Painter invoice wording and payment terms

Copy-and-paste blocks

• Payment terms

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  Payment is due within 15 days of the invoice date. We accept ACH transfer, card and check. Please include the invoice number with your payment.

• Description line

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  Interior repaint — two bedrooms and hallway, walls and trim, two coats. A price per room or per square foot, prep work priced separately, and paint and sundries either supplied by you or by the customer — itemized below.

• Late payment

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  Balances unpaid after the due date may be subject to a late fee as permitted by state law and as set out in our agreement. We will always contact you before applying one.

• Deposit and scheduling

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  A deposit is required to schedule the work and to cover materials. The balance is due on completion. Deposits are applied to the final invoice and shown as a credit line.

• Warranty

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  Our workmanship is warranted for 12 months from the date of completion. Manufacturer warranties on supplied materials apply in addition and are passed through to you in full.

• License and insurance

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  Licensed and insured. Your contractor license where your state requires one, plus your lead-safe certification for pre-1978 homes available on request and shown on this invoice where applicable.

Getting the terms to stick

Do the walkthrough with the customer and collect the balance while the work is in front of them. Punch-list items should be a short dated list, not a reason to withhold the whole balance.

Terms only bind if the customer agreed to them before the work, so put them in the estimate or contract as well as on the invoice. Late fees and finance charges are regulated at state level, so check what your state allows before you set a rate.

Common questions

Per room or per square foot?

Per room reads better to homeowners, per square foot reads better to builders and property managers. Show the basis you used either way.

Should I take a deposit?

On material-heavy jobs, yes — enough to cover the paint. Some states cap deposits on home improvement contracts, so check your own.

How many coats should the invoice say?

Exactly what you did, per surface. Coat count is the most common source of painting disputes.