How to Write an Estimate for a Job, Step by Step

Open the free estimate makerDownload the job estimate worksheet (PDF)

What an estimate has to do

An estimate does three jobs at once. It tells the client what the work will cost, it shows them what they are paying for, and it records what you both understood the job to be. Most of the trouble that follows a job goes back to the third one. The price was fine; nobody wrote down that the old tiles were coming off, or that the rot behind them was extra.

That is why this guide starts on site rather than in a template. The template is the last five minutes. The first twenty-five are the walk-round and the notes, and they decide whether the estimate survives contact with the job.

A word on names before you start. An estimate is your best calculation of what the job should cost, and the final bill can move if the job turns out different. A quote is a fixed price for the work described. New Zealand's government consumer site puts it plainly: an estimate is not a fixed price, and a quote is an offer to do a job for a specified price. Pick the word that matches what you are promising. Our estimate vs quote vs invoice guide covers when to use each.

How to write the estimate, in eight steps

1. Walk the job and take notes

Go room by room or task by task. Measure, take photos, and write down every material and every hour you can see. The worksheet with this post has a table for it and a list of the lines people forget most: access and parking, protecting floors and furniture, clean-up and disposal, permits, travel, small fixings, and the second visit you will need when something has to dry or cure.

Ask the client to describe what they want in their own words and write that down too. If their words and your notes disagree, you have found the first exclusion or the first question.

2. Split the work into lines

One line per part of the job that the client would recognise: "Remove and dispose of old bathroom tiles, 6 m²" rather than "Labor". A client who can see what each part costs is less likely to haggle over the total and more likely to drop a line than walk away. Each line needs a quantity, a unit and a unit price.

3. Price each line

Cost the materials and the hours for each line, then add your overhead and your margin so that every line carries its share. If you price lines at bare cost and add a lump of profit at the bottom, the first line a client removes takes your profit with it. Our guide to pricing a job works through the arithmetic with an example.

4. Write the exclusions

Write down what is not in the price as plain sentences: "Repairs to any rot found behind the old tiles are not included and will be quoted separately." Three or four of these do more to prevent a dispute than any amount of small print. California's contractor licensing board, for example, says a home improvement contract should describe in detail the products to be used and how the work will be performed, and that changes must go through a written change order. An estimate written the same way makes the contract easy.

5. Add tax, discount and terms

Set the tax the way your area charges it: one rate on everything, or a different rate per line where some items are taxed and others are not. Add a discount if you are giving one, and shipping or delivery if it applies. Then write the terms: the deposit you need, when the balance is due, and how changes will be agreed.

6. Set the valid-until date

Material prices and your calendar both move. A valid-until date says how long this price holds. Thirty days is common; shorter if your materials change price often. The valid-until guide has a way to choose.

7. Build and check the PDF

Now open the template. Read every line on the preview as if you were the client, then download it.

8. Send it and note the follow-up date

Send the estimate while the visit is fresh in the client's mind, ideally the same day, and put a follow-up date in your calendar before you close the email.

Building it in the free estimate maker

The free estimate maker runs in your browser with no account. Nothing you type is uploaded; the preview and the PDF are made on your device, and your business details are remembered in that browser for next time.

1. Your business. Add your logo, business name and contact details once. They come back next time you open the page.
2. Prepared for. The client's name, address and email.
3. Estimate details. Choose whether the document is called an Estimate or a Quote, check the number and date, and pick how long the price holds: 7, 14, 30, 60 or 90 days, or a date you choose. Set the currency, US Letter or A4 paper, and a colour.
4. Items. One row per line from your worksheet, with the quantity and unit price. The amount and the totals update as you type.
5. Tax, discount and shipping. No tax, one rate on everything, or a rate on each item. The discount comes off the subtotal, tax is charged on what is left, and shipping is added after tax.
6. Notes and terms. Paste your exclusions and terms here.
7. Download PDF or Print. The PDF has a line at the bottom for the client to sign and accept.

The maths is done in whole cents, so the totals on the PDF always add up to the cent. If a box holds something that is not a number, it is highlighted and counts as zero, which is worth a glance before you download.

What happens after you send it

A PDF estimate does its job when the client signs it. Then the same numbers have to become an invoice. In the estimate maker, "Turn it into an invoice" opens the free invoice generator with the client, items, tax and discount already filled in, so you do not retype anything.

If you send several estimates a week, the slow part becomes everything around the PDF: chasing replies, knowing which ones were accepted, collecting the deposit. On a paid Fynl plan the quote goes out as a link the client can accept or decline online, a deposit link appears once they accept, an automatic reminder goes out if they have not answered, and an accepted quote turns into an invoice. For a handful of jobs a month, the free maker and a calendar reminder do the same work by hand.

Whichever route you take, the estimate is only as good as the notes behind it. Keep the worksheet with the job file; when a question comes up three weeks later, it is the record of what you saw on the day.

The estimate maker is one of several no-sign-up tools on our free tools page, alongside the invoice generator and a QR code generator for your quotes and flyers.

Questions people also ask

Sources

• Consumer Protection (NZ government) — Quotes and estimates
• Contractors State License Board (California) — What is a contract
• IRS — What kind of records should I keep