Flat Rate Price Builder

1. Select the job type. Choose from common painting jobs. Materials cost and labor hours auto-fill based on industry averages for that job type. Pick "Custom" to enter your own values from scratch.

2. Adjust materials cost and markup. Override the default with your actual supplier pricing. Standard paint products typically carry 30-50% markup. Premium and specialty products use 40-60%. Your markup should cover waste, returns, and color matching time.

3. Set your labor rate and hours. Your billable rate should cover painter wages, overhead, vehicle costs, and profit. Adjust labor hours based on your crew's average completion time for this type of job.

4. Add optional extras. Check any add-ons that apply. Each one adds materials cost and labor hours to the base price. The rush surcharge adds 15% to the total.

5. Review your flat rate against the market average. The comparison bar shows where your price falls relative to the typical range. If you are more than 20% below the low end, you may be leaving money on the table.

Hourly billing punishes your best painters. An experienced crew that finishes a bedroom in 5 hours earns your company less revenue than a slower crew that takes 8 hours. Flat rate pricing flips that equation. Your price reflects the value of the finished result, not the time spent painting.

Homeowners prefer flat rate because it eliminates uncertainty. When a homeowner hears "it'll be $45 an hour per painter plus materials," their anxiety spikes. Every break, every trip to the van, every minute feels like money ticking away. A flat rate quote of $650 for the bedroom repaint removes that stress entirely. Higher close rates follow directly.

Flat rate also makes your business predictable. You know exactly what revenue each job will generate before the crew leaves the shop. That makes scheduling, payroll forecasting, and profit tracking dramatically simpler. Most painting companies that switch from hourly to flat rate see revenue increase 15-25% within the first year with no additional marketing spend.

Building your price book from scratch. You are starting a new painting company or transitioning from time-and-material to flat rate. Use this tool to price out every common job type, compare to market averages, and build a complete price book your estimators and crew leads can reference in the field.

Seasonal price updates. Paint prices change with supplier costs. Run your top 10 job types through the builder each season with updated supplier pricing to make sure your flat rates still hit your profit margin targets.

Training new estimators. Show a new estimator exactly how the flat rate breaks down: materials revenue, labor revenue, cost, and profit. When your team understands the math, they present prices with more confidence and close more jobs.