Paint Store & Color Studio – Shade, Batch and Project-wise Control
Paint stores and color studios deal with base paints, tinting colours, ready-made shades, primers and a mix of retail and contractor business. One mistake in shade, batch or price can damage both walls and relationships. This module connects shade-level stock, base and tint tracking, batch and tone control, contractor and project billing so your counter and mixing desk work in one direction.
Overview – Built Around How a Paint Store Really Works
The paint store & color studio module is designed for dealers, company outlets and independent paint shops. It handles both normal ready-made shades and full color studio operations where you tint base paints on machines.
Instead of treating paint as simple items, the module respects the real picture: different finishes, bases, tint codes, shade cards, batch numbers, project billing and contractor credit. This gives you control on every important step from colour selection to final invoice.
Products & Shades – Organising Colours and Finishes
Paint business is all about shades, finishes and applications. The module keeps your product master aligned with how paint is actually sold.
- Product families and finishes: Define families like interior emulsion, exterior emulsion, enamel, primer, waterproofing and texture, each with its own finishes (matte, silk, gloss, semi-gloss).
- Shade-wise items: Store ready-made shades as individual items linked to a shade card or code, so you can see stock and sales per shade, not just per product.
- Pack sizes: Manage multiple pack sizes – 1L, 4L, 14L, 20L, drums – with proper price and stock for each, under the same paint family.
- Surface and usage tagging: Tag products by surface (wall, wood, metal, roof, floor) and usage (primer, undercoat, topcoat, sealer) to help staff suggest correct systems to customers.
- Accessories and tools: Include brushes, rollers, tapes, thinners, sandpapers and tools in the same system, so one bill can cover full painting requirements.
Base, Tinting & Mixing – Color Studio Under Control
In a color studio, shades are created by mixing base paints with tinting colours according to formulas. The module supports this mixing logic clearly.
- Base and tint item tracking: Keep separate stock for white, medium, deep bases and for tinting colour bottles or cartridges used in your machines.
- Formula-based shade definition: Link shades to simple formula records (for example, Base A + X ml of T1, Y ml of T2) so you know which components are consumed for each tinted can.
- Mixing log: Record each tinted can with date, shade, pack size, project or customer, and optionally the formula reference for audit and repeat orders.
- Repeat shade orders: When a customer returns for the same colour, you can pull past mixing records by shade code, invoice or customer name and recreate that exact shade.
- Cost and consumption view: Understand how much base and tint was consumed for tinted shades over a period, giving you a better idea of actual cost and wastage.
Stock, Batches & Tones – Protecting Quality and Consistency
Paint is sensitive to batches, manufacturing dates and storage conditions. The module helps you keep track of stock in a way that protects both colour and cash.
- Batch and manufacturing date: Store batch numbers and manufacturing dates for ready-made shades and key products, so tone differences and warranty periods can be managed.
- Location-wise stock: Maintain stock for display, showroom and godown separately, so staff knows exactly where to pick which can from.
- Near-expiry or old stock alerts: Identify old batches or slow-moving shades in time, so you can run offers or use them in negotiated project rates.
- Damage, leakage and return handling: Record damaged, leaked or unusable cans, and handle returns from customers and contractors with proper stock and value adjustments.
- Minimum stock and fast-moving shades: Track which shades and pack sizes move fastest in your area and set minimum stock levels to avoid “out of stock” during busy seasons.
Contractors & Projects – Site-wise Material and Recovery
Paint dealers often work closely with painters, contractors and builders. Material goes to different sites, and payments come back in parts. The module is built for this reality.
- Contractor and painter profiles: Maintain separate records for contractors, painters, builders, interior designers and normal retail customers with their terms and contacts.
- Project and site tagging: Tag invoices, delivery challans and tinted cans to specific projects or sites (for example, “Villa 12”, “Plaza Block A”), so you can see material usage per project.
- Quotation and rate approvals: Prepare and store project-wise quotations with agreed rates, then convert them into sales as material goes out.
- Credit and outstanding control: Use limits and ageing reports to see how much each contractor owes, for how long, and which projects are still open.
- On-account receipts and adjustments: When contractors pay in lumps, record receipts and allocate them against multiple invoices or keep as advance for upcoming issues.
Reports & Control – Seeing Beyond Just Daily Sales
Paint is a high-value, medium-speed product. Reports show you where margin and movement are really coming from so you can plan better for seasons and campaigns.
- Shade and product-wise sales: View which products, shades, finishes and pack sizes contribute most to sales and which are blocking space and cash.
- Dealer scheme and discount visibility: Combine basic purchase cost with selling prices and discounts to estimate gross margins and effectiveness of schemes.
- Contractor and project performance: See which contractors and projects generated good volume and timely payments, and where recovery risk is growing.
- Old and slow-moving stock: Identify shades, finishes and batches that have not moved for a while, so you can plan special campaigns, bundles or clearance deals.
- Daily and monthly dashboards: Quickly check daily sales, credit vs cash mix, top items and top customers, giving a clear picture before talking to suppliers or planning targets.