Painter and decorator software — rooms, coats and prep priced properly
Decorating quotes fail when prep is invisible. A customer who sees 'paint living room £400' does not see the filling, sanding, two undercoats, two topcoats, gloss on four doors and a window, and the two days of protection and masking it takes to do properly. Pro Quoter lets decorators build room-by-room quotes with prep stages, coat counts, material grades and joinery — so the customer understands the price and you stop eating prep costs. Built by a real tradesman. Simple, fast, useful.
Where decorating quotes lose margin
Decorating is labour-intensive with thin margin unless prep is explicit. Customers compare a 'paint the lounge' number without knowing if that includes ceilings, woodwork, two coats or four, filling and sanding, protection or not. You eat the difference when you do it properly.
Example: hall, stairs, landing quoted as 'HLS — emulsion and gloss, £1,200'. Customer expects three walls of feature wallpaper at no extra. Joinery painting 'assumed'. One day of prep on bare plaster 'obvious'. Each of those costs is on you unless it is on the quote.
- Prep — filling, sanding, knotting — never on the quote
- Number of coats not stated — customer expects more
- Woodwork and joinery lumped with emulsion
- Wallpaper and specialist finishes not separated
Decorator quote workflow in Pro Quoter
- 1
Room by room survey
List each room, ceiling, walls, woodwork — note condition and prep needed on the job record.
- 2
Spec the finish
Emulsion grade, primer type, gloss or satinwood, number of coats — on the quote, not in your head.
- 3
Prep as visible lines
Filling, sanding, knotting, shellac — costed and documented before you start.
- 4
Wallpaper separately
Pattern match, paste type, specialist hanger if needed — separate line with material cost.
- 5
Invoice from the job
Room by room sign-off if staged — invoice carries the scope without retyping.
Built for how decorators actually price jobs
Room-by-room structure
Each room as a block — ceiling, walls, woodwork, wallpaper. Customer sees what each space costs.
Prep and coats visible
Filling, primers and coat counts on the quote — no more absorbing what should have been a line item.
Material grades documented
Trade paint vs customer-supplied — grade and brand noted so substitutions are not your problem.
Repeat customer history
Job thread keeps room sizes, colours and preferences — next time is faster, not a fresh start.
Room by room — one quote, one invoice
FAQ
- Can I quote by room with separate prep and finish sections?
- Yes — use sections per room. Each section can have prep lines (filling, sanding, primer), finish lines (emulsion coats, gloss) and material allowances. Customer sees what each room costs at each stage.
- How do I handle customer-supplied paint on the quote?
- Note it explicitly — 'paint supplied by customer, application labour only'. If the paint quality causes issues with coverage, you have a documented reason to revise. Never absorb a bad result from materials you did not choose.
- Can I include colour references and product specs?
- Add them as notes on each line — Farrow and Ball Dead Salmon, Dulux Satinwood Brilliant White, etc. Colour references reduce callbacks and disputes when the customer questions the finish six months later.
- Do you support large commercial decorating jobs?
- Pro Quoter works for sole traders and small teams. Team plan supports multiple users so office can invoice while decorators are on site. For very large commercial tenders, pair with a specialist estimating tool for the takeoff — use Pro Quoter for customer-facing quotes and cash management.