For professionals in the painting industry, creating a detailed and thorough estimate is an essential part of the job. Providing the best painting service to your customers goes beyond artistry by also including your professionalism. One of the best ways to ensure professionalism is by having an open line of communication with customers and providing an accurate estimate for the project. As a painting business, you should deliver an estimate that includes the overall cost, travel time, preparation, materials, labor cost, the extent of work, and so on.

Skynova has simplified the process of creating a thorough estimate with a free estimate template. Instead of trying to make an existing MS Word or Excel format work for you, you can speed up the process and deliver estimates to your customers quickly through our customizable template. Skynova's estimate template can help you create a printable estimate form and that you can download as a PDF directly on our site.

After you've completed your painting estimate, you can email a private link to your customer, enabling them to accept or decline online. This process accelerates the approval process, empowering you to begin painting services more quickly than other methods. All in all, by using a template for your painting estimate, your team can get to work faster and provide the best product. If you're a painter, check out the template we've made below just for your business:

Want to customize your estimate?

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Estimate #
Date
Item Description Unit Price Quantity Amount
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Subtotal
Total
Amount Paid
Estimate 0.00

How to Create a Painting Estimate

As a business owner, handling paperwork is a necessary aspect of your job, even though it may feel like a nuisance. Administrative chores can quickly use up valuable time, which is why having the right products is essential.

Providing customers with a contractor estimate ensures that customers know what to expect, avoiding potential misunderstandings. By laying out expectations, you can improve your customer's experience and build a better reputation for your painting company.

Whether your focus is on interior painting or exterior painting, follow the simple steps below to craft a professional painting estimate to send to any potential customer. By eliminating the hassle of handling this paperwork in the future, you can speed up the estimation process and get to work more quickly.

  1. Add Names, Addresses, and Contact Information for You and Your Customer

    The first step in creating a painting estimate is ensuring that your customer has contact information that they can clearly recognize. If your contact information is not clear, it can confuse a potential customer, and they might overlook or discard it.

    In this step, it's important to double-check that all of the fields are correct. For instance, the "From" field should have your business name that the customer can quickly identify. For the "To" field, you should confirm the name of your customer and make sure that you spell it correctly.

    You will also need to add the customer address, which should include the street address and additional contact information. As a painting business, you should include your company's business address and your contact information, like a phone number or email address. This ensures that the potential customer will be able to reach you in a timely manner.

  2. Input Your Painting Business's Logo

    Next, you'll want to insert your logo into the painting estimate. Although it is often overlooked, your business logo adds a touch of professionalism and legitimacy to your estimate. Plus, adding your business's logo should only take a few seconds.

    Simply click "Show Customization Options" and select "Logo." From there, choose the "Browse" button to locate your painting business logo. With just a few clicks, your business logo will appear in the top-right corner of the template.

  3. Include a Unique Estimate Number

    In addition, you'll need to add an estimate number, which will allow you to track and refer to that specific estimate in the future. This can also help your painting business distinguish between estimates easily and make it easier to locate individual estimates from your records.

    With our free estimate template, you can enter any combination of letters and numbers into the "Estimate" field. We suggest creating a consistent system for making painting estimates and maintaining that system going forward. Whatever combination of letters and numbers you prefer, moving forward with a consistent system will prevent duplication issues and eliminate potential confusion.

    We suggest that newer painting businesses avoid an estimate number that indicates their inexperience. For example, if you are creating your first estimate, you might be inclined to use an estimate number of "001." However, this should be avoided. Instead, we recommend starting with a number like "601" or "10001." As long as you keep track and consistently follow this system, the starting point does not matter.

    In some cases, you might want to add the associated purchase order (P.O.) number to your estimate. Once the customer accepts the estimate, Skynova can automatically convert the estimate to an invoice. All in all, this speeds up the processing time and eliminates additional administrative tasks.

    Like adding a logo, all you need to do is click "Show Customization Options" and select "P.O. #." Once this has been selected, you can fill in the P.O. number, located beneath the "Estimate #."

  4. Include a Specific Estimate Date

    In this next step, you will need to add an estimate date, which should be the day the estimate was created or sent. Adding an estimate date is good for your records and for the customer to refer to if needed.

  5. Calculate and Enter the Cost of Your Painting Supplies

    Next, you will need to calculate and enter the overhead costs of your supplies. In many cases, a painting contractor will charge customers by the price of painting per square feet and the price of the paint. Since quality paint isn't cheap, you'll want to make sure that your painting estimate includes the cost of the paint. This way, customers will be able to refer to the painting proposal and understand the individual costs.

    The description field should be understandable to all customers, as many are not familiar with niche terms. It's vital that the individual descriptions are comprehensible for everyone. Avoid ambiguity by making it clear what supplies you are mentioning in layman's terms. In addition to the paint estimate, you might consider adding the cost of these supplies to your estimate sheet:

    • Tarps
    • Tape
    • Rollers
    • Brushes

    When itemizing your estimate, you can input the cost of supplies by selecting "Product." From there, add the description. In this case, you can fill in a description explaining that the cost is per gallon of paint. The "Unit Price" would be the cost of the paint, and "Quantity" would be the number of gallons.

  6. Calculate and Enter the Cost of Painting

    In this next step, you'll want to ensure that you have accurately estimated the cost of labor in your painting estimate form. It's vital that you provide customers with the labor aspect of the overall cost. Some painters charge per hour, while others may charge for the total labor of the project. Regardless of which option your painting business uses, you should make it abundantly clear to customers.

    Skynova's work estimate template allows large and small business owners to charge an hourly or fixed rate. Simply select "Hourly" or "Service" to charge your customer. For painters charging by the hour, add to the description that you are doing so and explain that the "Unit Price" is the hourly rate and that "Quantity" is the number of hours worked.

    If you choose to charge hourly, make sure that you note the estimated number of hours. For those choosing to charge for the entire painting contract, make that clear in the description. In this case, the "Unit Price" would be the overall cost of the painting service, and "Quantity" would be "1" for the service.

  7. Enter Any Painting Discounts Provided

    If your painting business provides discounts, Skynova's estimate template will allow you to input the discount price. Under "Item," select "Discount." Next, you should explain the discount in the description. Some discounts might include a new customer discount, loyalty discount, referral discount, and more.

    After you've explained the discount, add the discount amount to the "Unit Price." For instance, if you offer a $10 off new customer discount, you would input "10" into the "Unit Price" and "1" for "Quantity." Click the "Amount" box to add the discount.

    Please note that the discounted amount will appear as a negative number (e.g., -10.00) and automatically subtracted from the estimate total.

  8. Add a Note About the Paint Job and Any Additional Information

    Lastly, you should add a note to your painting estimate. By adding a note, you can provide additional information to explain any of the line items that you entered above. This can help contextualize and clarify any potential confusion.

    For example, if you added a discount to the painting estimate, you could fill in the "Notes" section to explain why you added that discount. Alternatively, you might have added a particular charge for high ceilings. This additional fee should be explained so that your customer understands why your estimate includes it.

    Additionally, you might need to alert customers about any additional fees they may need to pay. The "Notes" section is the perfect place to disclose to customers that there might be scenarios that are difficult to anticipate. Although the final cost of the painting project should be close to the estimate, there are some cases in which additional fees might be warranted.

Tips and Best Practices for Painting Estimates

Skynova's platform can simplify the process of creating your estimate form for your painting bid. Not only does Skynova's estimate template speed up the process, but it also is more professional than other platforms. Accompanied by a suite of products, Skynova's estimate template streamlines the necessary paperwork for a painting business.

Below, we've compiled a short list of helpful suggestions for creating estimate forms and integrating the Skynova platform into your business.

  • Automatically Convert Estimates Into Invoices

    Eliminate additional paperwork by using Skynova's customer plan to convert estimates into invoices. By using our service, you can quickly convert accepted estimates into invoices once you have completed the painting job.

  • Simplify the Acceptance Process for Customers

    Allow customers to accept estimates online without downloading any software. This will help save on the processing time and enable your team to begin painting as soon as possible.

  • Include an Estimate for the Length of the Project

    Add an estimate for the length of the painting project. Not every project will use the same amount of time, and many customers may not be aware of industry standards. Giving your customer an estimate for when they can expect the painting project to be finished can avoid future confusion and clear expectations.

  • Discuss Potential Additional Costs in Advance

    Make sure to inform customers about any additional costs that might occur. The final cost might change when you are on the job.

  • Send a Receipt When the Job Is Finished

    Once you've completed the painting job and provide an invoice, you should send all customers a receipt. Not only will an itemized receipt be good for their personal records but also for your business records.

Streamline the Painting Estimate Form Process With Skynova

Skynova's platform was designed to help business owners, like you, cut back on the clerical work necessary to run a successful painting business. With our editable quote template, invoice template, and software products, you can tackle administrative tasks in minutes and really dedicate yourself to other aspects of running a painting company. Since our products integrate seamlessly, you can automatically turn accepted job estimates into invoices, helping you get paid faster.

Additional Industry Estimate Templates