Work Estimate Template

An estimate is the bid you hand over before any work starts — not the bill that follows it. That one distinction shapes this whole page. This is a blank, trade-neutral estimate you build on the spot, for any job that doesn’t fit a dedicated template: list the work, set what it costs, give the price an expiry date, and print or send it. Nothing is uploaded, and nothing is stored beyond your browser.

Write the scope before you write a number

The most common reason an estimate causes friction later is loose scope, not a wrong price. Before you fill in a dollar figure, decide what the job actually includes — and put the boundaries somewhere the client reads. On a blank, any-job estimate this matters more than on a trade template, because there’s no preset quietly spelling out the usual inclusions. “Paint the room” and “two coats on walls only, trim and ceiling excluded” are different offers. Use the notes and terms fields to state what’s covered and, just as important, what isn’t — haul-away, permits, after-hours work, materials the client supplies — so the number you quote isn’t later read as covering all of it.

Itemize, even on a small job

Line items make the bid legible and let the client see exactly what they’re approving. The builder gives you description / quantity / unit-price rows; break labor out from materials, or split the job into its phases, even when it’s a single visit. A one-line “work — $850” invites an argument; three clear lines invite a signature. A discount line and a tax cell sit below the items. Tax starts at 0% because what’s taxable, and at what rate, varies by place and by whether you’re billing labor, materials, or both — enter your own local rate and the builder applies it to the post-discount subtotal.

Give the price a valid-until date

This is the field that separates an estimate from an invoice. Your costs move — materials, fuel, your own availability — so a bid with no expiry is a number you may be stuck honoring months from now. The builder fills the Valid until date 30 days out by default; shorten it when prices are volatile, extend it for a slow-moving client. When the window closes, you re-quote at current prices instead of eating the gap. A dated offer also nudges the client to decide, which is half the reason you sent it.

Terms, deposits, and turning a bid into a job

The terms field is where the estimate stops being a loose guess. Say whether the price is a firm quote, a not-to-exceed cap, or an approximate ballpark — leaving it unstated is how a rough figure gets remembered as a promise. It’s also where a deposit-on-acceptance line belongs. The printed document carries an Accepted by signature block: once the client signs, the bid becomes the agreed scope, and anything beyond it is a fresh quote or a change order, not a silent overrun on the final invoice.

It’s a document you own, not an account

Everything happens in your browser — there’s no signup, no email wall, and nothing is saved between visits. Fill in your business and the client’s details, build the lines, then print it, save it as a PDF, or copy it as plain text to paste into an email. Because it’s a document and not a stored billing system, there’s no customer ledger and no cross-job numbering; the estimate number is yours to set, so keep a simple sequence if you want one bid to trace cleanly to the invoice it becomes.

When a trade-specific estimate fits better

This blank builder is the right tool for mixed work, a one-off, or a trade that doesn’t have its own page. When a job carries regulated or spec-driven detail, a dedicated sibling captures it without you retyping the structure each time: roofing (by the square, with tear-off), painting, auto repair, construction for a detailed line-item build, and the simpler client-facing contractor estimate all run on this same engine. A flat commercial roof has its own TPO estimate, and pest control has an estimate framed around an initial visit plus a recurring plan. When any of them is accepted, move the figures into the service invoice template to bill the work.