Costing
The Costing tab gives you a full retail quote for the project — materials, hardware, labor, overhead, and margin — broken down by line item.
Full costing is available on Studio and Shop plans.
The quote summary
At the top of the Costing tab you'll see:
- Total retail price — The full client-facing quote
- Price per linear foot — Useful for quick sanity-checking
- Tier label — Whether the design falls into Entry Custom, Mid Custom, or High-End Custom pricing based on door style and finish complexity
What goes into the price
Cabora calculates the quote from the bottom up. Each line item reflects a real cost:
| Line item | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Material cost | Sheet goods (plywood, MDF) at your configured prices, plus waste factor |
| Hardware cost | Hinges, drawer slides, pulls, shelf pins — calculated per cabinet |
| Labor | Hours to build × your labor rate per hour |
| Finishing | Paint or finish labor at your finishing rate per hour |
| Installation | Install hours × your install rate |
| Overhead | Percentage applied to cover shop operating costs |
| Contingency | Buffer percentage for scope changes and extras |
| Target margin | Your gross margin goal, applied on top of costs |
| Material tax | Tax rate on materials only |
| Delivery fee | Flat delivery/freight charge |
Shop Defaults
Shop Defaults are your shop's global cost configuration. Set them once and they pre-populate every project — no need to re-enter your rates each time. You can always override individual rates on a per-project basis.
Go to Settings → Shop Defaults to configure.
Labor rates
| Field | What it sets |
|---|---|
| Shop rate ($/hr) | Blended rate used when you don't break out by operation. Default: $75/hr |
| Machining rate | Optional — rate for CNC or machine operations |
| Assembly rate | Optional — rate for casework assembly |
| Finishing rate | Optional — rate for painting or finishing |
| Install rate | Optional — rate for on-site installation |
If you only set the blended shop rate, Cabora uses it for all labor line items.
Markup and margin
| Field | What it sets |
|---|---|
| Overhead % | Applied to total cost to cover shop operating expenses. Default: 15% |
| Target margin % | Your gross margin goal. Default: 35% |
| Waste factor % | Extra material purchased for sheet goods offcuts. Default: 12% |
| Material tax rate | Sales tax on materials and hardware |
| Delivery fee | Flat per-project delivery or freight charge |
Material library
The Sheet Goods, Solid Stock, and Edgebanding sections let you build your shop's actual material list:
- Add sheet goods with your cost per sheet — these populate the Materials dropdown when editing cabinets
- Add edgebanding by cost per linear foot
- Add solid stock by cost per board foot
When a project uses a material from your library, the exact price is used in the cost calculation. If a material isn't in your library, Cabora falls back to a default estimate.
Hardware library
Set your actual per-unit costs for hinges, drawer slides, pulls, shelf pins, fasteners, and any custom-ordered parts. These flow into the Hardware Breakdown on every project.
Materials breakdown
The Materials section shows a per-material table: how many sheets are required, the cost per sheet, waste, and total material cost.
The sheet count comes directly from the cut list — Cabora counts exact parts and applies your waste factor.
Hardware breakdown
The Hardware section shows quantities and costs for:
- Hinges (per door)
- Drawer slides (per drawer)
- Pulls (per door and drawer)
- Shelf pins (per adjustable shelf)
- Any custom hardware you've added in Shop Defaults
If you've configured custom hardware prices in Shop Defaults, those prices are used here.
Adjusting the quote per project
You can override the default rates on a per-project basis within the Costing tab. Changes affect only the current project and don't modify your Shop Defaults.
Scenarios
The Scenarios tab in Costing lets you save multiple pricing versions of the same design — useful for showing a client three finish tiers at different price points. Each scenario is a snapshot of the current costing settings.