[donb1959]

Does anyone know of a good estimating software as well as a contractor write will plenty of contract language, easily customizable for each job? I have looked at Markup and Profits software, but I believe it to be geared more toward remodeling than painting.

 

[ProWallGuy]

Check out these:

Paint Cost Estimating
This one wins 'most bang for your buck' award, at only $49 to purchase. Better yet, download the free version, and play with it awhile to see if it will work for you.

PEP Paint Estimating
This one is a little more complex than the one above, and costs a bit more. The basic version is $199, and the pro version (which includes job costing, additional reports, and application rates feature) goes for $249. Once again, download the free trial version, and test drive it.

National Paint Cost Book
This one is a book which includes application, & material rates, along with a simple estimating program on CD that already has the rates built into it. Costs about $50, you can find it used for around $25, but it might not have the software still in it.

And there are others out there, more complex and expensive, but to start out with, these will work fine. It will at least give you an idea how they work, and will show how important your production rates are to price jobs out correctly and consistently.

 

[donb1959]

Thanks alot ProWall I appreciate it.

 

[JAARONC]

I Just Purchased Software From Devwave.com. They Offer Two Different Types Of Software. I Purchased The Cheaper One For 60.00. I've Used It For Two Bids And It Works Great. All You Do Is Type In Their Name, Address, And Select What Type Of Room It Is And What Kind Of Product You Are Using And Then Just Hit Estimate And It Will Create A Formal Estimate And A Contract.

 

[premierpainting]

Who's production rates are you using. Those formulas are an estimated cost from some guy who has never picked a brush up in his life. If you can't change the rates, good luck figuring the real cost of doing business. Amazing- pop in the name and size of the room and wal-la there's your estimate Mrs. Jones... Well, Timmy looks great, but I did not want this ceiling painted....Oh Mrs. Jones I don't know how to take that out...so I will just go back and do the whole thing again..See the problem is- Well you get the point. W/O knowing your actual costs of business, overhead, profit you might as well go to work for the man :evil:

 

[George Z]

I Just Purchased Software From Devwave.com. They Offer Two Different Types Of Software. I Purchased The Cheaper One For 60.00. I've Used It For Two Bids And It Works Great. All You Do Is Type In Their Name, Address, And Select What Type Of Room It Is And What Kind Of Product You Are Using And Then Just Hit Estimate And It Will Create A Formal Estimate And A Contract.

The problem with that program is that it does not do production rate
estimating. They did not even know what that meant. Everything is
calculated by the type of paint you use and the rate you can charge when
you use that paint.It does not do anything by substrate.
That does not work. Flat latex on brick is not the same as flat latex
on smooth drywall. And what is worse, customising it to your own
production rates is impossible, you have way too many hurdles to
overcome. They have good customer service though and will refund
your money. I would definitely look into the other programs suggested here.

 

[Jim Johnson]

I Just Purchased Software From Devwave.com. They Offer Two Different Types Of Software. I Purchased The Cheaper One For 60.00. I've Used It For Two Bids And It Works Great. All You Do Is Type In Their Name, Address, And Select What Type Of Room It Is And What Kind Of Product You Are Using And Then Just Hit Estimate And It Will Create A Formal Estimate And A Contract.

JAARONC,
I don't possibly see how this estimating method could work. Say a room is 10x10 sheetrock, and you punch that into the software, with two coats, using Sherwin-Williams flat. How does the software calculate that into an estimate? Do you know how long it will take to complete the job? Do you know how much you need per job to cover your overhead? Do you know how much percentage profit you would like to make?

I believe in automating things as much as possible, but if you don't have all your base numbers figured correctly it's just a matter of time before you're in the red, and once in it's very difficult to get out. Please share with the forum the details of the bids you submitted, including production rate (time to complete), how many coats,how much trim, sq ft of job, paint types used, your monthly overhead, matierial cost, etc.. and maybe someone could take a look to see if your numbers are close before it's too late. Good luck.

Jim

 

[George Z]

You cannot choose sheetrock or brick or anything else!
That is the problem.You can only enter the "covering"
you are using and customize your production rates
based on that. If you can't choose your substrate
you can't make it work. As far as your financial numbers
that is not a problem. If you recover everything hourly,
your hourly charge rate should include profit,
overhead and labour costs.

 

[Jim Johnson]

If you recover everything hourly,
your hourly charge rate should include profit,
overhead and labour costs.[/QUOTE]

Yes, but if one has no idea of their production rate during estimating as indicated, then one wouldn't know how many hours it may take to do the job. And if one is currently trying to estimate jobs via software that doesn't figure production rates, substrate, or coverage..etc... then one may not even have their cost figured out to know what they have to have per hour.

 

[George Z]

I agree.

 

[JAARONC]

With This Estimating Software You Can Adjust What You Want To Charge Per Sq. Ft. Per Coat. And It Has Different Types Of Painting And What Type Of Sheen Interior/exterior Etc. You Can Also Calculate With The Ceiling Being Painted Or Just The Walls. I Know That Every One Has Their Own Opinion On What Type Of Bidding System Will Work For Them. With This Software It Works For Me. As You All Have Said About Overhead And The Cost For Supplies Just Figure How Much Money You Need To Cover All Of That In Sq Ft Price Per Coat.

 

[DecksEtc]

tHERE's nO nEED to cAPITALIZE tHE fIRST lETTER iN eVERY wORD...

 

[premierpainting]

tHERE's nO nEED to cAPITALIZE tHE fIRST lETTER iN eVERY wORD...

Hey Decks I Agree With You- Why Put Every First Letter In Caps- You Read My Mind