SmartScore: How to Grade Your Bids Like a Pro (A Through F)

What if every bid you sent came with a grade — A, B, C, D, or F — so you could see at a glance whether it was priced right?

That's what SmartScore does. It's a scoring system that evaluates bids based on the metrics that actually determine profitability: revenue per hour, gross margin, and travel efficiency.

How SmartScore Works

SmartScore compares your bid against your own targets — not generic industry averages. You set your target revenue per hour and target gross margin percentage, and SmartScore measures how close each bid gets.

• A Grade: Exceeds targets by 50%+. Excellent profitability.
• B Grade: Exceeds targets by 25%+. Solid, healthy bid.
• C Grade: Meets targets. Acceptable but no room for error.
• D Grade: Below targets. Thin margins — proceed with caution.
• F Grade: Fails targets. You'll likely lose money on this job.

What Goes Into the Score

SmartScore factors in:

• Revenue per hour — total billable divided by total time (including travel)
• Gross margin — after labor, materials, and overhead
• Payment terms — Net 30 is worth less than due-on-receipt (cash flow impact)
• Travel share — how much of the job is driving vs. working

Why This Matters

Without a grading system, every bid feels the same. You send a quote, hope the customer says yes, and move on. But some of those "won" bids are actually losing you money — you just don't know which ones.

SmartScore makes the invisible visible. An F-grade bid might be a $2,000 commercial job that looks great — until you realize the travel time and payment terms put you below minimum wage after expenses.

The goal isn't to only send A-grade bids. It's to know what you're signing up for on every job, so you can make informed decisions instead of hoping for the best.