Software for paint shops: tinting, trade accounts and the till

A paint shop sells two kinds of product. One is ordinary stock: rollers, brushes, tape, fillers and base tins that come in on a delivery and go out at the till. The other is made on the counter: a colour mixed from a base and a few millilitres of tint, for one customer, at that moment. Most paint shops run the first with a till and the second from memory, a card file or the tinting machine's screen. EasyTaskr runs both on one system, so a mixed batch is costed, labelled, stocked and sold like any other line.

What makes running a paint shop hard?

The hard part is everything that sits between a colour card and a till receipt. A shop can know its sales figure to the cent and still not know what its tint costs it, which canisters will run dry this week, or which builder owes for last month's twenty tins.

The problems we hear from paint and hardware shops tend to be the same few:

• Repeat colours. A builder comes back for "the same blue as last time". If the formula lives in someone's notebook, a slightly different shade goes on the second wall.
• Tint you cannot see. Pigment is bought by the litre and used by the ml. Without a level per canister, the first sign of trouble is an empty one halfway through a mix.
• Mixed paint that waits. A batch is mixed in the morning for collection in the afternoon. If it is not recorded, nobody knows whether it was paid for, collected or forgotten on the shelf.
• Trade credit. Contractors expect to buy on account at their usual discount and pay at the end of the month, often by cheque. Without a limit and a statement, the balance grows quietly.
• Margin on mixes. The price of a mixed litre has to cover the base tin and the tints used. If the tints are not counted, the margin on custom colours is a guess.

How does EasyTaskr handle colour mixing?

You pick a saved colour, say how many litres and who it is for, and EasyTaskr scales each tint to that batch size and shows whether its canister holds enough. Marking the batch as mixed takes the tints off the canisters and the base tin off stock, then gives the batch a number and prints its label.

Colours are saved as formulas with a code or name, against a base. Searching the code brings the formula up with how many times it has been mixed, which is the quickest answer to "the same as last time". The batch price for the whole mix sits on the same drawer as the tints, so the counter staff never quote a mixed colour from memory.

Every mix has a batch number, so a tin on the shelf can always be traced back to the customer, the date and the person who mixed it. Mix history lists every batch with its status, and the labels page reprints the label for any completed batch.

How do trade accounts work at the paint counter?

A trade customer is found at the till by name or phone. Their usual discount is applied to the sale as its own line, the till shows what they already owe, and the sale can go on account. If it would take them over their credit limit, the till stops it.

When the contractor pays, you open their account. It shows what they owe, their credit limit, what is left to buy on account and their usual discount. The statement lists every invoice and payment with a running balance. A payment is recorded with its amount, method (cheque, for example, with the cheque number) and the invoice it pays, and the balance and statement update straight away. For how to set limits and chase late payers, see customer credit for wholesalers.

Step by step: a day at a paint shop on EasyTaskr

This is a sample day at a paint and hardware shop with one tinting machine and a handful of trade customers. The numbers are examples.

1. Before opening, open Pigments. The page says how many canisters are at or below their reorder level. They sit at the top under Refill now, each with the ml left and how full it is. Below them are the ones getting low (under 30% full), then the ones that can wait.
2. Refill by the ml. Top up the low canister and type the amount added, say 500 ml. It is back above its reorder level before the first mix of the day.
3. A builder asks for their usual colour. Open the New mix drawer and type the colour code or name. The saved formula comes up with how many times it has been mixed.
4. Say how much and for whom. Enter 4 litres and choose the builder. Their name and phone go on the batch. Each tint is scaled from the formula to 4 litres, with a check that its canister has enough.
5. Check the price and the base tin. The batch price is on the same drawer, and the base tin that will come off stock is named. Nothing is worked out on a calculator.
6. Mark as mixed. The tints come off their canisters, the base tin comes off stock, and the batch gets its number. The label prints with the volume, base, date, who mixed it and the customer's name. Stick it on the lid.
7. Ring up the collection at the paint till. When the builder arrives, the mixed batch is already on the till with its batch number, next to the base tins, rollers and tape. Add two rollers and four rolls of tape.
8. Choose the trade customer. Find them by name or phone. Their 5% account discount shows as its own line, and the till shows their current balance.
9. Put it on account and complete the sale. Choose On account. If the sale would push them past their credit limit, the till blocks it and you can take cash or card instead.
10. Record a cheque from another contractor. Open their account, look at the statement, then record the payment: amount, Cheque, the cheque number and the invoice it pays.
11. Close the day on the paint Home. The heading shows the day's sales and how many mixes were made. Below it: sales, count and profit for Today, This Week or This Month, the best sellers, and how customers paid (cash, card, on account, bank transfer).
12. Check every mix is accounted for. Today's mixes are grouped by stage: waiting or mixing, mixed, sold. Two batches mixed and not yet sold are two phone calls to make before you lock up.

Which jobs does EasyTaskr take off the counter?

The table below maps each daily job at a paint shop to the screen that handles it.

How do you keep tint stock and margin under control?

Treat tint as stock, not as a consumable. Every canister has a reorder level in ml, and every mix takes its exact share off. That gives you two things a paper system cannot: the Refill now list each morning, and a batch price set against a known recipe instead of a rough guess.

Two habits make the numbers honest:

• Type every refill. If a canister is topped up and nobody enters it, the system thinks it is nearly empty and the Refill now list becomes noise.
• Mix only through the drawer. A colour mixed "off the books" takes tint without a record, so the canister level drifts and the batch never reaches the till.

For the arithmetic of pricing mixed paint above its base and tint cost, see how to price products, and for counting the shelf of base tins and sundries, stock control.

What about car paint?

If your shop also sells car refinish paint, the car colour till finds colours by car maker and code, and those lines ring up through the same till as house paint. It is switched on per business, so a decorating-only shop does not see it.

How does EasyTaskr help a paint shop?

It joins the tinting counter to the till. Saved formulas, scaled tints and canister levels make every mix repeatable and costed; batch numbers and labels make every tin traceable; and trade accounts with limits, statements and payments against invoices keep contractor credit in view. At the end of the day the paint Home shows sales, mixes and how people paid on one page, and cash up at end of day covers the drawer.