Profitable Painter Podcast

Four Numbers Every Painting Business Must Track To Grow Safely

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2189297/open_sms] We lay out four numbers that tell you if a painting job builds profit or drains cash, and show how to set deposits and milestones so growth funds itself. The result is a simple playbook to price right, buy leads with confidence, and end payroll stress. • defining gross profit and why 50% vs 30% changes everything • calculating customer acquisition cost including ads, leads, and sales time • using the 3:1 rule to judge healthy marketing spend • reading the GP to CAC ratio to decide if growth helps or hurts • fixing cash conversion with deposits, mid-job payments, and vendor float • action steps to audit ten jobs and compute your numbers • guidance for states with limits on deposits and how to shift to milestones You can get a copy for free. It normally costs 20 bucks on Amazon. All you gotta do is cover the shipping. There’s a link in the description if you want to go deeper. Click the video on the screen now to watch four cash flow plays for painting businesses to scale. This episode was originally recorded as a video for YouTube. If you hear me say things like “in this video” or reference visuals, don’t worry — the content still works perfectly in audio form. And if you ever want to watch the video version, you can find it on the  Profitable Painter YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@BookkeepingForPainters

Cash Flow First

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2189297/open_sms] We share four cash flow plays that keep a painting business liquid while it grows fast. From legal deposit limits to payroll timing and progress billing, we design the money flow so cash shows up when work happens. • cash survival moves for low bank balance • collecting receivables and raising legal deposits • progress payments tied to milestones • paying subs after customer payment • payroll timing to increase float • stacking vendor terms with business credit • operating legally under capped deposits • employee model deposits covering CAC and labor • down-sell strategy for testimonials • subcontractor model funding current and next job Click the video on the screen now to watch how much you should be making in your painting business This episode was originally recorded as a video for YouTube. If you hear me say things like “in this video” or reference visuals, don’t worry — the content still works perfectly in audio form. And if you ever want to watch the video version, you can find it on the  Profitable Painter YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@BookkeepingForPainters

How Painting Owners Build A Million-Dollar Budget On Purpose

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2189297/open_sms] Work with us https://profitablepaintercpa.com/vsl Free Book - Profitable Painter https://profitablepaintercpa.com/book We lay out a simple budget that starts with your income target and works backward to revenue, sales, production, and overhead. By pricing your roles and checking capacity, you learn exactly what $1M requires and what you should pay yourself for each hat you wear. • owners earn discretionary earnings across roles • set target income, then compute revenue from percentages • benchmark pay for ownership, sales, leadership, production management • sales capacity for one rep and CAC guardrails • production capacity per crew and honest COGS • gross profit split into sales and marketing, overhead, profit • cap overhead so it does not outrun revenue • identify next hire and fix margins, not just sales Get a copy of Profitable Painter for free—normally $20 on Amazon—just cover shipping. There’s a link in the description if you want to dive deeper This episode was originally recorded as a video for YouTube. If you hear me say things like “in this video” or reference visuals, don’t worry — the content still works perfectly in audio form. And if you ever want to watch the video version, you can find it on the  Profitable Painter YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@BookkeepingForPainters

Are You Paying Yourself Right?

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2189297/open_sms] Grab a free copy of Profitable Painter here: https://profitablepaintercpa.com/book Work with Profitable Painter CPA here: https://profitablepaintercpa.com/vsl You carry the payroll, the risk, the insurance, and the stress—so why does your paycheck still feel like an afterthought? We open the books on owner compensation for painting contractors and explain how to know, in dollars, whether you’re underpaid or right on target. Using a simple benchmark—the 15 percent “beach test”—you’ll learn how to measure what your business should pay you even if you step away from day-to-day work. From there, we get practical. We break down owner discretionary earnings into salary, distributions, and perks, and show why a reasonable W-2 salary plus S corp distributions is often the most tax-efficient path. You’ll hear clear role-based pay ranges tailored to painting companies: sales at 7–9 percent, production management at 4–7 percent, admin at 2–4 percent, executive leadership at 3–5 percent, and a passive 15 percent owner return. Then we run real numbers at $750,000 in revenue so you can see how a combined 33 percent total owner benefit can look in the real world without confusing salary for true earnings. We also cover how compensation evolves as you scale past $1 million, $2 million, and $3 million by removing hats and keeping the owner return. A case study with Chris in North Carolina shows the tax savings and clarity that come from defining roles, electing S corp status, setting a reasonable salary, and stabilizing gross profit and overhead. Finally, we share a three-bucket pay model—salary for work performed, monthly or quarterly distributions from profit, and performance-based bonuses—that keeps your pay predictable, tax-smart, and tied to healthy margins. If your business can’t fund a 15 percent owner return while paying fairly for the roles you fill, the problem isn’t you—it’s your margins. Tune in to learn the benchmarks, the math, and the steps to align pricing, gross margin, and overhead so you finally get paid like an owner. If this helped, subscribe, share it with a fellow contractor, and leave a review with the one metric you’ll fix first. This episode was originally recorded as a video for YouTube. If you hear me say things like “in this video” or reference visuals, don’t worry — the content still works perfectly in audio form. And if you ever want to watch the video version, you can find it on the  Profitable Painter YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@BookkeepingForPainters

The Story of Dripjobs with Tanner Mullen

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2189297/open_sms] Ever wonder what happens when purpose collides with process? We bring on Tanner Mullen—third-generation painter, founder of DripJobs, and author of 31 Days of Value—to unpack how a service-first mindset, fast hiring, and relentless follow-up can transform a trades business from chaotic to compounding. The story begins with a personal pivot: leaving a promising corporate path to help his family and build a painting company from the ground up. From the early days of learning production on YouTube to the breakthrough that came with one key A-player hire, Tanner shows how quality, trust, and training unlock pricing power and fewer callbacks. Things shift fast once leads enter the picture. We break down speed to lead, why emotion fades within minutes, and how missed follow-ups quietly drain profits. Tanner reveals the DIY automation stack that changed everything—webhooks, Zapier, email and text sequences, and self-serve scheduling—and how that prototype evolved into DripJobs, a CRM designed for home service workflows. He explains the guts of it: auto-creating deals from contacts, booking forms that fire confirmations and tasks, proposal e-sign, deposits, and a pipeline built for real job flow. No jargon, just practical systems that sell while you’re painting and keep customers informed without you chasing threads. We also dig into recruiting as a competitive edge. Treat applicants like leads, move fast, and create a candidate experience that makes great people feel wanted from day one. Layer in the mindset that ties it all together: take risks, learn quickly, and refuse paralysis. You either learn or you win; both move the business forward. If you run a painting company—or any home service operation—this conversation is a field guide to operational clarity, higher close rates, and a team that delivers consistent quality without you being last on site. If this resonates, share the episode with a fellow contractor, subscribe for more profit-focused tactics, and leave a review so we can reach more owners who want systems that actually work.