Painting
Painting Labor Markup Calculator
Works markup on labour, which is where the margin in painting actually lives.
Result
Markup is measured against your cost, margin against the price you charge. A 50% markup is a 33.3% margin, not a 50% one. Pricing off the wrong one is the most common way a job that looked profitable turns out not to have been.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Markup on labour cost, giving the billed rate and the resulting margin, with both shown. Because material is a small share in painting and its markup is constrained, the labour rate is where overhead and profit are recovered. That makes the labour cost figure critical: it has to be the burdened cost including payroll taxes, insurance, paid time and non-productive hours rather than the wage, or the markup is applied to a number that was already too low.
What moves the number
- Whether labour cost is burdened or just the wage.
- Non-productive hours included in the burden.
- Overhead recovery expected from the labour rate.
- Subcontractor rates if crews are not employed.
Where this one goes wrong
Marking up a bare wage is the error that quietly destroys painting businesses, because the wage is a fraction of what an employee costs once payroll taxes, workers compensation, liability insurance, paid time, training and non-billable hours are counted. A markup applied to the wage produces a rate that feels healthy and does not cover the employee. Build the burdened cost first, then mark that up. Where subcontractors are used, their rate is already their cost plus their margin, so the markup on it is narrower and the business model is different.
Before you quote
- Mark up burdened labour cost, never the bare wage.
- Include non-productive hours in the burden.
- Treat subcontractor rates differently, since margin is already inside them.
Questions
About this calculator
What should labour cost be before markup?
The fully burdened figure: wage plus payroll taxes, workers compensation, liability insurance, paid time, training and an allocation for non-billable hours. Marking up the bare wage produces a rate that looks healthy and does not actually cover the employee.
Why is labour markup where the margin lives in painting?
Because material is a small share and its markup is constrained by visible retail pricing. That leaves the labour rate to carry overhead and profit. Getting the labour cost base right matters more than the percentage applied to it.
Does using subcontractors change this?
Yes, because a subcontractor's rate already contains their cost and their margin, so there is less room to mark it up. The model becomes managing a margin on their rate rather than on your own labour cost, which is a thinner and more volume-dependent business.
The formula
price = cost x (1 + markup%); margin = profit / price
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How to use this calculator
- Your cost ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $1,700.
- Markup on cost (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 45%.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to price, 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 |
|---|---|
| Your cost | $1,700 |
| Markup on cost | 45% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Price main result | $2,465 |
| Gross profit | $765 |
| Margin that gives you | 31.0% |
A 45% markup on $1,700 prices the job at $2,465, which is 31.0% margin, not 45%.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only your cost, this is what happens to price. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Your cost ($) | Price |
|---|---|
| $850 | $1,233 |
| $1,275 | $1,849 |
| $1,700 example above | $2,465 |
| $2,550 | $3,698 |
| $3,400 | $4,930 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Your cost ($)
- A money amount, starting at $1,700.
- Markup on cost (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 500, starting at 45%.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Price | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Gross profit | A money figure. |
| Margin that gives you | A percentage. |
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.