How to Price Painting Jobs and Win More Business

Whether you’re tackling interior painting projects or heading outdoors to do exterior jobs, the right price may be all that stands between your business winning a bid and waiting for the next opportunity. Explore tried-and-true strategies for how to price painting jobs as your business grows. 

What goes into your price tag? We’ll walk you through the factors that influence estimates and how fair and transparent pricing can build customer trust and drive profitability.

How Pricing Impacts Your Painting Business

Price, price, price: If it’s too low, your profitability takes a hit, but if it’s too high, customers look elsewhere. Learning how to price painting jobs is key to positioning your business for success. 

Why The Right Pricing Model and Ranges Are Crucial for Painting Businesses

Setting the prices for your painting business goes beyond the current price of materials. It’s a delicate balance that serves both sides. The right pricing can help you sustain profitability, get paid fairly for jobs, and remain competitive. Most of all, customers know what to expect when they work with your business, driving satisfaction and retention. 

So, what would work best for you? When determining how to price painting jobs, you have your pick of multiple pricing strategies: 

• Per square foot: Charging strictly based on the square footage to be painted, averaging at about $1.50-$3 per square foot
• Time and materials: Charging customers for time spent on the job, plus additional costs that arise
• Flat rate: Charging an all-in-one price that combines hourly rate and additional expenses upfront

Differentiating Between Interior and Exterior Painting Jobs

Determining how to price painting jobs depends on your experience, but it also varies by project type. The required materials make a substantial difference on the overall investment. 

Key Pricing Differences for Interior and Exterior

As you well know, interior and exterior painting jobs aren’t created equal. Interiors require more paint and take up to three times as many hours as exteriors. But if you’re tackling an exterior job, you may need a bigger crew and have to prep diverse surfaces, such as metal, brick, or stucco.

All of this impacts price—and that’s before you factor in materials and equipment. Compare the different costs associated with interior and exterior projects:

• Interior paint per gallon: ~$20-$60 
• Exterior paint per gallon: ~$50-$75
• Interior materials: ~$35 for 400 square feet
• Exterior materials: ~$120+ for 2,000 square feet

And depending on your pricing model, you may even need to include prep and cleanup!

Importance of Detailed Site Inspections

Site inspections inform pricing and job estimates because your team can get up close to understand job demands. If you choose to conduct inspections, your foreperson can visit the site to find issues, such as cracks and dings in walls and trim, and note the finer points of the job, such as prep work and cleanup and the condition of surfaces to be painted.

Tips for Conducting a Thorough Inspection for Price Estimation

Customers could easily under- or overestimate their needs because they don’t know the tricks of the trade. When you do a site inspection, carefully measure the area to be painted and note prep requirements:

• Note the surface area by multiplying the perimeter by height.
• Subtract nonpainted surfaces.
• Identify problem areas.
• Note special equipment needs. 

All of this can add time and difficulty to a job. We’ll dig deeper as we discuss both interior and exterior painting projects.

How to Price and Estimate Interior Paint Jobs

The rates you charge need to factor in more than the job type or the paint quality. As you decide how to price painting jobs for interiors, take a few extra steps that will help clarify the depth of the job and the labor involved.

Testing for and Removing Lead 

As you decide how to price painting jobs for residential interiors, you may find that your team needs to do extra prep work. That’s because many homes built prior to 1978 used lead paint. The testing usually costs around $300 and can be baked into customer fees. Still, removing lead paint costs about $14 per square foot to remove, so it adds up quickly.

Measuring the Area

Don’t come up a gallon short. Before you whip out the rollers and brushes, take a few key measurements:

• Determine surface area by multiplying the perimeter by the height.
• Subtract nonpainted surfaces, such as windows and doors.
• Add accents, such as trim, baseboards, and ceilings.

Calculating Cost of Materials

As you grow in your business, you’ll quickly realize that materials can cost up to 20% of each job. Small items, such as scrapers, pans, brushes, drop cloths, and rollers, can cost $50-$100. Combine this with the price of paint, figuring that each gallon can cover 300-400 square feet. And if you’re scratching your head at all of this, try plugging the details into your estimating software to determine material needs and expenses.

Calculating Labor Rate

Everything from crew size to experience can impact labor fees. Take out your calculator to estimate labor hours and project price:

Total expected labor hours = Number of people x number of hours

Total labor costs = Total labor hours x hourly labor cost

But always prepare for the unknown! Add in costs that could impact your delivery, including weather delays, travel time, insurance, and equipment.

Determining Overhead Costs: Insurance, Utilities, and Transportation

Make sure your customers know the overhead costs that are baked into their price tag. 

As you determine how to price painting jobs and share those quotes, itemize everything in this category, including materials, prep/cleanup, and disposal fees.

Avoiding Common Mistakes in Interior Job Pricing

Even as you follow best practices for how to effectively price painting jobs, things don’t always align with expectations. If your earnings for interior paint jobs fall short, consider whether your business is falling into any of these traps:

• Underpricing services: Factor in the full time and effort complex projects require—including the price of products, materials, and labor—to maximize profit margins.
• Project delays: Unknowns always happen, so pad in extra time to deal with such curveballs as inclement weather, employee absences, and equipment trouble.
• Not charging for prep: Preproject feng shui, such as moving furniture or removing wall fixtures, adds to the time you spend, so include it in the estimate. 

How to Price and Estimate Exterior Paint Jobs

Determining how to price painting jobs to refresh exteriors is an intricate process. The steps should sound familiar, but exterior paint jobs also have wholly unique considerations you can’t ignore.

Testing for and Removing Lead 

Remember the lead paint risk we discussed before? It’s just as prevalent for exterior paint jobs. If a home or building was built prior to 1978, prepare to test for lead paint. It costs around $300 to test, and exterior paint removal costs about the same per square foot.

Measuring the Area

Measuring is just as important for exterior work as it is for interior painting. The process is nearly identical for exterior painting: 

• Determine surface area by multiplying the building’s perimeter by its height.
• Measure nonpainted surfaces, such as windows and doors.
• Subtract nonpainted surfaces from the total surface area.
• Add structures, such as garages or sheds, to be painted.

Calculating Cost of Materials

Yes, materials still eat into a substantial portion of exterior painting costs. Budget $50-$100 for the little things—from brushes to rollers—and add to the number of paint cans you’ll need. If you need to do any additional prep work or even apply more than one coat of paint, these factors will increase your cost of materials.  

Calculating Labor Rate

What is your crew bringing to the table? Similar to interior projects, labor will impact how to price painting jobs. So, at a minimum, determine labor hours and costs:

Total expected labor hours = Number of people x number of hours

Total labor costs = Total labor hours x hourly labor cost

Determining Overhead: Insurance, Utilities, and Transportation

You still have to pay for overhead without squashing profitability. Again, itemize materials, prep/cleanup, and disposal fees for each exterior paint job.

Considering Elements Unique to Exterior Painting

Adapting your processes to different needs during an exterior job is more nuanced than swapping paint brushes or climbing a ladder for an interior project. Several factors impact time, effort, and cost, including:

• Weather: Paint won’t dry when it’s too cold, will bubble in heat and humidity, and must stand up to the elements over time. Investing in higher-quality paint can add longevity but drive up costs.
• Height and accessibility: Hard-to-reach spaces require scaffolding, special equipment, or additional labor. When painting a multistory building or house, expect to spend upward of 50% more than a similarly sized one-story structure.
• Painting method: Exterior painting methods vary widely, and so do their corresponding price points. If you’re rolling and brushing, expect to spend more time and money than you would spraying and brushing.

Evaluating Seasonal Considerations and Impacts

Your customers have probably noticed the trends: What they pay you during spring and summer isn’t the same as during fall and winter. Weather conditions and productivity simply change the game. 

When you consider how to price painting jobs for exterior projects across the year, factor in what Mother Nature is doing. You’ll probably find that your prices are higher during cold or wet seasons when demand is lower and exterior conditions make jobs harder.

Setting Your Profit Margin

Don’t be afraid of the numbers: Net profits for painting companies range from just 12-30%. That’s because most of what you make gets put back into the business in some way. To stay in the black and hit your personal financial benchmarks, you need insights into maintaining positive margins. 

A few steps can put your business on the right foot:

Analyzing Market Rates

Researching your local market helps you stay competitive. Conduct a competitor analysis to understand how other businesses price painting jobs. These insights can help you adjust your business plan, offer competitive prices with local market rates, and stand out.

Calculating Desired Profit

There’s probably a magic number that would leave you thinking, “My business is doing great.” But is it realistic? Temper your expectations by adding up the necessary expenses of running your painting business, including:

• Revenue, or the price you charge the customer
• Labor, including wages and benefits, per employee 
• Equipment, including everything from sprayers to scaffolding up to about $4,000 to ensure safety and job quality 
• Insurance, including $1,000 liability, $3,100 workers’ compensation, and $2,000 vehicle insurance per year to protect the business

Use a formula that weighs labor, materials, overhead, and desired profit margins:

Profit Margin (%) = Revenue − (Labor Costs + Material Costs + Overhead / Revenue) × 100

But don’t forget to choose the best pricing model for your business. We discussed how the most popular models work earlier, and each is ideal in certain situations:

• Flat rate is ideal for predictable jobs.
• Per hour is best for projects with uncertain time requirements.
• Per square foot is suited to large projects where size dictates workload.

As you decide how to price painting jobs and put your best foot forward, let the data do the talking. Identifying and focusing on the most profitable jobs can get you closer to your goals.

Adjusting for Discounts and Promotions

Offering discounts and incentives? Make sure your business is still maximizing profits. Carefully define how to implement promotions—whether it’s a seasonal incentive, early bird special, or something else.

How to Apply Discounts and Promotions After Pricing a Job

Little motivates consumers more than the promise of a good deal. But that doesn’t mean you have to do your business a disservice. 

Put guardrails in place, whether that means setting minimum project sizes for discounts or applying discounts only to labor costs. By ensuring that reduced prices still cover labor, materials, and overhead, you can give customers something to look forward to without sacrificing a reasonable profit.

Benefits of Offering Promotions 

Promotions can make your services more competitive. Generate word of mouth, foster customer loyalty, and grow your sales and reputation with competitive discounts, including:

• Early bird discounts: Reduce rates for customers who book services during off-peak seasons or in advance to encourage swift action.
• Bundled services: Combine multiple services, such as exterior and interior painting, at a discounted rate to encourage larger projects. 
• Referral discounts: Incentivize word of mouth by offering discounts to clients who bring you new business.
• First-time customer discounts: Attract new clients with special introductory pricing.
• Loyalty discounts: Reward repeat customers with exclusive rates for future services.
• Seasonal promotions: Launch special offers during slower periods to maintain steady business activity. 

Finalizing the Price

Nailed down an accurate, fair price for a paint job? Put everything in terms your customer can understand and provide options for signing off on the job. 

Virtual Estimates Save Time and Can Be Sent from Anywhere

Consulting big service catalogs or having technicians perform on-site assessments delays estimates. Use estimating software to generate professional, branded estimates anytime, anywhere. Customers can review proposals online and use eSign for approval—and you can still have estimators make slight adjustments later.

Clearly Outline Factors Influencing Your Quote and the Scope of Work

Customers want to know your plans and what their investment covers. Don’t skimp on the details. Besides the timeline and grand total, add line items about all the little things impacting your rates, from surface area and type of paint to number of coats and required prep and cleanup. 

Next Steps: Ensuring Long-Term Success Through Accurate Pricing 

Currently navigating how to price painting jobs for your budding business? So many things can impact your rates, from your team’s experience to local conditions to specific project needs. A few basic steps can inform your pricing strategy:

• Research the local market to understand what your competitors are charging and their specific pricing strategies.
• Identify your target demographic, including the geographic area you wish to serve and whether you will offer interior, exterior, residential, commercial, or some combination of services.
• Implement Service Fusion to simplify estimates and invoicing, and even take advantage of our pricing partnership, Flat-Rate Pricing powered by Profit Rhino!

Service Fusion is your all-in-one painting contractor software designed to make business operations easier, from the back office to the field. Leave the paper processes behind and get automated with Service Fusion.