Most cabinet makers can build anything — and still lose money on it, because the quote was a gut feeling on a Friday evening. A reliable price is not a guess plus a safety factor; it is the same discipline as a cut list: count everything, price each count, and decide the margin consciously. This guide walks through the five layers of a cabinet price.

Layer 1: sheet material — by decor and thickness

Sheet cost starts from the nesting layout, not from the part list: you pay for the boards you buy, offcuts included. Count boards per decor and thickness — an 18 mm carcass board and an 8 mm back in the same decor are different purchases with different prices. A waste percentage hidden in the m²-price flatters small jobs and punishes big ones; real nesting counts are fairer in both directions.

Layer 2: edge banding and hardware

Edge banding is metres, not magic: the cut list knows exactly which edges are banded, so the total length is a count, not an estimate. Hardware is a count too — hinges per door (following the door height rules), drawer runner sets per drawer, and it pays to price real articles: a Blum Clip Top hinge and a Tandembox runner set have list prices you can look up and defend.

Layer 3: order items are priced differently

Some parts never touch your saw: the worktop comes per linear metre from a supplier, glass and mirror panels per m² from the glazier, appliances as allowances until the client picks models. Keep these as separate order items on the quote logic — pricing a worktop per m² instead of per running metre is one of the classic ways to underprice an L-shaped kitchen.

Layer 4: labour — a model you can override

Labour is the biggest number and the most-guessed one. A workable middle ground is a simple model — base hours per cabinet, coefficients for doors, drawers and special constructions — that produces a defensible starting point, plus the freedom to override the total when you know the job better than any formula. The model keeps you honest on routine work; the override respects that you are the craftsman.

Layer 5: margin belongs in the amounts

A quote that shows "margin: 15%" invites exactly one conversation, and it is not one you win. Professional quotes build the margin into the line amounts: the client sees fair, complete prices per cabinet and checks that the total adds up — the economics behind them are your business. Equally important: VAT per client (renovation versus new build rates differ in many countries) belongs on the quote, not in a follow-up email.

What this looks like in KWAL Cabinet Studio

In KWAL Cabinet Studio the whole method is built in: the cost estimate prices your project live in the nesting view from your own price list — boards per decor and thickness, edge banding metres, Blum hardware, order items and a configurable labour model with a manual override. The export package then includes a customer-ready quote PDF: one line per cabinet, your company details and logo, VAT per client, margin inside the amounts, and totals that match the estimate to the cent. Designing is free — try it at app.kwal.design.