How to write a painting contractor invoice

What goes on a painting contractor invoice

Six things, in the order they belong on the page. The invoice generator opens a painting contractor document with the lines already in place, so most of this is checking rather than typing.

1. Price by room or by square foot, and say which. Both are normal. What causes arguments is quoting one and invoicing the other.
2. Put preparation on its own line. Filling, sanding, stripping and masking is most of the labor and none of what the customer sees.
3. State the number of coats. Two coats over a primer is a different job from one coat over an existing color, and the invoice should say which was done.
4. Show paint separately from labor. Name the brand and finish so the customer can buy the same tin for a touch-up in two years.
5. Bill making good as a variation. Cracked plaster found under wallpaper was not in the quote, and it should not be absorbed into it.
6. Set a punch list window in your terms. Decorating attracts small callbacks. A stated window converts an open liability into a defined one.

The lines a painting contractor invoice usually carries

The generator opens with these lines when you pick Painting contractor. The figures are placeholders to type over, not a going rate.

Add, rename, reorder or delete any line, and set tax per line where it applies. Priced as they open, that comes to $1,730 before tax.

How to write a painting invoice, step by step

1. Put the preparation first. Open the painting contractor invoice and write what the prep involved: washing, filling, sanding, caulking and spot priming. It usually took longer than the painting, and the customer only saw the finish.
2. Price the rooms or the area. Three rooms at a per room rate, or the square footage at a rate, whichever you quoted. Mixing the two on one invoice invites a recalculation.
3. State the coats and the paint. Two coats of the named color and finish on walls and ceilings. That sentence settles most arguments about whether a third coat was owed.
4. Add paint and materials at your price. Paint, primer, tape and sheets from the store receipts, on one line. If the customer bought the paint, say so and leave the line out.
5. Set the punch list window, then send. Say how long the customer has to point out touch-ups. Set 14 days and send it after the walk-round.

Painting invoice example, filled in

Three rooms repainted with the preparation shown as its own line. The coats and finish are written in the note, so the question of whether one more coat was owed has already been answered.

Subtotal $1,730, tax $173, total $1,903. The $220 preparation line is the part customers most often think they did not need, which is why it names the washing, filling and caulking. Three rooms at $280 are shown with their count, and the paint is priced on its own.

Preparation is the job, and the invoice has to show it

A customer looking at a finished room sees paint. They do not see the two days of filling, caulking, sanding and masking that made the paint look like that, and if the invoice does not name it they never will.

Break preparation out as its own line with its own hours. It changes the conversation from why is painting this room so expensive to why the preparation on this particular room took as long as it did, which is a question you can answer with the state of the walls.

It also protects you on comparison. A cheaper quote almost always contains less preparation, and a customer cannot see that difference unless one of the two documents states it.

Coats, color changes and the paint the customer bought

Coverage is a common cause of a decorating dispute. A strong color over white, or white over a strong color, needs coats that a straight repaint does not.

Say on the quote how many coats the price includes, and if the color choice arrives later and needs more, that is a variation with its own line rather than an argument at the end.

Where a customer supplies their own paint, note it on the invoice and state that coverage and finish are not guaranteed on customer-supplied materials. Cheap trade white is where this problem usually starts, and the line above is what stops a third coat being free.

Domestic against commercial, and the invoice each one needs

A homeowner wants to know what a room cost. A managing agent or a shopfitter wants a document they can process against a purchase order without reading it.

For commercial work, put the site address, the order number and the areas or unit numbers on the invoice, keep the descriptions consistent between visits, and use terms in days.

For domestic work the opposite is true: fewer lines, plain words, and the room names the customer uses. The same job can need two different documents and it is worth writing each one for its reader.

Hourly, fixed price or per unit: how painters and decorators price the work

Decorating is priced by room, by square foot or by the day, and the right one depends almost entirely on how bad the walls are. The area is easy to measure and the preparation is not, which is why the same room can be two very different jobs.

Whichever you use, price preparation as its own line. It is the majority of the labor, it is invisible in the finished room, and it is the only thing that explains why your quote is higher than the one that skipped it.

Working out what to charge

Painting prices depend on the prep, the height of the walls and the paint, so a rate from a web page will not fit your job. The paint calculator works out how much paint the rooms need, and the cost estimator builds the job price from your own labor and materials.

Getting paid once it is sent

On larger jobs, take a deposit that covers the paint when the color is chosen, and invoice the balance after the walk-round so the punch list and the payment are agreed at the same time. If the due date passes, the late fee calculator works out what your terms allow and the due date calculator sets the new date.

Five dates decide whether a painting contractor gets paid on time, and four of them are set before the work starts.

Mistakes that cost painters and decorators money

• One price per room. Nobody can see the preparation, so the whole figure looks like paint.
• Coats unstated. A color change turns into a free third coat.
• Paint not named. No way to touch up later without matching by eye.
• Making good absorbed. Cracked plaster under wallpaper becomes free labor.
• No punch list window. Callbacks stay open forever.

Painting contractor invoice questions

Free painting contractor invoice template

The free painting contractor invoice template opens with the lines above already priced, in any of 26 designs made for the trade, and exports a print-ready PDF with nothing saved to a server. Opening a design needs a free account.

Invoicing guides for related trades

Everything on this site, set up for painters and decorators

The whole toolkit, with the reason each one matters to painters and decorators rather than in general. The four marked links open with painting contractor already selected.