Painting quote template
A quote is a fixed price for a defined scope of work — the number does not move unless the scope does. Download this one as a PDF or an Excel spreadsheet, or fill it in online: it comes preloaded with 12 painting line items you can edit, delete or price your own way, then export a PDF straight from the browser. Free, no signup, and nothing you type is uploaded anywhere.
Download the Painting quote template
The same sample document in two formats. The PDF is what a finished quote 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 quote filled in, in the builder — the same sample, editable.
Your Company Name
QuoteNo. QUO-1001
Bill to
Client Name
456 Client Street · Their City, ST 00000
Date Sep 1, 2026
Valid until Oct 1, 2026
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | |||
| Interior walls, two finish coats | 400 sq ft | $2.15 | $860.00 |
| Ceilings, flat white, two coats | 400 sq ft | $1.85 | $740.00 |
| Trim, doors and casing, brush and roll | 40 ft | $4.25 | $170.00 |
| Interior door, both faces and edges | 1 ea | $110.00 | $110.00 |
| Materials | |||
| Premium interior latex, eggshell | 5 gal | $68.00 | $340.00 |
| Exterior acrylic, satin | 5 gal | $82.00 | $410.00 |
| Stain-blocking primer | 5 gal | $55.00 | $275.00 |
| Masking, drop cloths and floor protection | 1 ea | $135.00 | $135.00 |
| Subtotal | $3,040.00 | ||
| Tax (8.25%) | $95.70 | ||
| Total | $3,135.70 | ||
| Deposit due | $940.71 | ||
| Balance | $2,194.99 | ||
What a Painting quote 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.
Interior repaints with sound walls quote cleanly: measured area, stated coats, named product. Fix that price and list excluded surfaces explicitly — the fixed-price painting disputes are almost always about a closet or a ceiling nobody mentioned.
- 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 quote needs
Use a quote when you can see the whole job and control the variables: a like-for-like replacement, a measured area, a repeat job you have priced twenty times.
- A tightly written scope — a fixed price is only safe if the scope is exact
- Explicit exclusions, since anything unlisted is what a dispute will be about
- A change-order clause saying how additional work gets priced and approved
- An expiry date, because a fixed price cannot outlive your material costs
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.
| Item | Unit | Typical rate |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | ||
| Interior walls, two finish coats | sq ft | $2.15 |
| Ceilings, flat white, two coats | sq ft | $1.85 |
| Trim, doors and casing, brush and roll | ft | $4.25 |
| Interior door, both faces and edges | ea | $110.00 |
| Cabinet doors and frames, sprayed | ea | $145.00 |
| Exterior siding, prep and two coats | sq ft | $3.10 |
| Patch, sand, caulk and spot-prime | hr | $78.00 |
| Pressure wash and surface prep, exterior | ea | $425.00 |
| Materials | ||
| Premium interior latex, eggshell | gal | $68.00 |
| Exterior acrylic, satin | gal | $82.00 |
| Stain-blocking primer | gal | $55.00 |
| Masking, drop cloths and floor protection | ea | $135.00 |
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 is the difference between a quote and an estimate?
- A quote is a fixed price you are committing to; an estimate is an informed projection that can move. In practice many customers use the words interchangeably, so the safer approach is to label the document clearly and let the terms on the page say which one you mean.
- Can I change a quote after the customer accepts it?
- Not for the scope you quoted — that is the point of quoting. You change the price by changing the scope, through a written change order the customer approves before the extra work happens. Verbal change orders are how contractors end up eating costs.
- How do I protect a fixed price against surprises?
- Exclusions and allowances. List what is not included, and where you cannot see behind a wall, quote an allowance with a stated unit rate for anything beyond it. That keeps the headline price fixed while pricing the unknown honestly.
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