Template: price-book starter, twenty tasks with the formula built in
In one paragraph
A price book is the estimating method pre-computed for the jobs you do every week: for each task, the labor unit, the material cost, the overhead and margin already applied, and the resulting flat price the customer hears before you start. The blank starter has the twenty most common C-10 residential tasks and the formula columns; the worked example fills in the numbers for a solo contractor and flags which lines are fixtures for the sales-tax line.
The rule
Each price in the book is (labor hours × (loaded rate + overhead per hour) + materials with tax and waste) ÷ (1 − margin), producing the dollars-and-cents contract amount B&P 7159.5(a)(1) requires. Fixtures carry a stated selling price on the customer's paperwork because the CDTFA taxes fixtures on that price. Tasks priced at $750 or less on a customer-initiated call may be written as a service and repair contract, with payment only after completion (B&P 7159.10).
Why it matters
The price book is what lets you answer the phone with a number, hand a homeowner good / better / best on a tablet, and know that every job carries your overhead and margin without re-deriving them at the kitchen table. Update it from job close-outs and it gets more accurate every month; skip it and every estimate is a fresh chance to underprice.