Painting invoice template

Download the Painting invoice template

The same sample document in two formats. The PDF is what a finished invoice looks like; the spreadsheet has live formulas, so change a quantity or a rate and the totals follow.

No signup, no email, no watermark. Sample figures — edit everything. Opens in Excel, Numbers and Google Sheets.

See this invoice filled in, in the builder — the same sample, editable.

What a Painting invoice needs on it

Painting bids are the easiest in the trades to underbid and the hardest to compare, because the price is mostly prep and nobody writes the prep down. Two quotes on the same room differ by a factor of two when one includes patching, caulking, priming and two finish coats and the other means one coat over whatever is there. State the number of coats, the prep included, and the product line and sheen, and your bid becomes the one a customer can actually evaluate.

A painting invoice should record the product, color and sheen per surface. The customer will need it in two years for a touch-up, and being the contractor who wrote it down is a large part of why they call you instead of searching their email.

• Number of coats, per surface — walls, ceilings and trim are often different
• Prep included: patching, sanding, caulking, priming, and what level of repair is excluded
• Product line and sheen by name, since "premium paint" means nothing on a bid
• Surfaces excluded — closets, ceilings, inside cabinets are the usual arguments
• Whether furniture moving, masking and floor protection are yours or theirs

And what every invoice needs

Send it the day the work is finished. Invoices sent within 24 hours get paid materially faster than ones that go out at the end of the month.

• A due date, not just terms — "Net 14" means less to a homeowner than a date
• Any deposit already paid, credited on the page so the balance is unarguable
• Payment instructions the customer can act on without calling you
• The estimate number it came from, so the customer can reconcile the two

Painting line items included in this template

These load into the builder ready to edit. Prices are starting points, not our opinion of what you should charge — set your own and they save to your price book.

Rates are illustrative US figures and vary widely by market. Price your own work.

How painting contractors price this work

Interior work prices per square foot of wall area or per room, exterior per square foot of surface with adders for height, substrate and prep condition. Labor is usually 80 to 85 percent of a painting job, which is why prep assumptions dominate the price. Charging for prep as its own line, rather than folding it into a per-room number, is the clearest way to show a customer why you cost more than the low bid.

Questions

How many coats should a painting estimate specify?

Say it explicitly, per surface. Two finish coats is standard for a color change; one may be defensible on a same-color refresh over sound paint. The number of coats is the single biggest driver of a painting price, so leaving it unstated makes your bid impossible to compare with anyone else's.

Should prep be a separate line item?

Yes, if you want to win against low bids. Prep is most of the labor and all of the quality difference. A line reading "patch, sand, caulk and spot-prime — 6 hrs" tells a customer where the money goes; a single "paint living room" line invites them to assume everyone is offering the same thing.

What should I exclude on an exterior painting bid?

Carpentry repair, glazing, roof and gutter work, and any lead-safe remediation on pre-1978 homes. List them as excluded with a note that they can be priced separately — that way finding rot at the fascia becomes an add-on rather than an argument about what "prep" covered.

What has to be on an invoice?

At minimum: your business name and contact details, the customer, an invoice number, the date, an itemised description of what was done, the amount due, and how to pay. Trades that carry a license usually put the license number on it too, and in some jurisdictions that is required.

How soon should I invoice after finishing a job?

Same day where you can. The gap between finishing and invoicing is the single easiest lever on how fast you get paid, and it costs nothing to close.

Can I charge a late fee?

Usually, if you stated it before the work — commonly 1 to 1.5% per month. It has to be on the estimate or your terms, not introduced for the first time on an overdue invoice, and some states cap the rate. Check your own state before relying on it.