Guide for independent technicians
What Percentage Does a Dispatch Company Take?
By Ron Malkian, field technician and founder of Ron Reports · Updated
There is no single standard. Each dispatch company sets a split by agreement, usually written as two numbers such as 50/50, 60/40, or 70/30. What decides your real pay is what the split applies to: gross or net, who pays parts and card fees, and which fees come out of your share.
What a dispatch split means
A dispatch split is the agreed division of a job's money between a subcontracted technician and the company that sends the job. The company typically supplies the lead, the customer, and often the payment processing. The technician supplies the labor, the tools, and the vehicle. The split decides how the money from each ticket is shared.
We have not found a reliable public survey of dispatch split rates. Agreements vary by company, trade, and region, so the useful question is not “what is normal” but “what does this offer pay on my jobs.”
Why the percentage alone does not tell you your pay
Here is the same $400 job with $60 in parts, and the same “40% to you,” under five different agreements. Your pay ranges from $100 to $160.
| How the 40% is applied | Your pay | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 40% of gross, company covers parts | $160.00 | $400 × 40% |
| 40% of net (parts off the top) | $136.00 | ($400 − $60) × 40% |
| 40% of net, card on your own reader | $125.45 | $136 − ($400 × 2.6% + $0.15) |
| 40% of net, $25 dispatch fee per job | $111.00 | $136 − $25 |
| 40% of gross, parts come out of your cut | $100.00 | $160 − $60 |
A $60 swing on one ticket comes entirely from the fine print. Across a full week of jobs, the base of the split matters more than five or ten percentage points.
How to compare two offers
Say Offer A pays 50% of net and Offer B pays 40% of gross with the company covering parts. Offer A looks better on paper. Run both on real tickets:
| Job | Offer A | Offer B | Better |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300 paid, $40 parts | $130.00 | $120.00 | A by $10 |
| $300 paid, $100 parts | $100.00 | $120.00 | B by $20 |
| $150 paid, $20 parts | $65.00 | $60.00 | A by $5 |
The two offers pay the same when parts are exactly 20% of the ticket. If your parts usually run above 20% of the job total, the 40%-of-gross offer pays more; below 20%, the 50%-of-net offer pays more. A rekey or lockout with almost no parts favors a net split. A job heavy on parts favors a gross split where the company covers them.
Plug in your own tickets with the profit split calculator, which handles card fees and per-job fees too.
Questions to ask before you accept a split
- Is the split on gross or on net? If net, exactly what is subtracted first?
- Who pays for parts, and at what price? At cost, or at a price the company sets?
- Who pays card processing fees? And on whose reader is the card run?
- Are there dispatch, lead, or per-job fees? How much, and on which jobs?
- What happens on cancellations and callbacks? Are any chargebacks taken from your share?
- When do you get the weekly report, and in what format? You will want to check it every week.
Once you agree, check it every week
The split you agreed to only matters if it is the split you are paid. Our guide on how to check your dispatch company's weekly report covers the seven errors to look for, including the wrong split rate and parts deducted twice.
This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
Is a 50/50 split fair for a field technician?
It depends on what the 50% applies to and what comes out of your half. A 50/50 split on net after parts, with no extra fees, pays very differently from 50/50 on gross where you also cover parts and card fees. Compare offers on a few of your real jobs, not on the percentage.
What does a 70/30 split mean?
One side keeps 70% and the other keeps 30%, but there is no standard order. Some agreements list the technician first and some list the company first. Get it in writing, then check the first few weekly reports to confirm your share matches what you agreed.
Can a dispatch company charge more for parts than they cost?
If your agreement lets the company supply parts and set the price, the parts line on your report can be higher than what the part actually cost. Ask whether parts are charged at cost, and match every parts deduction on your weekly report against a receipt.
Can I negotiate my split with a dispatch company?
Splits are set by agreement, so the terms can be discussed. Bring numbers: your average ticket, your typical parts cost, and how many jobs you close a week. Showing what the split pays on your actual jobs is more persuasive than asking for a higher percentage.
How do I check that the company applied my split correctly?
Pick a few jobs on the weekly report and divide your share by the net amount (paid minus parts). The result should equal your split. If it does not, recheck the parts and fees on those jobs, then raise the difference in writing with the job dates and addresses.