The invoice app for drywall contractors

Drywall is priced in units nobody outside the trade understands — boards, square feet, and finish levels from 0 to 5 — and that gap is where the arguments come from. A homeowner who thinks they bought "drywall" and receives a Level 3 finish is going to be unhappy, and the only thing that protects you is a document that said so up front.

Toolbelt lets you write that document in the time it takes to walk back to the truck, with the finish level, the board count and the taping all itemised.

What actually goes wrong when drywall contractors invoice

These are the four billing problems we hear most often from drywall contractors. None of them is about not knowing how to do the work — they are all about the gap between finishing a job and getting paid for it.

How Toolbelt fits a drywall contractor's day

Name the finish level on the document

Put "Level 4 finish" on the quote in writing. It is the single most valuable line on the page, and it is the one that keeps you off the hook later.

Bill by board, square foot or stage

Hang, tape, mud and sand as separate lines — or one price with the stages listed underneath. Either way the customer can see what they bought.

Offline on new-build sites

No power, no signal, no problem.

Example drywall contractor invoice line items

These are example line items with typical US market ranges, to show how a drywall contractor's invoice breaks down. They are illustrations, not our recommended prices — your rates depend on your market, your licence, your overhead and your reputation, and nobody on the internet should be setting them for you.

In Toolbelt you save the ones you use constantly, so after a couple of weeks most of an invoice is taps rather than typing. You can read more on structuring a document properly in our invoice template guide, or start from our free contractor invoice template.

Pricing

Toolbelt is free for 3 invoices or quotes a month, with every feature switched on and no card required. Past that it is $14.99/month or $99.99/year — one price, everything included. If you are weighing it against the alternatives, we keep honest comparison pages that tell you where the other apps beat us.

Getting paid: deposits and terms for drywall contractors

Drywall usually sits mid-chain on a bigger job, which means you are often being paid by a general contractor rather than a homeowner — and GCs pay on their schedule, not yours. Agree the terms before you hang a single board, and put them on the quote: net 15 or net 30, and what happens after that.

For direct-to-homeowner work, take a deposit that covers board and compound. Materials for a full basement are not trivial, and you should not be fronting them.

More on this in our guides to deposits and payment terms and getting paid faster.

What to put on a drywall contractor invoice

The difference between an invoice that gets paid and one that gets a phone call is almost always detail. For drywall contractors specifically, make sure these are on it:

• The finish level — Level 3, 4 or 5 — stated explicitly. This is the most important line on the document
• Square footage or board count
• Hang, tape, mud and sand broken out, or clearly stated as one price covering all four
• Texture, if any, named
• Whether disposal of offcuts is included
• Payment terms, especially if you are billing a GC

Drywall Contractors FAQ

Should I put the finish level on the quote?

Always. It is the difference between a Level 3 and a Level 5 price, and it is the thing customers dispute when it is not written down.

Can I bill by the board and by the square foot?

Yes, on the same document if the job calls for it.

Can I set a minimum charge for small patches?

Yes — save it as a line item so it appears every time and never has to be explained on the phone.

Does it work on a site with no power or signal?

Yes. Everything is created offline and syncs later.

Related trades