Painting contractor software, from the walkthrough to the last coat.
You spend an hour walking the house and another hour writing it up. Foldrule turns that quote into the job your crew works from, then into the invoice, without you typing the same rooms three times.
The quote takes as long as the first day of work.
A walkthrough, a room count, ceilings or not, trim, doors, and how many coats it takes to bury that red wall. Then a number big enough that the client sits on it for a week and asks for a cheaper version. The job itself runs days, sometimes two crews, and ends with a punch list.
- Walkthroughs that turn into long, itemized quotes
- Clients asking for a second and a third version
- A deposit before you buy paint
- Multi day jobs and a punch list at the end
The homeowner wants the hallway too
The day after the walkthrough, the homeowner calls. They talked it over at dinner and now they want the hallway, and the stairwell if it doesn’t cost too much, and could the living room trim be the same white as the kitchen instead of the cream you priced. You wrote the first quote from your notes and a tape measure. Now you write it again, and the first one is still sitting in their email.
Most of what painting contractor software has to handle is that second and third round. In Foldrule, editing a quote you already sent makes a new version and freezes the old one, so both of you can see what changed and nobody signs the stale number. The stairwell can go on as an optional line. They tick it or leave it in the portal, the total moves while they decide, and whatever they approve is what the crew paints.
Then you are buying fifteen gallons and a roll of plastic for somebody else’s house, so the deposit comes before the trip to the paint store. Take it on the approved quote, by card online or a check at the kitchen table, and it sits as credit until the first invoice on the job. A job that runs Monday to Thursday gets a visit for each day, and whoever shows up Wednesday already knows the hallway was added and the stairwell was left out.
Put the versions on one quote as options.
Walls only. Walls and trim. Walls, trim and ceilings. Three options on one quote, each priced, and the client picks one in the portal and signs it. You stop keeping three documents straight, and you know which number they said yes to.
- Options priced side by side on one quote
- Approved and signed in the customer portal
- Your own items and prices, reused on every quote
- The approved option copies into the job as lines
Deposit before the paint goes on the truck.
Ask for a deposit on the quote and invoice it the day the client approves. It is held as client credit and comes off the first invoice on the job, so the balance at the end is right without arithmetic on the tailgate.
- Deposit invoiced as soon as the quote is approved
- Held as client credit against the job
- Progress billing on a long job
- Final invoice net of everything already paid
The crew works the job sheet, room by room.
The job carries the lines from the approved quote, a checklist per room and the photos. Prep, first coat, second coat, touch up. It keeps working in a basement with no signal and syncs when the phone comes back.
- Checklists the crew ticks off on site
- Before and after photos per room
- Visits across several days, assigned by crew
- Offline in the field, synced later
Invoice the same day you pull the tape.
Send the invoice from the house with the deposit already taken off, and take payment while you are standing there. Card and bank transfer run through your own Stripe account. Cash, check, Zelle, Venmo and e-Transfer you record by hand.
- Sales tax from the property address
- Every payment rail on one invoice balance
- The portal shows the client exactly what is left
- Automated reminders on an invoice that goes quiet
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Painting questions.
Answers for the way painting work is actually sold and billed.
Can I show the client good, better and best?
Yes. One quote carries several options, each with its own lines and its own price, and the client picks one in the portal. The option they approve is the one that becomes the job.
The client adds a room halfway through. What do I do?
Change orders are not in Foldrule at launch. Today you send a second quote for the extra work and invoice it against the same job, so the totals still land in one place.
Can I take a deposit before I buy materials?
Yes. Invoice the deposit when the quote is approved and take it on card, bank transfer, cash or check. It is held as client credit and comes off the first invoice on the job.
Does it handle a job that runs two weeks?
Yes. A job holds as many visits as the work takes, each on its own day with its own crew, and you can send progress invoices along the way instead of waiting for the end.
Is there a price book for painting?
Not a seeded one. Painting starts from your own catalog of items and prices, and when you move off your current software we bring that list across for free.
Do quotes go out in Spanish?
Yes. Customer documents go out in English or Spanish, set per client, while you and your crew each pick English or Spanish for your own screens.
Get your quotes out of the spreadsheet.
Foldrule is pre-launch. Ask for early access and we will move your items, your prices and your client list across before you write the first quote.