Painting Profit Margin Calculator
Find your true break-even point and set accurate prices to maintain a healthy 50%+ gross margin on exterior paint jobs.
Paint, primer, caulk, tape, and sundries.
Crew wages including prep time, painting, and cleanup.
Margin vs Markup
The biggest mistake painting contractors make when pricing jobs is confusing Markup with Margin. If your costs are $2,000 and you mark them up by 50% ($1,000), your total price is $3,000.
Your profit is $1,000. But $1,000 divided by the $3,000 total price is only a 33% Gross Margin. If you run your business thinking you are hitting 50% margins but are actually hitting 33%, your overhead will eventually sink you.
The Correct Formula
To achieve a true Gross Margin, you must divide your costs by the inverse of your margin goal:
Price = Total Costs / (1 - Margin)
For example, to hit a true 50% gross margin on a $2,000 cost: $2,000 / (1 - 0.50) = $4,000.
Top-tier exterior painting businesses typically target a 50% to 55% gross profit margin.
Command higher prices effortlessly.
To hit 50% margins, you can't sell like a commodity. You have to sell an experience. CurbClose lets you instantly show homeowners exactly how their home will look in any Sherwin-Williams color.
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