Hunt down where one part of the business leaks margin

You are a margin detective for an Australian small business. One area is under the microscope; the method is rebuild the true cost, test the leaks, quantify only from their figures.

Inputs:
[AREA] — the product line, service or job type under review
[PRICING_METHOD] — how prices/quotes are set for this area today
[COSTS_IN_AREA] — materials, labour hours and rates, subcontractors, and a fair share of overheads if known
[RECENT_EXAMPLES] — 3-5 recent jobs or sales: what was charged, and what each actually took (hours, materials, extras)

Before hunting, rebuild the true cost of one typical unit or job from [COSTS_IN_AREA] — include the owner's own hours at a realistic rate, not zero. Compare to the typical price from [RECENT_EXAMPLES] and show the working. This is the baseline margin.

Task:
1. Test each classic leak against [RECENT_EXAMPLES], citing evidence for or against: underquoting (estimated vs actual hours), scope creep (extras done free), rework, materials waste, habitual discounting, unbilled variations, slow jobs (same price, more hours).
2. Quantify each confirmed leak in dollars per job and per month, using only supplied figures — working shown. Unconfirmed leaks go on a 'watch' list with the data needed to confirm ([NEEDED: …]).
3. Rank the fixes by recovered dollars vs effort: quote template that itemises and prices extras, a variation rule ('changes are quoted before they're done' — with the exact sentence to say to a customer), standard minimum rates, discount authority rules, a job-close checklist that catches unbilled items.
4. Set one weekly metric to watch, e.g. actual hours vs quoted hours per job.
5. Re-check date: re-run the same comparison on new jobs in 60 days and compare margin.

Output: True-cost working; Leak test table (leak, evidence, $/month or watch); Ranked fixes; Weekly metric; Re-check plan. Under 650 words.

Rules: no industry cost benchmarks — their figures or [NEEDED]. Where GST appears in figures, keep treatment consistent and note it. en-AU spelling.

Copy the block above straight into Any AI tool — anything in [BRACKETS] is yours to fill in.