Job costing for painting contractors

On most painting jobs, labor is by far the biggest cost, so the margin comes down to production: how many square feet or units the crew finishes per day compared with what you bid. JobMargin puts crew hours on the job daily so you can see production slipping while there’s still time to fix it.

What painting contractors track in JobMargin

• Labor against production. Crews clock in to the job; compare labor spent to units or areas finished.
• Paint by the gallon. Price and track coatings in gallons (GAL), walls by the square foot, trim by the linear foot, and doors by each.
• Supplies and equipment. Tape, plastic, rollers, sprayer tips, and lift rentals each have a place, so they don’t disappear into overhead.
• Lodging for travel work. Out-of-town jobs carry their real cost.

Set up for painting from the first day

When you pick Painting as your trade, JobMargin loads these cost categories for budgets, receipts, and job costs. You can rename or add your own at any time.

• Paint & Coatings
• Labor
• Supplies
• Equipment
• Fuel
• Lodging
• Subcontractor
• Other

Bid line items use the units painting actually bid in: square feet (SF), linear feet (LF), each (EA), gallons (GAL), and lump sum (LS).

Example: what a painting job looks like mid-way

Fourteen of the 24 units are finished (58%).

Paint is on track, but labor is 69% spent with 58% of units done, about $1,280 of labor per unit against a bid of about $1,080. At that pace, labor finishes about $4,700 over budget. That’s worth a conversation with the crew lead this week.

Guides and tools for painting contractors