Painting
Painting Revenue Per Crew Calculator
Measures revenue per crew, where the constraint is usually supervision rather than demand.
Result
An average hides a lot. One strong performer and one struggling one produce the same average as two mediocre ones, and the management action is completely different.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Revenue divided by crews gives revenue per crew, with the contribution each makes after its own cost. Painting crews need little capital, so adding one is a hiring decision rather than a capital one, which makes growth easier here than in equipment-heavy trades. The binding constraint is usually supervision and quality control, since finish quality is the product and it degrades without oversight.
What moves the number
- Crew size and composition, including whether a lead painter supervises.
- Supervision capacity, which limits how many crews can run well.
- Utilisation, since a crew without work still costs if employed.
- Job mix, as larger jobs keep a crew occupied with less scheduling.
Where this one goes wrong
Growth in painting fails on quality rather than on demand. Adding crews is cheap and the work is usually available, but finish quality is the product, and crews running without an experienced lead or regular inspection produce callbacks and damaged reputation faster than the revenue accumulates. The constraint to manage is supervision, which means promoting and training leads before adding crews rather than after, and that lead time is what most businesses underestimate when they decide to grow.
Before you quote
- Grow supervision capacity before adding crews.
- Inspect finished work rather than relying on crew self-report.
- Watch callback rate as the leading indicator of over-expansion.
Questions
About this calculator
What limits growth in a painting business?
Supervision and quality rather than demand or capital. Crews are cheap to add and work is usually available, but finish quality is the product and it degrades without oversight. Callbacks and reputation damage accumulate faster than the revenue does.
How do I add a crew without losing quality?
By promoting and training a lead painter before the crew is needed rather than after. That lead time is what businesses underestimate. Inspecting finished work rather than relying on self-report is the other control, and callback rate is the early warning.
Is adding a painting crew expensive?
Comparatively cheap, since the equipment is modest, which is precisely why the risk is quality rather than capital. The temptation is to add crews because the financial barrier is low, and the cost appears later as callbacks and lost referrals rather than upfront.
The formula
revenue per unit = revenue / number of units; contribution = gross profit - cost of the unit
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How to use this calculator
- Number of crews. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 4.
- Revenue per month ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $40,000.
- Cost of one crew per month ($). Wages with burden, vehicle, tools, phone.
- Gross margin (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 42%.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to revenue per crew, 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 |
|---|---|
| Number of crews | 4 |
| Revenue per month | $40,000 |
| Cost of one crew per month | $7,200 |
| Gross margin | 42% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Revenue per crew main result | $10,000 |
| Per crew per year | $120,000 |
| Gross profit each crew generates | $4,200 |
| Contribution after their own cost | -$3,000 |
Each crew brings in $10,000 a month and contributes -$3,000 after covering their own cost. Anything below zero there means adding people makes things worse, not better.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only revenue per month, this is what happens to revenue per crew. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Revenue per month ($) | Revenue per crew |
|---|---|
| $20,000 | $5,000 |
| $30,000 | $7,500 |
| $40,000 example above | $10,000 |
| $60,000 | $15,000 |
| $80,000 | $20,000 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Number of crews
- A number, between 0 and 2000, starting at 4.
- Revenue per month ($)
- A money amount, starting at $40,000.
- Cost of one crew per month ($)
- Wages with burden, vehicle, tools, phone.
- Gross margin (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 95, starting at 42%.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Revenue per crew | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Per crew per year | A money figure. |
| Gross profit each crew generates | A money figure. |
| Contribution after their own cost | 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.