What percentage of revenue should go to overhead for a painting company?

The target range for painting companies is 20-30% of revenue going to overhead. Below 20% usually means a very lean operation or underinvestment in growth. Above 30% signals you may be overspending or underpricing. Marketing should be 5-8% of revenue for a stable business and 10-15% if you are actively growing. Vehicle costs typically run 5-8% and insurance 3-5%.

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Overhead Cost Calculator

Add up all monthly/annual overhead costs to know your true break-even. Painting-specific categories including lift rental and protective equipment.

Facility (Monthly)

Shop / Storage Rent ($)

Utilities ($)

Vehicles (Per Vehicle)

Number of Vehicles

Fuel per Vehicle ($)

Insurance per Vehicle ($)

Maintenance per Vehicle ($)

Payment per Vehicle ($)

Insurance (Monthly)

General Liability ($)

Workers Comp ($)

Umbrella / Bonding ($)

People (Monthly, Non-Painter)

Office / Admin Staff ($)

Estimator / Project Manager ($)

Enter $0 if owner handles estimating

Owner Salary ($)

Bookkeeper ($)

Equipment & Supplies (Monthly)

Ladder / Scaffold Maintenance ($)

Sprayer Equipment ($)

Amortized cost or monthly payment

Lift Rental Reserve ($)

Monthly avg for boom lift, scissor lift

PPE / Protective Equipment ($)

Respirators, masks, gloves, coveralls

Drop Cloths / Reusable Supplies ($)

Operations (Monthly)

Software / CRM ($)

Phone / Internet ($)

Uniforms / Branded Apparel ($)

Licensing & Compliance (Monthly)

Lead Paint / RRP Certification ($)

EPA RRP cert amortized monthly

Business Licenses ($)

Safety Training ($)

Fall protection, VOC handling, etc.

Marketing (Monthly)

Online Ads ($)

SEO / Website ($)

Print / Door Hangers ($)

Referral Programs ($)

Other (Monthly)

Accounting / Legal ($)

Bad Debt Allowance ($)

Misc ($)

Context (For Per-Hour & Per-Job Math)

Number of Painters

Billable Hours/Month per Painter

Avg 6 hrs/day x 20 days

Annual Revenue ($)

Avg Jobs per Month

Results

Monthly Overhead

Annual Overhead

Per Painter (Annual)

Per Billable Hour

Per Job (Avg)

Overhead % of Revenue

Category Breakdown (Monthly)

Facility--

Vehicles--

Insurance--

People--

Equipment--

Operations--

Licensing--

Marketing--

Other--

Painting Overhead Benchmarks

Target Overhead20 – 30% of revenue

Marketing5 – 8% of revenue (10%+ for growth)

Vehicles$500 – $1,100/mo per vehicle

Insurance3 – 5% of revenue

Your Overhead % of Revenue--

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How to Use This Calculator

1. Fill in each overhead category. Start with the defaults and adjust to match your actual expenses. Every dollar you spend to keep the business running that is not tied to a specific paint job belongs here.

2. Set your vehicle count. Enter the number of vehicles you operate. The calculator multiplies per-vehicle costs by your fleet size to get the total vehicle overhead.

3. Enter your context numbers. The number of painters, billable hours per painter, annual revenue, and jobs per month let the calculator translate raw overhead into per-hour and per-job figures you can use for pricing.

4. Review your results. Check whether your overhead percentage falls within the 20-30% target range. Use the per-hour and per-job numbers to make sure your billing rates cover overhead plus profit.

How Painting Overhead Works

Overhead is every cost that keeps the business running but cannot be billed to a specific job. It includes rent, vehicles, insurance, office salaries, equipment maintenance, software, marketing, and licensing. Unlike paint and painter labor, overhead does not change based on how many jobs you run in a given week.

Painting businesses typically have lower overhead than HVAC or plumbing companies because they do not need expensive diagnostic equipment, specialized trucks, or complex inventory. However, many painting contractors underestimate their true overhead because they forget to include equipment depreciation, lift rental reserves, and lead paint certification costs.

The per-hour number is the most important output. It tells you exactly how much overhead you burn for every billable hour a painter works. If your overhead per hour is $30 and you bill the customer $55 per hour, you only have $25 left to cover the painter's wages and profit. Knowing this number forces you to price correctly.

Vehicles_Monthly = Num_Vehicles x (Fuel + Insurance + Maintenance + Payment)

Total_Monthly = Facility + Vehicles + Insurance + People + Equipment + Operations + Licensing + Marketing + Other

Annual_Overhead = Total_Monthly x 12

Per_Painter = Annual_Overhead / Number_of_Painters

Per_Hour = Annual_Overhead / (Painters x Billable_Hours x 12)

Per_Job = Total_Monthly / Jobs_Per_Month

Overhead_Pct = (Annual_Overhead / Annual_Revenue) x 100

When To Use This

Setting billing rates. Before you decide what to charge per hour or per job, you need to know your overhead per hour. This calculator gives you that number so you can build rates that actually cover your costs and leave room for profit.

Annual budgeting and planning. At the start of each year, plug in your expected costs. If overhead is creeping above 30% of projected revenue, you need to either cut costs or grow revenue.

Evaluating growth decisions. Thinking about adding a vehicle, hiring an estimator, or increasing your ad spend? Enter the new numbers and see how they change your overhead per hour and overhead percentage.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are typical painting business overhead costs?

Most painting businesses carry 20-35% overhead relative to revenue. The largest categories are usually vehicle costs, payroll for non-painter staff, insurance, equipment, and marketing. A two-vehicle operation with storage typically runs $12,000-$22,000 per month in overhead before any painter labor or job materials.

How do I calculate overhead per billable hour for painting?

Divide your total annual overhead by the total billable hours your painters produce in a year. For example, if annual overhead is $180,000 and you have 4 painters each billing 120 hours per month, your total billable hours are 5,760. Overhead per hour is $180,000 / 5,760 = $31.25.

What percentage of revenue should go to overhead?

The target range for painting companies is 20-30% of revenue going to overhead. Below 20% usually means a lean operation. Above 30% signals overspending or underpricing. Marketing should be 5-8% for a stable business and 10-15% if actively growing.

How do I reduce painting business overhead?

Start by identifying your top three overhead categories. Common wins include renegotiating insurance annually, maintaining equipment to extend its life, cross-training office staff, auditing subscriptions, and negotiating better lift rental rates. Do not cut marketing below 5% of revenue.

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