per-Resource Services

**Setup**: Base price for labor/setup, per-resource for equipment

**Example**:

* Photo Booth Rental:
  * \$200 base (delivery/setup)
  * \$150 per booth
  * Scales with equipment count

### Per-Unit Services

**Setup**: Base price for setup/travel, per-unit for item count the customer selects

**Example**:

* Balloon Twisting:
  * \$150 base (setup/travel)
  * \$3 per balloon, min 50, max 300
  * Ideal when consumption doesn't scale with attendance and you'd rather have the customer order a specific quantity

### Hybrid Pricing

**Setup**: Combine all elements for sophisticated pricing

**Example**:

* Full Bar Service:
  * \$300 base (equipment/setup)
  * \$75/hour per bartender (labor)
  * \$12 per guest (supplies)
  * \$5 per signature cocktail kit (per unit, min 10)
  * \$1,000 minimum

## Setting Your Prices

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to Services">
    Go to **Services & items** in the sidebar
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select or Create Service">
    Click on an existing service or create a new one
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure Pricing Fields">
    Set your base price, hourly rates, per-guest pricing, and minimum
  </Step>

  <Step title="Test with Sample Quotes">
    Create test quotes to verify pricing calculations
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Pricing Tips

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Cover All Costs" icon="calculator">
    Include setup time, travel, supplies, and overhead in your pricing
  </Card>

  <Card title="Use Minimums Wisely" icon="shield">
    Set minimums that ensure profitability even for small events
  </Card>

  <Card title="Keep It Simple" icon="lightbulb">
    Don't use every pricing component unless necessary
  </Card>

  <Card title="Test Your Math" icon="flask">
    Create sample quotes for different scenarios before going live
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Dynamic Pricing <ScaleBadge />

Adjust prices automatically based on demand, lead time, and event type. Dynamic modifiers stack on top of your base pricing.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion icon="chart-line" title="Surge Pricing">
    Automatically charge more when **resource availability is low** for a service — high demand triggers a price uplift, no manual adjustment required.

    * **Percentage modifier** added to the service price when availability dips
    * **Service-aware** — references only the resources [linked to that service](/resources#service-specific-resources), so demand is measured per service rather than across all your resources
    * Auto-applies on any quote for dates where the linked resources are scarce
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion icon="clock-rotate-left" title="Days-Out Modifier">
    Modify the service price based on **event lead time** — how far out the event is from the booking date. Use it to upcharge rush jobs, charge a premium for far-out reservations that lock up your calendar, or both.

    * Set tiers by days between the booking and the event
    * **Short lead time** — e.g. +30% within 7 days to cover the cost of rush jobs
    * **Long lead time** — e.g. +10% beyond 12 months to price in the opportunity cost of holding the date
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion icon="tags" title="Pricing by Event Type">
    Charge differently for the same service depending on event type — wedding, corporate, festival, and more:

    * Set the price modifier for each event type on a service
    * Bump or discount specific event types
    * Captured from the [Event Type form question](/forms/lead-intake) on your lead intake form
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Service Charges

You can also apply automatic service charges (like gratuity or delivery fees) that calculate as a percentage or flat fee on top of your service pricing.

Navigate to **Settings → Service Charges** to configure these additional fees.

## Common Questions

**Q: Can I have different prices for different event types?**
A: Yes — use [Pricing by Event Type](#dynamic-pricing) to apply different rates for weddings, corporate events, festivals, and more, all within a single service. See [Structuring Your Services](/services/structuring-services) for best practices.

**Q: How do I handle peak season pricing?**
A: Use [Surge Pricing](#dynamic-pricing) to set premium rates on high-demand dates. Modifiers apply automatically on matching quotes.

**Q: What if my costs vary by location?**
A: Use the minimum price to ensure you cover base costs, and configure travel fees as an add-on or manual adjustment.

## Next Steps

* [Create your services](/services/core-services)
* [Add upsells with add-ons](/services/add-ons)
* [Configure service charges](/settings/service-charges)
* Test your pricing with sample quotes