Does That $349 Impact Pay Itself Back? A Worked Example

Take a DCF887 at $145.99. Assume it saves you 2 hours per week vs. the corded impact it replaces (no cord management, faster reloads, more reach).

At $75/hr billable: 2 hrs × $75 = $150/week. Payback: $145.99 ÷ $150 = 0.97 weeks. Call it 7 days.

At $55/hr (solo handyman): 2 × $55 = $110/week. Payback: $145.99 ÷ $110 = 1.3 weeks. Call it 10 days.

Over 5 years (48 weeks/year working): $150/week × 240 weeks = $36,000 of labor saved. Minus the tool cost: $35,854 net. That's a 24,561% return on $146.

Not your stated rate. Use your effective hourly — total annual revenue divided by total labor hours worked. Solo contractors typically effective at $55-95/hr. Crew leaders $85-150. If you don't know yours, it's almost certainly lower than you think.

If you bill by the job, estimate how many billable hours the tool enables. Example: if a new impact saves you 30 minutes on every service call and you do 4 calls a day × 5 days = 20 calls/week = 10 hours saved. At your effective rate, that's a lot of payback very fast.

A $300 tool that saves you 10 minutes per week is a 30-week payback. If you're only using the tool a few times per week, look at a compact/budget alternative instead — or skip the upgrade entirely.

The math also breaks if you're comparing vs. a corded tool you already own. If the old tool works fine for your volume, the "savings" aren't new revenue — they're marginal time gains that don't translate to billable hours.

Cordless impact drivers and compact drills: 1-2 weeks on most pro rates. These are daily-use tools; the time compounding is huge.

Rotary hammers: 4-8 weeks if you drill concrete regularly, 6 months if you only do it occasionally.

Oscillating multi-tools: 2-4 weeks for remodelers (they replace a hacksaw + jigsaw + utility knife).

Laser levels: 1-3 days for framers, 2 weeks for GCs. Huge time saver.

Expensive specialty tools (core drills, magnetic drill presses): depends entirely on how often you use them.