Short answer
A painting estimate template in Excel needs two parts: an internal sheet that turns measured areas into hours, gallons, loaded labour, overhead and a break-even, and a customer copy with scope and price. Price = break-even ÷ (1 − margin). In the three-room example, a $1,336.36 break-even quotes at $2,055.94.
- Most free painting estimate templates format a quote; few calculate break-even, which is the number that protects profit.
- Gallons = ROUNDUP(area × coats ÷ coverage, 0); hours = area × coats ÷ your production rate.
- The example: 24 crew-hours and $420.00 of materials give a $1,336.36 break-even and a $2,055.94 price.
- The paid Painting Estimate & Profit Calculator is $14.99 one-time, or part of the $49 7-template bundle.
On this page
- What should a painting estimate template include?
- How to create a painting estimate, step by step
- Example painting estimate: three rooms, two painters
- What the customer sees: a painting bid sheet
- How to make an estimate template in Excel
- Free painting estimate templates vs a pricing calculator
- Mistakes a template can bake in
- What the $14.99 painting template does
- Step-by-step
- FAQ
What should a painting estimate template include?
A useful painting estimate template calculates the price before it formats it. It needs your rates, the job's measurements, hours, paint, overhead, break-even and margin — then a clean customer copy.
| Tab or block | Contents | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Rates | Wage, burden %, overhead a year, painters, billable days, target margin, coverage per gallon | Set once; every job reads it |
| Measurements | Room, surface, length, width, height, doors, windows, coats | Area drives hours and paint |
| Production | Sq ft per hour per coat for walls, ceilings, trim | Turns area into hours |
| Costing | Loaded labour, paint gallons, sundries, overhead share | Adds up to break-even |
| Price | Break-even ÷ (1 − margin), with the markup number beside it | Shows the profit you keep |
| Customer copy | Scope, exclusions, products, price, deposit, terms | What the customer signs |
I'm not a painter; I build pricing spreadsheets, and this page is about the math the sheet must do. For the bidding process itself — measuring, walkthroughs, writing the scope — see how to bid a painting job.
How to create a painting estimate, step by step
Measure, time, cost, then price. Enter measurements per room, let formulas turn them into hours and gallons, add loaded labour and overhead to reach break-even, and divide by one minus your margin.
Try the numbers before you build anything: the calculator below takes hours, materials and your rates and returns the price. It is the same math the template runs per job.
Example painting estimate: three rooms, two painters
Here is a filled-in internal sheet. Production rates (150 sq ft per hour per coat on walls, 100 on ceilings), opening allowances (20 sq ft per door, 15 per window) and prices are assumptions — the template's job is to hold your numbers.
| Room | Openings | Net wall sq ft | Ceiling sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedroom 1 (12 × 14) | 1 door, 2 windows | 366 | 168 |
| Bedroom 2 (12 × 12) | 1 door, 1 window | 349 | 144 |
| Hallway (4 × 20) | 3 doors | 324 | 80 |
| Total | 1039 | 392 |
| Line | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Walls, 2 coats | 1039 × 2 ÷ 150 sq ft/hr | 13.85 hrs |
| Ceilings, 1 coat | 392 ÷ 100 sq ft/hr | 3.92 hrs |
| Set-up, prep, clean-up | whole-job allowance | 6 hrs |
| Crew-hours | 23.77, rounded up | 24 = 2 painters × 12 hrs |
| Wall paint | 2078 ÷ 350 = 5.94 → 6 gal × $45 | $270 |
| Ceiling paint | 392 ÷ 350 = 1.12 → 2 gal × $35 | $70 |
| Sundries | tape, plastic, caulk, filler, covers | $80 |
| Materials | $420 |
Coverage uses 350 sq ft per gallon, the cautious end of the 350–400 range Sherwin-Williams gives as typical. Now the pricing block:
Worked example: Three-room repaint: 2 painters × 12 hours, $420 materials (all inputs are assumptions — use yours)
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Workers (input) | 2 |
| Hourly wage paid (input) | $25.00 |
| Labour burden % (input) | 30% |
| Materials (input) | $420.00 |
| Overhead for the year (input) | $20,000.00 |
| People in the field (input) | 2 |
| Billable days a year (input) | 220 |
| Target margin % (input) | 35% |
| Jobs a week (input) | 2 |
| Hours on the job (input) | 12 |
| Loaded labour rate (per hour) | $32.50 |
| Crew-hours | 24 |
| Labour cost | $780.00 |
| Overhead per sellable hour | $5.68 |
| Overhead share | $136.36 |
| Break-even cost | $1,336.36 |
| Price to quote | $2,055.94 |
| Profit on the job | $719.58 |
| Price if you MARK UP instead | $1,804.09 |
| Margin you actually keep with markup | 25.93% |
| Lost per job by marking up | $251.85 |
| Lost per year by marking up | $26,192.73 |
Computed with the same formulas as the free calculators on this site. Change any input in the calculator above to see your own numbers.
Two painters at a $25 wage with 30% burden cost $32.50 an hour each. Overhead of $20,000 a year over 2 painters × 220 days × 8 hours is $5.68 per crew-hour. Break-even: $780.00 + $420.00 + $136.36 = $1,336.36. Price: $1,336.36 ÷ 0.65 = $2,055.94.
What the customer sees: a painting bid sheet
The customer copy lists scope and price, not your costs. Keep break-even and margin on the internal sheet.
| Item | Included |
|---|---|
| Bedroom 1 | Walls 2 coats, ceiling 1 coat, patch and caulk |
| Bedroom 2 | Walls 2 coats, ceiling 1 coat, patch and caulk |
| Hallway | Walls 2 coats, ceiling 1 coat; doors and trim excluded |
| Products | Brand, colour and sheen as selected by the customer |
| Total price | $2,055.94, deposit and payment terms stated, price valid for a set number of days |
Excluding doors and trim on the customer copy matters: anything not listed becomes an argument later. If trim is included, price it as its own line from its own hours.
How to make an estimate template in Excel
Put inputs in one colour, formulas in another, and lock the formulas. Five formulas do the heavy lifting; the rest is layout.
- Use Data Validation lists for coats (1, 2, 3) and surfaces (walls, ceiling, trim), so a typo cannot break a lookup.
- Reference rates by cell (or a named range like
Wage), never type them into formulas. - Protect the sheet with only input cells editable (Excel: Format Cells → Protection, then Review → Protect Sheet; Google Sheets: Data → Protect sheets and ranges).
- Save a blank master and copy it per job, so every past estimate stays intact.
Net wall area per room
=2*(C5+D5)*E5-F5*20-G5*15C5 = length, D5 = width, E5 = height, F5 = doors, G5 = windows. 20 and 15 are allowance assumptions.
Gallons per line
=ROUNDUP(H5*I5/Rates!$B$8,0)H5 = area, I5 = coats, Rates!B8 = coverage per gallon.
Hours per line
=H5*I5/Rates!$B$9Rates!B9 = your production rate in sq ft per hour per coat.
Break-even
=J20*Rates!$B$2*(1+Rates!$B$3)+K20+J20*Rates!$B$4/(Rates!$B$5*Rates!$B$6*8)J20 = total crew-hours, K20 = total materials; Rates B2 wage, B3 burden, B4 overhead a year, B5 painters, B6 billable days.
Price on margin
=L20/(1-Rates!$B$7)L20 = break-even, Rates!B7 = target margin as a decimal.
Free painting estimate templates vs a pricing calculator
Free templates from invoicing and estimating companies are good at presentation: logo, line items, totals, a PDF to send. Most leave the price for you to type in, which is the part that decides whether the job makes money.
| Option | Cost | Does the pricing math? | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Word / PDF estimate form | Free | No — you type the price | Presenting a price you already worked out |
| Free Excel line-item template | Free | Adds up lines; usually no break-even | Simple jobs, owners who build formulas |
| Free painting estimate calculator | Free, no signup | Yes, one job at a time in the browser | A quick number before a walkthrough |
| Painting Estimate & Profit Calculator | $14.99 one-time | Yes: overhead, break-even, margin and markup shown | Pricing and keeping every job in a spreadsheet |
| Estimating software | Usually a subscription | Yes, plus scheduling and CRM | Crews that need more than pricing |
A sensible setup for many small painters: a pricing sheet to get the number, and whatever template or app they like to present it.
Painting Estimate & Profit Calculator
The spreadsheet version of this guide for Excel & Google Sheets: type your numbers into the highlighted cells and the formulas do the rest. One-time $14.99, no subscription, instant download.
See the Painting Estimate & Profit Calculator →Buy now — $14.99All 7 templates — $49Instant access by email after checkout via Payhip. Want to try the maths first? Use the free calculator — no signup.
Mistakes a template can bake in
A template repeats its errors on every job, so check three things before you trust one.
- Markup instead of margin. Cost × 1.35 is $1,804.09 here, not $2,055.94; it keeps 25.93%, not 35%. That is $251.85 per job. The markup vs margin calculator explains the conversion.
- Labour at the wage. 24 crew-hours at $25 is $600; loaded it is $780.00.
- Overhead as a percentage of materials. Overhead is paid by the hour you sell, so charge it per crew-hour ($5.68 here).
- A fixed per-square-foot price. It hides the production rate. The painting price per square foot guide shows how that rate moves the price.
What the $14.99 painting template does
The painting estimate template is a spreadsheet with live formulas for Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Nothing to install and no subscription.
- Prices paint, materials and labour separately.
- Works paint out from the coverage rate, per area and per coat.
- Adds overhead, then shows your break-even before the price.
- Prices on true margin, not markup — and shows both numbers.
- Saves each job instead of making you retype it.
It is $14.99 one-time, or included in the Complete Toolkit of all 7 templates for $49. If you need your own line items and branding, a done-for-you custom build is $497.
Step-by-step: Painting Estimate Template (Excel): What It Must Calculate, With an Example
- Set up the rates block. Enter wage, burden %, yearly overhead, number of painters, billable days, target margin and coverage per gallon once.
- Measure each room. Record length, width, height, doors, windows and coats per surface; formulas return net area.
- Convert area to hours and gallons. Hours = area × coats ÷ production rate plus set-up allowances; gallons = ROUNDUP(area × coats ÷ coverage, 0).
- Reach break-even. Add loaded labour, paint, sundries and overhead per crew-hour.
- Price and present. Divide break-even by (1 − margin), then copy scope and price to the customer sheet.
Skip the setup: Painting Estimate & Profit Calculator
The spreadsheet version of this guide for Excel & Google Sheets: type your numbers into the highlighted cells and the formulas do the rest. One-time $14.99, no subscription, instant download.
See the Painting Estimate & Profit Calculator →Buy now — $14.99All 7 templates — $49Instant access by email after checkout via Payhip. Want to try the maths first? Use the free calculator — no signup.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free painting estimate template for Excel?
Yes, several estimating and invoicing companies offer free Excel, Word and PDF painting estimate templates. Most format a quote and add up line items; check whether it calculates loaded labour, overhead and break-even, or whether you still have to work the price out yourself.
How do you create a painting estimate?
Measure each surface, multiply by coats, convert to hours with your production rate and to gallons with the coverage rate. Add loaded labour, paint, sundries and overhead to reach break-even, divide by one minus your margin, then write the scope and price on a customer copy.
Can you give an example estimate for painting?
Three rooms with 1,039 sq ft of net wall at two coats and 392 sq ft of ceiling take about 24 crew-hours and $420.00 of materials under this page's assumptions. Break-even is $1,336.36 and the price at a 35% margin is $2,055.94.
How do I make an estimate template in Excel?
Create a rates tab, a measurement table with one row per surface, formulas for area, gallons and hours, a costing block for loaded labour and overhead, and a price cell that divides break-even by one minus margin. Protect formula cells and save a blank master to copy per job.
Is there a free paint estimator app?
The free painting estimate calculator on this site runs in your browser with no signup: enter hours, materials and your rates and it returns break-even and the price to quote. It handles one job at a time and does not save jobs.
What is the best software for estimating painting costs?
It depends on what you need. Subscription estimating apps add scheduling, CRM and e-signatures, which suit growing crews. A spreadsheet suits owners who want to see and control every formula for a one-time cost. Whatever you use, check it prices on margin and includes overhead.
What is a painting bid sheet?
A painting bid sheet is the customer-facing page of an estimate: each room or surface, what is included and excluded, the products, the total price and the terms. Your costs, break-even and margin stay on the internal sheet behind it.
Sources
- Sherwin-Williams paint calculator FAQ — Typical coverage of about 350-400 sq ft per gallon
I'm not a contractor, landlord or accountant. I build the pricing maths, and every number on this page shows its working so you can check it instead of trusting it. Watch the breakdowns on YouTube →