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Made in NZ · For NZ paintersPainting software for NZ painters — quote prep, coats and coverage properly
Toolie quotes painting the way margin is actually won — prep priced separately from paint, coats and coverage as first-class inputs — then schedules the crew, tracks hours and invoices. Built for qualified NZ painters.
No credit card · Cancel anytime · Works offline on site · Flat NZD pricing
See how Toolie works for painters
From measuring each face of the house to a priced repaint in real tin sizes, the lead-paint paperwork for older homes, and the colour schedule the client signs off — in the order you’d use it.
Every screen here is the real Toolie app running a made-up demo business — the clients and addresses are invented, the screens are real.
- 01 Measure the elevationsMeasure Net wall m² per face, from a photo or typed
- 02 Quote the repaintQuote Paint in real tins, labour from productivity rates
- 03 Lead paint and the paperworkLead paint Presume lead in older homes, keep the record
- 04 Colour scheduleColours Surfaces, colours and litres, signed off
Chapters
01
Measure the elevations
Photograph each face of the house, tap something in the wall you know the size of, trace the wall, windows, doors and trims — or just type the width and eave height.
- Calibrate on a door, a garage door or a run of boards you’ve counted and measured — nothing is assumed
- Openings deducted at their real size, gables included, and trims (barges, fascia, facings) traced in lineal metres
- A warning when traced points are far from the reference, so you recalibrate on something bigger in the same wall
- The weatherboard lap factor worked out from your board’s cover and butt thickness (or painted girth), not a ×1.3 rule of thumb
- Photo-measure is marked indicative; the photo stays on the phone and only the measurements are saved
- Fill the takeoff, or add the measured exterior as a quote part, with a calc sheet kept on the job
02
Quote the repaint
Pick the painting job type — interior or exterior repaint, new-build schedule, roof, deck or fence, epoxy floor, commercial, lead-paint remediation — and the takeoff prices the paint and the hours.
- Paint litres from area × coats ÷ the product’s spread rate, bought in the product’s real tin sizes (the cheapest mix that covers the litres)
- Labour hours from Resene’s published productivity rates for the whole paint system
- Exterior inputs for primer on bare or weathered boards, two-storey work and scaffold, fascia and soffit runs
- A painter pricebook you can override with your own supplier prices
- Labour rate, materials markup and GST, with the client’s scope drafted from the job
03
Lead paint and the paperwork
Enter the year built and Toolie applies WorkSafe’s presumption: a building from the 1980s or earlier has lead-based paint until a test says otherwise.
- Lead Paint Hazardous Work Record for any job that disturbs paint on a building from the 1980s or earlier, or of unknown age (HSWA 2015 s 36 and the MoH/WorkSafe Guidelines for the Management of Lead-based Paint)
- Prohibited methods spelled out: dry sanding or scraping, sandblasting, high-pressure water blasting, heat guns and open flame
- The record captures the lead test result, area disturbed, removal method, containment and signage, waste disposal and clean-up check
- Your painting workmanship warranty, with the paint system used (in addition to the owner’s Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 rights)
- Preset hazards for painting: working at height, lead paint, solvent fumes and the hazardous substances inventory with safety data sheets
04
Colour schedule
Room by room and surface by surface: product, colour, sheen and coats, approved by the client before you order — with the litres worked out from your spread rates.
- Rooms and surfaces with area, product, colour name and code, sheen, coats and spread rate
- Litres per product and colour, rounded up to the can sizes your supplier stocks
- Client approval with name and date, and a warning until the client has signed off
- A printable colour schedule and CSV export
Everything in the painter pack
Price prep separately, because that’s where the margin is
Wash-down, sand, scrape, fill, prime and undercoat are quoted as their own lines, not buried in a per-m² rate. Painting is roughly 76% labour and 24% materials in NZ, so Toolie’s estimate reflects that prep-heavy reality instead of a flat guess.
Track coats and coverage so paint cost is real
Quote interior walls, ceilings and exterior weatherboard by m² and by room, set the number of coats and the coverage rate, and Toolie estimates paint volume and material cost properly — so you stop under-ordering and under-quoting. Pick your paint brand: Resene (the default), Dulux, Wattyl, British Paints, PPG Paints and Aalto cover the main wall, ceiling, trim and exterior products, and Paint Plus, Accent, Porter’s, Zinsser and Wet & Forget cover the products they make. Litres come from each product’s data-sheet spread rate and are bought in its real tin sizes, priced from NZ retail list prices (white base) until your own supplier prices replace them. Where a brand has no matching product, or no published price or spread rate, Toolie keeps the Resene line, flags it and leaves the call to you.
Flag lead paint on homes built in the 1980s or earlier
WorkSafe advises presuming lead-based paint on buildings from the 1980s or earlier. Toolie flags jobs on those homes (and homes of unknown age) as a priced containment line and a documented control, with an SDS and hazardous-substances register for solvents and thinners under HSWA 2015.
Attach a workmanship guarantee and your insurance
Surface your accreditation, public-liability cover and a written workmanship guarantee on the quote header — the trust signals that win residential repaints.
Schedule the crew, capture timesheets, invoice to Xero
Run the crew across multiple properties in a day, capture painter hours per job, handle variations like rot or extra coats without eating the cost, and progress-claim large repaints under the CCA.
One flat price for your whole crew — and a demo before you sign up
Toolie is flat: Solo $49, Duo $89, Crew $129, Pro $249 (NZD ex-GST) — add the whole crew free, not per user. 14-day free trial, no credit card, no lock-in. And you can quote a real job on the demo before you ever create an account.
Related: invoicing · crew scheduling · timesheets · H&S & SDS · software for every trade.
NZ compliance guide
Lead Paint Rules for NZ Painters: Homes Built Pre-1990 — What NZ painters must do on older homes: when to presume lead paint, safe prep methods, asbestos in textured coatings, hazardous substances and SDS records.
Common questions
How do I quote a painting job in NZ?
Toolie quotes prep — wash, sand, fill, prime — separately from paint, takes off walls, ceilings and exterior by m² and room, and sets coats and coverage, so the estimate reflects the roughly 76% labour / 24% materials split instead of a flat guess.
Do I need to test for lead paint before repainting in NZ?
WorkSafe advises presuming lead-based paint on buildings from the 1980s or earlier. Toolie flags jobs on those homes (and homes of unknown age) and adds a priced containment line and a documented control to your quote and scope.
Can the app work out paint quantity for a job?
Yes. Set the surface area, number of coats and coverage rate and Toolie estimates paint volume and material cost per job, so you stop under-ordering and under-quoting.
Can I attach a workmanship guarantee to my quote?
Yes. Toolie puts your guarantee, accreditation and public-liability insurance on the quote header, which helps win residential repaints.
How much does painting software cost in NZ?
Flat NZD ex-GST: Solo $49, Duo $89, Crew $129, Pro $249 — one price for the whole crew, not per user. 14-day free trial, no card.
Does Toolie flag lead paint on older houses?
Yes. Enter the year built: for a building from the 1980s or earlier, or of unknown age, Toolie presumes lead-based paint as WorkSafe advises, lists the Lead Paint Hazardous Work Record on any job that disturbs paint, and spells out the prohibited methods such as dry sanding and heat guns.
Can Toolie measure a house from a photo?
Elevation Measure lets you photograph each face, tap something of known size in the wall, and trace the wall, windows, doors and trims to get net wall area per elevation. It is marked indicative — check-measure before ordering — and you can type any elevation instead.
Quote, comply and get paid — in one place
Start free today. Built around NZS 3604, H1, Healthy Homes & CCA 2002. One flat price for your whole crew.
Try the Elevation Measure free →






