Frequently Asked Questions

O&O cost per hour is the total cost of owning and running your equipment, expressed as a single hourly rate. It includes ownership costs (depreciation, interest, insurance, taxes, storage), operating costs (fuel, maintenance, repairs, tires/tracks, consumables), overhead allocation, and operator wage. Knowing this number is the difference between pricing for profit and pricing to go broke slowly.

TRUEHOUR is built on the same Owning & Operating cost calculation standard created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over 70 years ago. That standard was adopted by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), the Caterpillar Performance Handbook, the Associated Equipment Distributors (AED), and AACE International — the gold-standard references for equipment cost calculation in construction. Traditional O&O focused on machine-level costs only. TRUEHOUR advances the framework with the Business Overhead Center, automatically allocating business overhead across your fleet on a per-hour basis so your rate reflects the true full cost of your operation.

If you don't know your true equipment cost per hour, you can't know if a job is profitable. Many contractors undercharge because they only consider fuel and visible expenses. O&O cost captures everything—depreciation, maintenance reserves, insurance—so your bids reflect reality, not hope.

Owning costs are fixed expenses you pay whether the machine runs or not: depreciation, loan payments, insurance, taxes, and storage. Operating costs are variable expenses that occur when the machine works: fuel, oil, filters, tires, maintenance, and repairs. Both must be accounted for in your hourly rate.

Depreciation is the loss in value of your equipment over time and use. Even if you own your machine outright, it's losing value every hour it runs. Including depreciation in your O&O cost ensures you're setting aside money to replace the equipment when it wears out—not just covering today's expenses.

TRUEHOUR walks you through a structured process: Profile (machine details), Owning (depreciation, financing, insurance), Operating (fuel, maintenance, repairs), and Overhead allocation. The app calculates your true cost per hour using industry-standard formulas. You can see exactly how every dollar contributes to your rate.

At minimum, you need your machine's purchase price, estimated annual hours, and fuel consumption. TRUEHOUR's AI can help estimate values you don't know—like maintenance costs or tire life—based on equipment type and industry data. The more accurate your inputs, the more accurate your O&O cost.

When you don't know a specific cost—like annual maintenance or repair reserves—TRUEHOUR's AI suggests reasonable estimates based on your equipment type, age, and usage patterns. These suggestions come from aggregated industry data. You can accept, adjust, or override any AI suggestion.

Every new user gets 30 days of full access to every TRUEHOUR feature — no credit card required. After 30 days, a TRUEHOUR Pro subscription ($14.99/month or $149.99/year) is required for continued full functionality. No paid subscription begins automatically when your access period ends, and your data is retained.

If you choose not to subscribe to TRUEHOUR Pro, your account moves to Limited / Read-Only Access. Your existing machines, jobs, estimates, and expenses are retained and remain available for review. You won't be able to create or edit business records or use features that require an active Pro subscription. You can subscribe to TRUEHOUR Pro at any time to restore full functionality without starting over.

No. TRUEHOUR's AI suggests realistic cost ranges, fills gaps in your inputs, and analyzes patterns — but it never overrides your values or tells you what to charge. You are always in control of every number that goes into your rate.

Yes. Your data is yours. Benchmark contributions are fully anonymized, opt-in, and aggregated before any comparison is shown. TRUEHOUR does not sell data, and personally identifiable information is never included in any benchmark or shared dataset.

Start with your O&O cost—that's your floor. Then add your desired profit margin. If your O&O cost is $85/hour and you want a 20% margin, your billing rate needs to be at least $106/hour. TRUEHOUR calculates this for you and shows exactly where your money goes.

Common signs: you're busy but not profitable, equipment repairs surprise your cash flow, you can't afford to replace worn machines, or your rates haven't changed in years while costs have risen. If you've never calculated your true O&O cost, you're likely undercharging.

No. Competitor rates tell you nothing about their costs, profit margins, or business health. Many contractors undercharge and eventually fail. Price based on your actual costs plus your required profit margin. TRUEHOUR's benchmarks provide context, but your rate should reflect your reality.

TRUEHOUR is a mobile-first financial operating system for equipment-based small businesses. It calculates your true Owning & Operating (O&O) cost per hour, helps you price jobs for profit, tracks estimated vs. actual performance, and generates Schedule C tax-ready expense summaries — all from your phone.

TRUEHOUR is built for owner-operators, micro-contractors, side-hustle equipment owners, and small fleet owners (up to about 10 machines) who run skid steers, tractors, mini excavators, dozers, trucks, and similar service equipment. If you quote jobs by the hour or the day, TRUEHOUR is built for you. It's not designed for large rental fleets or enterprise operations.

TRUEHOUR works with any equipment you price by the hour: excavators, skid steers, tractors, dozers, loaders, trucks, trailers, mowers, and more. The O&O calculation methodology is equipment-agnostic—if it has costs and generates revenue, TRUEHOUR can calculate its true hourly rate.

Most users complete their first O&O calculation in 10-15 minutes. If you have your purchase price, annual hours, and fuel consumption handy, it's even faster. TRUEHOUR's AI fills gaps for costs you don't know, so you can get a useful result quickly and refine it over time.

Yes. Every expense you log is dual-mapped to both an O&O cost field and an IRS Schedule C category. At year-end, TRUEHOUR generates a categorized tax summary you can hand directly to your accountant — no shoebox of receipts required. TRUEHOUR does not provide tax advice; the summary is a reporting tool for you and your tax professional.

No. TRUEHOUR is designed for contractors, not accountants. The app guides you through each cost category with plain-language explanations. That said, TRUEHOUR's reports—especially the Schedule C summary—can be valuable when working with your accountant at tax time.

TRUEHOUR is available on iPhone, iPad, and Android. Pro subscribers also get cloud sync, so your data stays current across all devices. Whether you're in the cab, at the shop, or in the office, your equipment data is always accessible.

Yes. You can cancel your Pro subscription at any time through your app store account. You'll retain Pro features until the end of your billing period. Your data is retained — Pro features simply become unavailable until you subscribe again.