Painting
Painter Payroll Calculator
Works painter payroll, where the burden is the figure estimating needs.
Result
Burden rates vary by state, trade and claims history. Take yours from the accounts rather than the default here, because a ten point error moves every price you quote.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Staff times wage times hours, with overtime at its multiplier, then the labour burden applied. The burden covers payroll taxes, workers compensation, liability allocation, paid time and training, and it is the figure that converts a wage into what estimating should use. Painting carries a moderate workers compensation rate, higher than an office trade and well below roofing or tree work, but the full burden still adds a substantial percentage.
What moves the number
- Workers compensation rate, which varies with the work performed.
- Overtime hours, which carry burden on the premium as well.
- Paid time off and holidays.
- Whether exterior ladder and height work raises the classification.
Where this one goes wrong
Whether the work involves height matters to classification. Interior painting and exterior work from ladders and staging are not always rated the same, and a business doing both needs the payroll split correctly rather than all at one rate, since a misclassification discovered at audit produces arrears. On overtime, the burden applies to the premium too, so an overtime hour costs the uplifted wage plus burden on that larger figure, which is worth knowing before committing to a deadline that needs it.
Before you quote
- Split payroll by classification where interior and exterior differ.
- Apply burden to the overtime premium, not just base hours.
- Use the burdened figure in estimating rather than the wage.
Questions
About this calculator
What does a painter actually cost per hour?
Meaningfully more than the wage once payroll taxes, workers compensation, liability allocation, paid time and training are counted. That burdened figure is what estimating should use, and a business pricing from the wage is underpricing every job in the same direction.
Does interior and exterior work have different comp rates?
They can, since exterior work from ladders and staging carries fall exposure that interior work does not. A business doing both should have payroll split by classification, because a misclassification found at audit is corrected with arrears rather than going forward.
How much does overtime really cost?
More than the multiplier suggests, because the burden applies to the premium as well. An overtime hour costs the uplifted wage plus burden on that larger figure, which is worth calculating before agreeing a deadline that can only be met with it.
The formula
cost = (wage x hours + wage x multiplier x overtime) x (1 + burden%)
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How to use this calculator
- People. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 4.
- Hourly wage ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $22.
- Normal hours per week. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 40.
- Overtime hours per week. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 4.
- Overtime multiplier. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.5.
- Labour burden (%). Payroll tax, insurance, holiday, training.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to payroll per week, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| People | 4 |
| Hourly wage | $22 |
| Normal hours per week | 40 |
| Overtime hours per week | 4 |
| Overtime multiplier | 1.5 |
| Labour burden | 28% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Payroll per week main result | $5,181 |
| Payroll per year | $269,435 |
| True cost per hour | $29.44 |
| Overtime per year | $35,144 |
Payroll is $5,181 a week, $269,435 a year. A $22.00 wage really costs $29.44 an hour, and overtime alone accounts for $35,144.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only hourly wage, this is what happens to payroll per week. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Hourly wage ($) | Payroll per week |
|---|---|
| $11 | $2,591 |
| $16.5 | $3,886 |
| $22 example above | $5,181 |
| $33 | $7,772 |
| $44 | $10,363 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- People
- A number, between 0 and 500, starting at 4.
- Hourly wage ($)
- A money amount, starting at $22.
- Normal hours per week
- A number, between 0 and 80, starting at 40.
- Overtime hours per week
- A number, between 0 and 60, starting at 4.
- Overtime multiplier
- A number, between 1 and 3, starting at 1.5.
- Labour burden (%)
- Payroll tax, insurance, holiday, training.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Payroll per week | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Payroll per year | A money figure. |
| True cost per hour | A money figure. |
| Overtime per year | A money figure. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.