Painting contractor software that prices by the square foot
Per-square-foot rates that live in your price book, one-coat and two-coat options the customer signs online, and multi-day repaints that stay on one record. Built for residential and commercial painting companies running interiors, exteriors, and everything with trim.
The problems painting contractors know too well
Painting is measured work sold to comparison shoppers and done over multiple days. Software built for one-visit tickets fights you on all three.
Every estimator prices differently
When the per-square-foot math lives in heads and notepads, two estimators quote the same house apart by hundreds of dollars — and nobody knows which number was right.
The slow quote loses the repaint
Homeowners collect two or three bids. If your estimate arrives days after the walkthrough, the contractor who quoted on the spot already has the signature.
One coat or two? Nobody wrote it down
The customer remembers premium paint and two coats. Your painter heard one coat of the standard line. Without the option in writing, that argument costs you the margin.
Multi-day jobs scatter across tickets
Prep day, paint days, and the touch-up visit end up as separate tickets. The estimate, photos, and invoice scatter with them — and so does the story of the job.
Big jobs start with nothing down
A whole-house exterior ties up a crew for a week. Starting it without a deposit means you are floating labor and materials on a handshake.
Rain breaks the schedule
One wet day pushes every exterior behind it. Rebuilding the week over phone tag and voicemail eats the morning the sun comes back out.
Set the rate once. Enter the footage. Done.
Painting is the per-square-foot trade, so Pillar's price book treats it that way. Items carry a per-square-foot rate — walls, ceilings, siding, decks — and on the estimate you type in the measured footage and the line total is calculated for you. Every estimator quotes from the same rates, every time.
Per-square-foot rates in the price book
Set a per-square-foot rate on any price book item — interior walls, ceilings, siding, deck staining. Fixed-scope work like doors and shutters stays flat-rate.
Footage in, line total out
On an estimate, on-site quote draft, or invoice, enter the measured square footage and the line total is calculated from the rate. No re-deriving the math per quote.
Mix square-foot and flat lines on one estimate
Walls by the square foot, the front door at a flat price, and a pressure-wash line item on the same quote. Each line keeps its own pricing method.
Pricing formulas for complex rates (Enterprise plan)
Build rates from components like material cost, labor hours, and markup percentage. Change a component and every linked price book item recalculates, with a full audit trail.
Estimate — Whole-Home Interior
Price Book RatesInterior walls — two coats
1,840 sq ft × $1.85 / sq ft
Ceilings — flat finish
620 sq ft × $1.40 / sq ft
Trim, doors & baseboards
Flat rate
Subtotal
$5,222.00
Sample data for illustration. Footage in, line total out — the rates come from your price book, not from memory.
One walkthrough, three ways to say yes
One coat or two. Builder-grade or the premium line. Walls only or walls, ceilings, and trim. Pillar price book items carry tiered good-better-best options, so one estimate shows the choices side by side — and the scope the customer picked is in writing before the first drop cloth goes down.
Tiered options on price book items
Each item can carry good-better-best options — one coat versus two, standard versus premium paint line — with fixed, percentage, or markup price adjustments.
Feature highlights per option
Spell out what each tier includes — extra prep, a second coat, the upgraded product — so the customer compares scope, not just price.
A recommended option, flagged
Mark the tier you would pick for your own house. Most customers land where you point them.
Signed in the living room or by link
Capture the e-signature on your phone during the walkthrough, or send a secure approval link the customer signs from theirs — no account or login required. Approved estimates convert to jobs in one click.
Painting business software that covers the whole job
Deposits, prep documentation, crew scheduling, and weather changes — the parts of a painting operation that live in texts and sticky notes today.
Deposits before the drop cloths
Request a percentage of the approved estimate or a flat amount. Pillar creates a Stripe payment link and sends it by email — or by text on the Enterprise plan — and the deposit is marked paid the moment the customer pays.
Prep checklists on every visit
Floors covered, fixtures masked, surfaces sanded and primed — build the checklist once and attach it to every appointment. Steps can require a photo before they can be marked complete.
Before-and-after photos
Pre-work and post-work photos attach to the job record — wall condition before prep, the finished room after. Proof of work that stays with the customer, not on a painter’s phone.
Crew scheduling with conflict detection
Assign multiple painters to one appointment with a designated lead. If someone is already booked on an overlapping job, Pillar flags it before you save.
Weather reschedules, handled
When rain pushes an exterior, customers submit up to three preferred dates from the portal — weather is a built-in reason — and you approve from your end. No phone tag.
SMS appointment reminders
Customers get a text before the crew arrives, with opt-out and consent tracking built in. Fewer locked doors and forgotten walkthroughs.
Prep Monday, paint Tuesday and Wednesday — one record
An interior repaint is not a one-visit ticket. In Pillar it is one job with multiple appointments — masking and surface prep on day one, paint days after — each with its own date, crew, and checklist, while the estimate, photos, deposit, and invoice stay together.
Multiple appointments on one job
Each visit has its own date, crew, status, and checklist, while the job holds the estimate, photos, deposit, and invoice in one place.
Bulk appointment creation
Set up the prep day and every paint day at once instead of building each visit by hand.
Projects for the big stuff (Enterprise plan)
Whole-house exteriors, commercial repaints, and HOA work that spans many jobs can be grouped into a project with budget tracking, timelines, and document storage.
From walkthrough to final coat
The whole sales motion for a repaint, without a single spreadsheet in between.
Measure and quote
Walk the rooms, enter the footage against your price book rates, and present tiered options side by side — on your phone, during the visit.
Customer signs
Capture the e-signature on the spot, or send a secure link the customer can approve later without creating a login.
Collect the deposit
Send a deposit request for a percentage of the estimate or a flat amount. The customer pays through a Stripe link before the crew is committed.
Schedule, paint, invoice
Convert the estimate to a job, set up prep and paint days across the crew, and invoice when the final walkthrough is done. Customers pay online.
Explore the features behind it
Every painting workflow connects to the broader Pillar platform. Dig into the features that matter most to your business.
Price Book
Per-square-foot and flat rates in one catalog
Estimates & Quoting
Tiered options with e-signature approval
Pricing Formulas
Rates built from cost components — Enterprise plan
Scheduling
Crew assignments with conflict detection
Jobs & Work Orders
Multi-visit jobs with checklists and photos
Invoicing & Payments
Deposits and online payments via Stripe
Customer Portal
Self-service approvals and payments
Project Management
Commercial repaints and HOA work — Enterprise plan
Frequently asked questions
- How much does painting business software cost?
- Pillar Pro is $99/month and includes one user, with additional users at $49/month each. The Enterprise plan is $199/month with additional users at $69/month, and adds features like projects, pricing formulas, and API access. Annual billing lowers those to $79 and $159 per month. Every new account starts with a 14-day free trial of the full Enterprise feature set, and there are no setup fees or long-term contracts.
- Can I price painting jobs by the square foot?
- Yes, on every plan. Price book items can carry a per-square-foot rate — set it once for walls, ceilings, siding, or deck staining, and on an estimate or invoice you enter the measured footage and the line total is calculated for you. Per-square-foot and flat-rate lines mix freely on the same estimate. The Enterprise plan adds dynamic pricing formulas, which build rates from components like material cost, labor hours, and markup percentage and recalculate linked items when a component changes.
- Can customers choose between one coat and two, or paint quality levels?
- Yes. Price book items support tiered good-better-best options — one coat versus two, a standard line versus premium paint — each with its own price adjustment and feature highlights, and one option can be flagged as recommended. The customer sees the tiers side by side on the estimate and approves online with an e-signature through a secure link, or signs on your phone during the walkthrough. The option they picked is on the record before work starts.
- How does Pillar handle multi-day interior or exterior repaints?
- A single job carries multiple appointments — masking and surface prep on day one, paint days after — each with its own date, crew, status, and checklist, while the estimate, photos, deposit, and invoice stay on one record. Bulk appointment creation sets up all the visits at once. For whole-house exteriors and commercial repaints that span many jobs, the Enterprise plan adds projects with budget tracking, timelines, and document storage.
- Is Pillar a color visualizer or paint-quantity calculator?
- No. Pillar does not render colors on walls, calculate gallons of paint, or do takeoffs from plans — it runs the business side of a painting company: estimates, scheduling, deposits, invoicing, and customer records. Color selections, sheens, and product specs can be recorded as notes and documents on the job so the crew paints what was sold, and your price book holds the services you sell at the per-square-foot or flat rates you set.
Everything a painting contractor runs on
Price Book
Per-square-foot rates set once, used on every quote.
Learn moreEstimates & Quoting
One coat or two — tiered options customers sign online.
Learn morePricing Formulas
Dynamic price math for complex jobs on the Enterprise plan.
Learn moreJobs & Work Orders
Prep day and paint days as one job with multiple visits.
Learn moreScheduling & Dispatch
Crew scheduling with conflict detection.
Learn moreProjects
Budgets and timelines for whole-house and commercial repaints.
Learn moreInvoicing & Payments
Deposits up front, final payment online.
Learn morePillar vs Jobber
See how Pillar compares for painting contractors.
Learn moreSee how Pillar works for painting contractors
Walk through square-foot pricing, tiered quotes, deposits, and multi-day scheduling with your actual services — interiors, exteriors, cabinets, and the commercial work in between.