BookedWork Pro
The expensive part is often what you forgot.
A wall measurement does not tell you how much time is spent protecting furniture, patching, making a supply run or cleaning up. Start with a walkthrough and your own production history. Include setup, travel, protection, preparation, application, cleanup and planned return visits in your labor estimate.
Two painters spending 15 hours each require 30 person-hours. Enter a loaded rate per person, not a price for the whole crew. Count the owner's production labor too; leaving it out can make an underpriced job look profitable.
Give overhead one home.
Choose a consistent allocation method. If fictional monthly overhead is $4,000 and realistic productive capacity is 400 person-hours, that is $10 per productive hour. A 30-person-hour job would receive $300 of overhead. Use your own capacity and costs; paid hours are not all productive hours. Avoid counting a vehicle cost in both job-specific expenses and overhead.
25% markup is not 25% margin.
With $1,800 of listed costs, a 25% markup produces a $2,250 price and a 20% margin. To leave 25% of the selling price after those costs, divide $1,800 by 0.75: $2,400. The calculator rounds the target price up to the next cent so rounding does not undercut the chosen margin.
Because this tool includes allocated overhead, its margin is after the listed overhead. It is not automatically your accounting gross margin or final net profit. Taxes, financing, unlisted costs and actual job performance can change the result.
Turn the private price into a clear customer estimate.
Check the scope and your actual capacity before quoting. Use the FREE editable estimate toolkit to name the surfaces, prep, products, exclusions and approval process. Track actual hours and materials after the job, then revise the next estimate from evidence.
Questions painters ask
Does this tell me the going rate in my town?
No. It calculates from your inputs. There are no built-in regional rates or recommended profit percentages.
Does the reserve replace a change order?
No. It is your private cost allowance. Additional customer scope still needs the approval process agreed in your estimate.
Can I save it and finish later?
Yes. Save the editable JSON working copy and reopen it here. Use Print / save PDF for a readable snapshot. Save locally before leaving; the site does not store your inputs.
Source note
The pricing arithmetic and examples are original. The Painting Contractors Association's estimating guidance supports using measurements, production experience and time beyond application. Check your actual labor, material and overhead records.