Paint dealers: tinting, pack sizes and painter credit

How the paint trade works

Decorative paint companies sell to dealers either directly from their depots or through distributors, usually on a defined credit period with cash discounts for early payment. Dealers stock interior and exterior emulsions, enamels, primers, putty, distempers, waterproofing and wood finishes, plus tools like brushes, rollers and sandpaper. Industrial and automotive coatings follow a more B2B route with fewer, larger customers.

The dealer's real customers are often painters and contractors. A homeowner may pick the colour, but the painter decides the brand and quantity, and in many towns the painter buys on the dealer's credit and collects from the homeowner later.

Bases, tinting and pack sizes

Most shades are not stocked as finished paint. The dealer keeps a few bases in pack sizes such as 1, 4, 10 and 20 litres and tints them on a machine using colourants. That means stock is tracked in bases and colourants, while the bill shows a shade name. Tinted paint is made to order, so returns are difficult, and wrong quantities cost the dealer money.

In Tally, keep bases and colourants as separate items, and decide with your accountant whether tinting is billed as part of the paint price or as a separate charge. Group items by brand and product range so that counter staff can find the right base quickly. Our note on stock groups and categories helps.

Seasons and stock planning

Painting demand rises sharply in the weeks before Diwali and other regional festivals, and again before weddings. It slows in the monsoon when exterior work stops, although waterproofing products sell more just before the rains. Plan purchases backwards from these peaks, and watch for shelf life on putty and some speciality products. A festive stock plan avoids both stock-outs in October and overstock in July.

Schemes, painter loyalty and credit

Paint companies run several schemes at once: dealer turnover slabs, cash discounts, product-specific offers, and painter loyalty points that the company pays directly. The dealer usually receives scheme benefits as credit notes, which must be matched against purchases to see the true buying price.

Painter credit is where money gets stuck. A painter may run three sites at once and pay only when the homeowner pays him. Practical rules:

• Give painters a fixed limit and a clear period, for example 15 or 30 days.
• Bill each site separately, or mention the site on the bill, so disputes are easy to settle.
• Share the statement every fortnight, not only when you want money.

GST and documents

Paints, putty, primers, tools and waterproofing products are classified under different HSN codes, so check the current GST rate for each on the GST portal when you set up items. Cash discounts and scheme credit notes from the company affect your purchase cost and may affect input tax credit depending on how they are issued; ask your accountant. Bills to registered contractors should carry their GSTIN. This is general information, not tax advice.

A painter account, worked through

Here is how a typical painter's month looks on the dealer's books and why a running statement matters.

When the painter says he owes about ₹15,000, the statement shows ₹26,500 across two sites. Billing per site and sharing the running balance avoids the argument, and returns of unopened tins should always be booked as a credit note, never adjusted verbally.

Cashflow OS and Tally for paint dealers

Cashflow OS puts your TallyPrime data on the phone: painter and contractor outstanding with ageing, company payables against the cash-discount date, and today's sales and collections. Share a party statement on WhatsApp in Tally's format or as a simple Hindi page that painters find easy to read. If you supply retailers in nearby towns, price lists with dealer types fill rates automatically, and salespeople can record collections in the field. See party ledger statements for the formats.