Raise prices once a year — the right amount, with letters ready to send.

In the U.S. a fuel surcharge is generally legal when it is disclosed clearly before the work is done and charged the way you described it. Check two things first: your written service agreements (some lock the price for a term or require notice), and your state’s rules on how fees are advertised — for example, California has required since July 2024 that advertised prices include mandatory fees. YearlyRaise gives estimates, not legal advice.

Enough to get back the margin rising costs took — no more. YearlyRaise works it out per customer: what that customer cost you to serve when you last set their price (fuel, drive time, labor, materials) versus today, then raises the price so you keep the margin you had. Customers below the minimum margin you choose get an extra margin fix, and big increases can be phased in.

In writing, about 30 days ahead, with the specific reasons and the exact new price and date. Thank them, keep it short, and don’t apologize for running a business. YearlyRaise writes a personal letter for each customer with the real numbers behind their change — fuel, labor and materials since their price was set — and a short phone script for anyone who calls.

Use a surcharge when the problem is fuel and fuel could come back down — it’s temporary, tied to a published price, and easier for customers to accept. Use a permanent increase for labor, materials, insurance and anything that won’t reverse. Many route businesses do both: raise the base rate for labor and materials, and handle fuel with a surcharge.

Some businesses lose a few. Customers are more likely to stay when the increase is explained, announced in advance and fair for what they get. It also helps to know which customers were underpriced: an account that costs you money to serve isn’t one you need to keep at any price. YearlyRaise shows you exactly who is below your minimum margin.

Exports from QuickBooks Online and Desktop (CSV, Excel and IIF), Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, Square, Excel or Google Sheets. YearlyRaise reads CSV, TSV, TXT, XLSX, XLS, XLSM, ODS, IIF and JSON files, or rows pasted from a spreadsheet. Missing columns are fine — anything we fill in is labeled.

Your file is read in your browser. If you save to your account, your list is stored encrypted and you can delete it any time — or export everything we hold. To measure driving distance, customer addresses are sent to a mapping service. Without an account, your progress is saved only in your own browser.

Fuel prices are the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s monthly average retail prices for regular gasoline and on-highway diesel. Inflation is the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The app shows the month of the latest data it uses.

The free margin check shows your margin then and now, the totals for your new plan, the first three customers in full and one complete sample letter. The $149 plan unlocks every customer’s new price with line-by-line reasons, a letter for every customer, price-list and mail-merge exports, the phone script and a rollout calendar — with unlimited edits and re-uploads for 12 months, saved to your account, so you never pay twice for the same plan. Next year’s raise is a new plan.

Not for the free margin check. To save your work across devices, get a yearly raise reminder for every saved plan, or buy a plan, you create a free account with just your email — we send a sign-in link, so there’s no password.

Most service businesses review prices once a year. Smaller yearly increases tied to real cost changes are easier for customers to accept than a large jump every few years. YearlyRaise reminds you about 9 months after your plan, with what next year’s raise is worth.