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Free Estimate Template

Fill in your business, the customer and the job, add labor and material lines, and the estimate lays itself out as you type: subtotals, discount, tax, deposit and balance, with your terms and a line for the customer to accept. Print it, save it as a PDF, copy it as text or download the lines as a CSV.

What a job estimate includes

  • A number and two dates

    An estimate number the customer can quote back, the date you wrote it and the date it stops being valid. Thirty days is common; shorten it when material prices move.

  • Who it is from and for

    Your business with address, email and phone, the customer, and the job site when it is not the customer's address.

  • The job and its scope

    One line that names the job and a few lines on what is included, what is not, access and schedule. Scope is where most disputes start, so write it down.

  • Labor and materials

    Labor as hours or units at a rate, materials as quantity at a unit price with your markup. Keeping the two apart shows the customer where the money goes.

  • Discount, tax, deposit

    The subtotal, any discount, tax on the lines you tax, the total, the deposit you need to start and the balance on completion, worked to the cent.

  • Terms and acceptance

    That it is an estimate and not a fixed price, what changes it, how long it holds, and a line for the customer to sign and date.

Job estimate template for home services

Pick a trade above and the builder seeds the usual labor and material lines for it, with the prices blank: tear-off, underlayment and shingles for a roof; the condenser, air handler and line set for an HVAC change-out; prep, prime and two coats for a paint job. Delete what does not apply, add what does, and price each line from your own rates.

Put time on the labor side (hours at your rate, or a unit price per square, per opening, per fixture) and everything you buy on the materials side. The markup field adds your handling margin to every material line at once, so the printed prices already include it.

  • Roofing

    Tear-off and disposal, underlayment and shingles, flashing and ridge, cleanup; shingles by the bundle, underlayment by the roll, the dumpster.

  • HVAC

    Remove the old unit, set the new equipment, line set and electrical, start-up and test; condenser, air handler, thermostat, pad and disconnect, permit.

  • Plumbing

    Diagnose, replace the fixture or section, pressure test; water heater or fixture, pipe and fittings, shut-off valves, permit.

  • Painting

    Prep and mask, prime, two finish coats, cleanup; primer and paint by the gallon, tape and drop cloths, caulk.

  • Landscaping

    Site prep, planting, mulch and edging, irrigation, haul-away; plants, mulch and topsoil by the yard, edging, irrigation parts.

  • Solar

    Design and permitting, racking and panels, electrical and interconnection, inspection; panels, inverter, racking, wiring and disconnects, fees.

Charging sales tax? Type your rate in the tax field; for a US rate by address, use the sales tax calculator. Whether labor is taxed depends on your state, so pick "Materials only" where it is not.

Estimate, quote or invoice?

Estimate
An approximate price that can change once the work is better known. Sent before the sale, often after a site visit.
Quote
A fixed price for a stated scope, valid until a date. Sent before the sale when the scope is clear.
Invoice
A request for payment for work already done or agreed. Sent after the sale.

Once the scope is firm and you can hold the price, turn it into a quotation with the quotation generator: same line items, a fixed price and a validity date the customer can accept.

Tips for an estimate that gets accepted

  • Write the scope before the price

    Say what is included and what is not (permits, disposal, repairs you cannot see yet). The customer compares scopes as much as totals.

  • Show labor and materials apart

    A single number invites haggling. Two groups show where the money goes and make a cheaper option easy to offer: fewer hours, or a different material.

  • Say what changes the price

    Hidden damage, a change of material, extra openings. Name them in the terms so a change order later is no surprise.

  • Ask for the deposit on the page

    A deposit line with the amount and when it is due turns an accepted estimate into a scheduled job.

More on selling the job: roofing sales training, HVAC sales training, solar sales, home improvement sales.

The estimate comes out of the site visit.

Record the walk-through with ParrotNotes and get the transcript, a summary and the action items, so the measurements, the customer's asks and what you promised are in the notes when you write it up. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

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