Painting
Painting Overhead Rate Calculator
Works the overhead rate, which every price has to carry on top of labour.
Result
Overhead is what the business costs whether or not you work. Wages for people who are on jobs belong in job cost instead, and counting them here overstates overhead and underprices everything.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Monthly overhead divided by monthly revenue gives the share of every dollar that goes to keeping the business open, and that percentage is what a price has to recover above direct cost before any profit. The daily figure, overhead divided by working days, is the cost of being open regardless of whether work happens, which in a seasonal trade is a useful number to know.
What moves the number
- Overhead total, which in painting is comparatively modest.
- Revenue, since the rate falls as revenue rises against a fixed base.
- Working days available, which is seasonal in this trade.
- Whether the revenue figure used represents the full year.
Where this one goes wrong
Calculating the rate on a summer month gives a flatteringly low figure, because overhead is level and summer revenue is high. Using an annual figure, or a representative month rather than a peak one, gives a rate that holds. The rate also rises sharply in a quiet month, which is the arithmetic behind why winter feels disproportionately hard: the same overhead is spread across much less revenue, so each job has to carry more of it than a summer job did at the same price.
Before you quote
- Calculate on annual or representative figures, not a peak month.
- Review the rate as revenue and overhead change.
- Use working days after seasonal losses for the daily figure.
Questions
About this calculator
Why does my overhead rate look different in winter?
Because overhead is level and revenue is not. The same fixed costs spread across much less revenue means each job carries more of them, which is the arithmetic behind why a quiet month feels disproportionately hard rather than proportionally so.
Which revenue figure should I use?
Annual, or a representative month rather than a peak one. Calculating on a summer month gives a flatteringly low rate that will not hold through the year, and pricing built on it leaves the business short in exactly the months it can least afford to be.
What does the daily overhead figure tell me?
The cost of being open whether or not work happens, which is useful for judging whether a small job or a short day is worth taking. It also puts a number on weather days, since those cost the daily overhead while producing nothing.
The formula
overhead rate = monthly overhead / monthly revenue
Put this calculator on your site
Free to embed. Paste this where you want it to appear. It stays up to date automatically because it loads from BDEVY.
Please keep the attribution line. It is the only thing we ask in return.
How to use this calculator
- Premises per month ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $1,800.
- Office and management wages ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $5,200.
- Vehicles, fuel and maintenance ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $2,400.
- Insurance and licensing ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $900.
- Software, phones and internet ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $450.
- Marketing and advertising ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $1,500.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to overhead per month, 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 |
|---|---|
| Premises per month | $1,800 |
| Office and management wages | $5,200 |
| Vehicles, fuel and maintenance | $2,400 |
| Insurance and licensing | $900 |
| Software, phones and internet | $450 |
| Marketing and advertising | $1,500 |
| Everything else | $700 |
| Monthly revenue | $40,000 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Overhead per month main result | $12,950 |
| Overhead per year | $155,400 |
| Overhead rate | 32.4% |
| Cost of opening the doors | $588.64 |
Overhead runs $12,950 a month, 32.4% of revenue. Every working day costs $588.64 before anybody turns a wheel.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only premises per month, this is what happens to overhead per month. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Premises per month ($) | Overhead per month |
|---|---|
| $900 | $12,050 |
| $1,350 | $12,500 |
| $1,800 example above | $12,950 |
| $2,700 | $13,850 |
| $3,600 | $14,750 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Premises per month ($)
- A money amount, starting at $1,800.
- Office and management wages ($)
- A money amount, starting at $5,200.
- Vehicles, fuel and maintenance ($)
- A money amount, starting at $2,400.
- Insurance and licensing ($)
- A money amount, starting at $900.
- Software, phones and internet ($)
- A money amount, starting at $450.
- Marketing and advertising ($)
- A money amount, starting at $1,500.
- Everything else ($)
- A money amount, starting at $700.
- Monthly revenue ($)
- A money amount, starting at $40,000.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Overhead per month | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Overhead per year | A money figure. |
| Overhead rate | A percentage. |
| Cost of opening the doors | 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.