Painting estimate template: what every estimate should include

Your business and the client

• Your business name, logo, phone and email.
• Your license or registration number where your state has one. Some states want it on every bid: California's CSLB number goes on all contracts and bids, Pennsylvania's registration number on contracts, estimates and proposals, and in Arizona the number must follow the letters “ROC”.
• The client's name and the job address.
• An estimate number, the date, and a valid-until date. Thirty days is common: paint prices and your schedule change.

Scope of work, room by room

For each room, say what gets painted and how:

• Surfaces: walls, ceiling, baseboards and casing, doors, closets.
• Coats, and the paint product and sheen for each surface.
• Colors, or “colors chosen by the client before the start date”.
• The prep that's included: filling nail holes, caulking gaps, sanding glossy trim, spot priming patches.

Then list what isn't included: moving heavy furniture, wallpaper removal, drywall repair beyond small patches, and anything you'd charge extra for. Exclusions protect you more than anything else on the page.

Give options, not one number

A client with one price decides yes or no. A client with three decides which one. Tiers by paint quality are the easiest to explain: the same prep and coats, with paint that covers, washes and lasts better as you go up. List the cheapest first and recommend the middle one.

The price, and how much to show

• The total for each option.
• Sales tax if your state taxes painting labor. Most don't, but New York, New Jersey, Washington, Iowa, West Virginia, Hawaii, New Mexico and South Dakota do in some form. Check yours.
• Room-by-room prices, if you're comfortable showing them. They let a client drop a room instead of walking away.

Leave out your hourly rate, hours, paint cost and margins. They invite haggling over numbers that are yours to set.

Deposit and payment terms

• The deposit amount and when it's due. Some states cap it: California at 10% or $1,000, whichever is less. See deposit limits by state.
• When the balance is due, usually on completion.
• How the client can pay: check, Zelle, Venmo, a card link.
• How changes work: in writing and priced before the work is done.

Terms, warranty and required notices

• Your workmanship warranty, for example two years on peeling or blistering from your work.
• Who supplies paint, access to the home, working hours, protecting floors and furniture, cleanup.
• The right to cancel. The FTC's Cooling-Off Rule gives a buyer 3 business days to cancel a sale of $25 or more made at their home, and you must give them the notice and a cancellation form. Several states have their own version: California gives 5 business days to clients 65 or older, and Maryland 5 business days to everyone.
• Lead paint. For homes built before 1978, the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies to work that disturbs paint, and the client gets the “Renovate Right” pamphlet before you start.

This is a checklist, not legal advice. Your state's contractor board or attorney general lists what a home improvement contract must say there.

Signatures, and a copy for both of you

The client signs and dates the estimate and picks the option they want. California also wants your signature on the contract. An e-signature counts under the federal ESIGN Act when the client agrees to sign electronically, which lets a client sign on their phone the same evening instead of waiting for you to come back. Either way, both of you keep a signed copy.

What to leave out

• Your rates, hours and costs.
• Pages of legal text before the price: put the terms after it.
• Trade shorthand the client won't know. “2 coats, eggshell, walls” beats “2C ES W”.

The checklist

• Business name, contact details, license or registration number
• Client name, job address, estimate number, date, valid-until date
• Each room: surfaces, coats, paint and sheen, colors, prep
• Exclusions
• Two or three options, one recommended
• Price per option, sales tax if any, room prices if you show them
• Deposit, balance due, payment methods, change orders
• Warranty and terms
• Right-to-cancel notice and form, and your state's required notices
• Lead paint pamphlet for homes built before 1978
• Signatures and dates, with a copy for each of you

Sources

• License numbers on bids: California Bus. & Prof. Code §7030.5, Pennsylvania 73 P.S. §517.6, Arizona A.R.S. §32-1124.
• Right to cancel: FTC Cooling-Off Rule; California Bus. & Prof. Code §7150 and §7159; Maryland Com. Law §14-302.1.
• Lead paint: EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule.
• Sales tax on painting labor: the Federation of Tax Administrators' survey of services taxation and each state's guidance.