Blue Collar Trade Manager helps painters quote by square footage or by room from a price book, convert the approved estimate straight into an invoice, and collect a deposit up front with the balance due on completion — all paid by card or ACH through a click-to-pay link.
Create an estimate for the paint job from scratch or pull line items straight from your painting price book, then send it for approval by text or email.
The customer reviews and approves the estimate online or by replying to a text — no printing, no in-person signature required.
Turn the approved estimate into an invoice in one step, so line items, pricing, and job details carry over without retyping anything.
The invoice goes out with a public click-to-pay link so the customer can pay by card or ACH from their phone, without creating an account.
If the invoice sits unpaid, automated payment reminders go out on a schedule you set, instead of you having to remember to chase it.
Paid, unpaid, and overdue invoices roll up into reports so you can see outstanding balances across every customer at a glance.
Painters who price by square footage need that per-square-foot rate (interior vs. exterior, number of coats, trim work) to stay the same across every bid. Price book line items store those rates so estimating a 2,400 sq ft exterior repaint takes minutes instead of recalculating from scratch.
Buying enough paint, primer, and supplies for a large job is real money out of pocket before work begins. A deposit invoice sent once the estimate is approved covers that material cost, with the balance due when the job's finished.
On a multi-day interior repaint, some customers prefer to pay in stages rather than one lump sum at the end. Progress/milestone invoicing supports billing, for example, half at the start of trim work and the remainder at final walkthrough.
Painting bids often sit with a homeowner comparing multiple quotes. Setting an expiration date on the estimate creates urgency, and online/text approval means the customer can accept the moment they decide, without waiting for you to be available for a callback.
Store your per-square-foot rates for interior and exterior work (and any trim, ceiling, or coat-count adjustments) as price book items, then build the estimate by entering the room or house dimensions.
Consistent per-square-foot pricing is what keeps bids fair to you and predictable for the customer. A price book means every bid — whether you or a crew lead is writing it — uses the same base rates.
Many painters collect a deposit to cover paint and material costs before starting, though the exact amount is a business decision BCTM doesn't dictate.
Because paint and supplies are usually purchased before the crew shows up, a deposit invoice protects your cash flow on that up-front spend. The remaining balance is then billed as a final invoice on completion, or split across milestones on a longer job.
You can set an expiration date on any estimate — many painters use 30 days, since paint and labor costs can shift and a stale bid may no longer reflect current pricing.
An expiration date also encourages the customer to decide rather than let a bid sit indefinitely while they collect quotes from competitors. BCTM lets you set whatever window makes sense for your business.
Yes — estimates can be approved online or by replying to a text, so a homeowner doesn't need to schedule a second visit just to sign.
Digital approval speeds up the gap between bidding a job and getting it on the schedule, since the customer can approve as soon as they've made a decision, at any hour.
Add the extra work — like unexpected drywall repair or additional coats — as a change order or additional line items tied to the same job.
Painters frequently find surface damage that needs repair before painting can proceed. Documenting that as a change order, ideally approved before starting the extra work, keeps the final invoice matched to what was actually agreed to.
There's no single benchmark BCTM can point to for painting specifically — win rates vary widely by market, competition, and how the bid is presented.
What does move the needle regardless of trade is speed of response and getting paid once you win: residential contractors as a group are paid within 30 days only about 48% of the time (Construction Dive — Levelset 2022 report), so sending a clean, itemized estimate with an easy online approval option and a fast click-to-pay link on the resulting invoice removes friction on both ends of the job.
Not necessarily — you can itemize materials and labor as separate line items within the same estimate rather than creating two documents.
Breaking out paint/supply cost from labor cost on one estimate gives the customer transparency into where the price comes from, without the overhead of managing two separate documents per job.
$0/mo — no subscription and no per-user seats. Card payments: 3.9% + $0.30 (1% BCTM platform fee + 2.9% + $0.30 Stripe). ACH bank payments: 1.8% (1% BCTM platform fee + 0.8% Stripe, Stripe portion capped at $5.00). Cash and check: no fees. Full fee breakdown.
No subscription. You pay a per-transaction fee only when a customer pays you.
Start free