In this work, we discuss the effect of surface roughness on the measurement of the diffuse to near-normal viewing reflectance factor of coatings and evaluate its impact on the corresponding color coordinates. We compare specular component included (SCI) and excluded measurements. We introduce a gloss-factor to account for surface roughness in specular component excluded measurements. We present experimental results on samples with different degrees of surface roughness. Samples in this study were chosen to expose the contribution of the surface in the reflectance factor. For slightly rough surfaces, the influence on the measured reflectance factor depends on whether the specular-component is included or excluded. As the surface roughness increases, the specular-excluded reflectance factor increases approaching its value with the SCI further roughness lead to similar measurement results in both configurations. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 38, 177187, 2013.