Estimate template: what to include, with a job estimate example

A client asks "how much would that cost?", and you have two choices: send a number in a text message, or send a proper estimate. The text message gets you a "let me think about it". The estimate gets you the job, because it shows exactly what the client is paying for. I will give you an estimate template you can reuse for every job, a filled-in job estimate example, and the details that turn an estimate into a signed agreement.

What is a job estimate?

A job estimate is the document you send before work starts, setting out what you will do and what it is likely to cost. In everyday use "estimate" and "quote" are often swapped, but they do not promise the same thing: an estimate is an informed approximation that may change, a quote is a fixed price. Say which one you mean on the document itself, in plain words.

What should an estimate template include?

1. Your details and the estimate reference

Your business name, address and contact details, an estimate number and the date. Add any licence or registration number your area expects contractors to show.

2. The client and the job site

The client's name and contact details, and the address where the work will be done if it differs from the billing address.

3. The scope of work, line by line

This is the heart of the template. One line per task, each with a description, a quantity, a unit, a unit price and a line total. Keep labour and materials on separate lines: clients accept a price they can read. The method for breaking a job into lines is in our guide on how to write a quote.

4. The totals

Subtotal, tax where it applies, and total. If part of the work is optional, list it apart and say it is not included in the total.

5. The conditions

• Validity: how long the price holds.
• Deposit: the amount or percentage due before work starts.
• Payment terms: when the balance is due and how to pay.
• What is not included, and what happens if the scope changes.

6. Acceptance

A line for the client's name, signature and date. Without it, an estimate is only a suggestion.

What does an estimate example look like?

Here is a fictional estimate for repainting two rooms. The amounts are illustrative.

Conditions on this example: estimate valid for 30 days, a deposit of 30 percent on acceptance, balance due on completion. These figures are examples, not recommendations: set the validity and deposit that suit your business and your local rules.

Estimate template in Word, Excel or software?

A Word template is quick to set up and weak on arithmetic. An Excel template calculates the totals, but you still copy client details by hand and keep track of numbers yourself. Either is fine for a few estimates a month. Beyond that, the time goes into retyping: once into the estimate, again into the invoice.

What turns an estimate into a job?

Three habits make the difference:

• Send it fast. The first clear estimate to arrive is often the one accepted.
• Make acceptance easy. A signature on paper, or online, with one click.
• Follow up. One polite reminder a few days later, before the validity date.

How does FacturWeb help?

In FacturWeb, you build the estimate from your saved products and services, the totals calculate themselves, and the client can accept and sign it online. Once it is accepted, you turn it into an invoice in one click, with the same lines and prices. If the job is a service rather than site work, see how to invoice for services.

Summary