What does one print job contribute?

Define the job ticket before calculating a margin

The modeled job is one approved file/version on letter-size stock, printed on two sides, with an agreed quantity and ordinary finishing scope. A change of stock, version, color specification or finishing changes the unit. Design revisions after approval, rush jobs, variable-data work, large-format imposition, postcards, books and screen printing are outside this fixed ticket unless separately priced and timed.

Gross invoice equals setup fee plus accepted sheets times the class-specific sheet price. The short class uses $60.00 and $0.80 per accepted duplex sheet. A medium job uses $85.00 and $0.42. The longer batch uses $110.00 and $0.32. These are selling assumptions, not an observed tariff. A customer's demand for separate versions creates separate setups even when the delivered sheet total is unchanged.

Trace consumables and purchased work without double counting

The short job expects 267.2 raw sheets: good quantity divided by one minus 5.0%, plus 4 proof sheets. Multiply physical sheets by 2 for printed-side billing. The assumed $0.08 paper price and $0.045 per-side service charge yield $45.42 of material/click cost. This is expected consumption; a real ticket records whole actual sheets and meter clicks.

Add $12.00 average purchased finishing, $5.00 packaging and $10.00 delivery/transport. Immediate-payment processing adds $3.55 at the assumed payment mix. Expected credit losses reduce the recognized short-job receipt to $258.44, leaving the shown contribution. Toner and press servicing are already in the click charge; the fixed base contract fee is charged separately with monthly overhead. No second ink expense or unpaid finisher is hidden in the example.

The operator constrains the press and the finishing bench together

The press is budgeted at 2,400 printed sides per actual run hour, with a separate 144-hour monthly window and 150,000 printed-side planning ceiling. The manufacturer states different letter output speeds by stock weight, and a maximum monthly volume; those values do not establish sustained commercial throughput. Test your actual duplex stock, color files and postpress sequence. Manufacturer scope.

The operator is paid for 160 hours, but only 136.0 are budgeted for job work after general duties. Short, medium and batch press setup take 21, 33 and 45 minutes respectively. The same person also cuts, sorts and packs. The normal mix consumes 135.7 operator job hours, close to the available limit. Press setup/run hours and finishing hours cannot each claim the full employee shift.

The paid owner separately has 90.0 job hours after sales/administration. Preflight, customer proof approval and job handling use that time. Outsourcing an advanced finish does not eliminate customer coordination or the basic handling already counted. The monthly engine scales the requested mix, floors to whole jobs and admits another feasible job only while all four resource constraints still fit. It records unserved work rather than increasing an assumed overtime shift without pay.

Use a mix threshold and a constrained-hour view

At the stated normal mix, contribution covers monthly fixed payroll and other costs at 78.3% of normal volume. Covering the same commitments plus the scheduled $2,066.25 loan installment needs 88.2% of normal volume before income tax and working-capital changes. These are continuous mix-equivalent fractions, not exact whole-job thresholds, general industry margins or a bank's coverage requirement. Actual whole-job mix and monthly collection timing still control cash.

Compare contribution per occupied operator hour when the bench is full, not just contribution per job or per sheet. A batch may earn more in total while consuming more scarce time and receivables. Include the opportunity cost of the next feasible order. A seemingly attractive long job can displace several setup-fee-bearing short jobs; a sequence of tiny jobs can also spend the day changing stock rather than running sheets.

Track quoted and actual setup minutes, raw/good sheets, clicks, reprint reason, subcontract turnaround and invoice age. Review a completed-job cost report before changing prices. The companion articles examine setup-cost allocation and finishing choices; their extra sensitivities are not silently added to the base monthly payroll.

Approval and waste are operating decisions

Keep proof authorization, version identity, color/stock specification and finishing instructions with the job ticket. Record who pays for a customer revision or a shop error and how a disputed job is collected. The model includes one approved setup and expected spoilage; repeated approval loops or whole-run remakes require a different input.

Guarded cutting, safe lifting/storage and servicing procedures are part of the workflow. A cutter's protective features are not proof of a safe installed workplace. OSHA's general guarding requirements. Verify training and work coverage before assuming the owner can operate two stations during every print run. Read profitability for fixed paid labor and startup costs for consumable and installation boundaries.