Painting · Price your work

Painting Bid, Labor & Profit Margin Calculator

A painting bid should separate preparation from application. Estimate painter-hours and rounded-up material quantities, add equipment and overhead, then calculate the price at your chosen margin.

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Calculate your result

Make it your business

Start with an example, then replace the assumptions. Results update as you type.

Examples illustrate different workloads. They are not market averages or recommended prices.

Paintable surface area (sq ft)

Wall or other paintable surface area, not room floor area.

Coats (coats)

Application coats for the scope being priced.

Total preparation painter-hours (hours)

All painters' combined prep time.

Hourly wage or owner labor allowance ($/hour)

Include a fair cost for your own labor even when you work alone.

Target operating margin (%)

Profit as a share of selling price, after all costs entered. A 25% margin is not a 25% markup.

Cost & schedule assumptions 7 inputs

These example values affect your result. Review each before relying on the worksheet.

Paint coverage per gallon per coat (sq ft/gallon)

Use the product's coverage and adjust for your substrate and application losses.

Paint cost per gallon ($/gallon)

Your actual purchase cost.

Application production per painter-hour (sq ft/hour)

Surface square feet per coat per painter-hour. Prep is separate.

Additional payroll burden (%)

Your employer taxes, workers' comp, benefits and paid-time allowance as a percentage of wages. Avoid double counting separate cost fields.

Other supplies ($)

Masking, rollers, protection and consumables.

Equipment and access costs ($)

Rental and other job-specific equipment costs.

Allocated job overhead ($)

Insurance, vehicles, administration and other costs.

Export to keep your work. Refreshing or leaving this page clears your inputs and saved comparison.

YOUR WORKSHEET

Painting bid

$2,866.67

Paint gallons, rounded up

Job cost

$2,150.00

Operating profit

$716.67

See the cost breakdown

Loaded prep + painting labor: 1,160
Paint + supplies: 640
Equipment + overhead: 350
Profit: 716.67

Rows use the dollars or hours named in each label.

What if the assumption changes?

Change only application production per painter-hour by ±20%. Bounds apply. Everything else stays fixed; this is a scenario, not a forecast.

Painting bid
Application production per painter-hour	Result
120 sq ft/hour -20%	$3,133.33
150 sq ft/hour Current	$2,866.67
180 sq ft/hour +20%	$2,688.89

Area means paintable surface, not floor area. Coverage and production must match the paint, substrate and application method. Labor hours are painter-hours.

Prepare a customer service estimate

Includes your scope and calculated service price. Your costs, margin and internal comparisons are excluded.

Scope and schedule to include

Review the draft before sharing. Taxes and terms need your review.

Add a scope to enable your estimate download.

When your business changes

Tell your insurance professional about the actual painting activities, subcontractors, heights, equipment and customer requirements.

Explore the insurance next step

Illustrative planning, not an insurance quote. Inputs and results are excluded from tool analytics.

Understand the result

The method,
made clear.

Gallons = ceiling(area × coats ÷ coverage). Painter-hours = preparation + area × coats ÷ production. Bid = (loaded labor + paint + supplies + equipment + overhead) ÷ (1 − margin).

Inspect the surface before relying on an estimate. Preparation and access can outweigh the application cost, and the calculator does not assess lead-safe requirements.

How to use this tool

01
Replace the example inputs with your actual costs and work estimates.
02
Compare the result with a real completed job or your current operating budget.
03
Adjust the assumptions, download your worksheet, and review the relevant insurance questions before your business changes.

Worked example

Using the illustrative inputs below produces painting bid: $2,866.67. These are example business assumptions, not market benchmarks.

Paintable surface area: 2,000 sq ft
Coats: 2 coats
Paint coverage per gallon per coat: 350 sq ft/gallon
Paint cost per gallon: 45 $/gallon
Application production per painter-hour: 150 sq ft/hour
Total preparation painter-hours: 12 hours
Hourly wage or owner labor allowance: 25 $/hour
Additional payroll burden: 20 %
Other supplies: 100 $
Equipment and access costs: 150 $
Allocated job overhead: 200 $
Target operating margin: 25 %

Paint gallons, rounded up: 12

Job cost: $2,150.00

Operating profit: $716.67

Before you rely on the numbers

Assumptions
and limitations.

Every prefilled number is an illustrative example, not a market average, recommended price, tax rate, or insurance quote.
Results use only the costs and time you enter. Include owner compensation, insurance and overhead where applicable without counting a cost twice.
Calculations exclude sales tax and financing unless you include them in your inputs. Round your final customer price deliberately.

From planning to protection

Your next
insurance question.

Tell your insurance professional about the actual painting activities, subcontractors, heights, equipment and customer requirements.

Explore painting insurance

Worksheet inputs are not submitted to a carrier or added to an insurance application. Confirm the facts in the quote form before you submit.

Questions owners ask

A few useful answers.

Should I enter floor area?

No. Enter the actual paintable surface area for the scope. Floor area is not interchangeable with walls, ceilings or exterior surfaces.

Does the calculation account for prep?

Yes, through a separate total painter-hours input. Add all required preparation and do not also include it in application production.

Is the result an estimate I can send as a contract?

It is a costing worksheet. A customer proposal still needs the scope, exclusions, terms and any applicable legal requirements.

Keep planning

The next useful tool.

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Build an insurance discussion checklist for your services, employees, vehicles, equipment and customer requirements.

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Payroll premium scenarios

Model the payroll-rated component of workers' compensation using your own policy rate and experience modifier.

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Sources and methodology

Prepared by Kinro. Methodology and linked references checked 2026-10-29. Calculation formulas are Kinro planning models. Sources support the concepts stated below; they do not endorse our example values or results.

IRS: Employment taxes (opens in a new tab)
Employer costs extend beyond wages. Enter the payroll burden that applies to your business; the tool does not calculate tax liability.
NAIC: Small business insurance (opens in a new tab)
Different exposures call for different coverage discussions. Eligibility, requirements, exclusions, and policy terms need individual review.

Educational planning only. Confirm coverage, requirements and policy suitability with a licensed insurance professional. No coverage is quoted, bound or changed by using a worksheet.