PPF and Ceramic Coating Bid Calculator — Price Per Job and Per Bay Day

What should you charge for this PPF and ceramic coating job?

Enter the car, the package and your costs. You get a price, the film to buy with waste, the bay days the car occupies, and which package earns the most per bay day. A rate card by vehicle class loses money on big vehicles, on correction-heavy paint and on cure days that block the bay.

Calculated in this browser tab. No account, no upload. The example is made up. A planning estimate, not a quote.

1. The job

Vehicle size

Film package

Add ceramic coating

Paint correction stage (0, 1 or 2)

2. Materials

Film cost ($ per linear foot of roll)

Film waste (%)

Coating material ($ per vehicle)

Tape, solution, pads ($ per job)

3. Time and bay

Coating application, compact car (hours)

Labour ($ per tech hour)

Techs on the car

Productive hours per tech per day

Cure days with the bay blocked

Bay overhead ($ per day: rent, power, tools)

4. Risk and margin

Jobs that need a redo (%)

Cost of one redo ($)

Margin wanted (% of the price)

Minimum charge ($)

Enter the car and your costs, or load the example, then click Price this job.

The arithmetic, and what it leaves out

Film is a linear-foot figure for a compact car (partial front 14, full front 24, track pack 36, full body 70) scaled by vehicle size (1.0, 1.15, 1.35, 1.5), plus your waste percentage, times your roll cost.
Install hours scale the same way (8, 14, 22, 40 for a compact car). Correction adds 0, 4 or 9 hours by stage; coating adds the hours you type. Labour is tech hours times your rate.
Bay days are tech hours over techs times productive hours, rounded up, plus cure days when a coating is applied. Overhead is bay days times your daily figure. The redo allowance is the redo rate times its cost.
Price is cost divided by one minus your margin, never below your minimum charge. The starting hours are rules of thumb: replace them with your own times.
Not modelled: sales tax, insurance, film brand warranty terms, headlight tint, chrome delete and other extras, travel, and the pattern-software cut figures for a specific vehicle.

Common questions

How do I price paint protection film?

Price the film you buy, not the film you cut: linear feet for the coverage and vehicle, plus waste for offcuts and a ruined panel, times your roll cost per foot. Add installer hours at your labour rate, any paint correction, bay overhead for every day the car occupies the bay, and the expected cost of redos, then divide by one minus your margin.

How much film does a full front PPF install need?

Roughly 24 linear feet of a 60 inch roll on a compact car for hood, fenders, bumper, mirrors and headlights, more on larger vehicles. The tool scales by vehicle size and lets you change the waste percentage. Use your pattern software's real cut figures when you have them.

Why does the bay day matter more than the hours?

A car on a cure day or waiting for film earns nothing while it holds the bay. Profit per bay day shows which package to sell first when the bay is booked solid, and which package looks big on price but is small per day.

Should I charge for paint correction?

Yes. Film and coating over uncorrected paint locks the defects in, and a two-step correction can add a day. The tool adds correction hours by stage and vehicle size so the price reflects them.

How do I price ceramic coating on top of PPF?

Add the coating material, its application hours and the cure days the bay is blocked. The package table shows every film coverage with the coating on or off, so you can quote both.

What does this leave out?

Sales tax, insurance, shop supplies beyond the consumables you type, film brand warranty terms, headlight and chrome-delete extras, and travel. It is a bidding aid, not a quote.

Is my data uploaded?

No. Everything runs in your browser tab and nothing is sent anywhere. There are no accounts. The share link keeps your numbers in the link itself, which you choose whether to send.