The break-even point is the revenue or unit volume where your total income equals total costs, no profit, no loss. Calculate it by dividing your total fixed costs by your gross profit margin (for revenue break-even) or by your contribution margin per unit (for unit break-even). Every small business owner should know this number before making any pricing, hiring, or expansion decision.
Break-Even Calculator for Painting
Pre-filled with real painting industry benchmarks
Painting businesses have one of the lower barriers to entry in the trades, which means more competition and tighter margins for operators who do not manage costs carefully. Your biggest expense is labor, typically 50 to 60% of job revenue for residential work. Material costs (paint, primer, caulk, tape, drop cloths) run 15 to 25%. The rest covers overhead and profit. A typical interior residential job runs $2,000 to $6,000, while exterior work ranges from $3,000 to $10,000. Your fixed costs are relatively modest compared to other trades (no expensive specialty equipment), but you still carry vehicle costs, insurance, marketing, and potentially a small warehouse. The key to break-even in painting is crew utilization: every day a crew is not on a job costs you $500 to $1,500 in lost productivity. This calculator helps you determine how many jobs per month you need to cover your nut, factoring in realistic weather days and scheduling gaps.
Break-Even Calculator
Pre-filled with painting industry defaults. Edit any field to use your real numbers.
Break-Even Units
66
Break-Even Revenue
$19,272
Contribution Margin
80.1%
Painting industry average margin: 80.0% gross margin with 20.0% COGS.