What to include in a contractor estimate
Ten items. If your estimate has all ten, the customer has nothing left to ask before they say yes.
An estimate is a document the customer uses to decide. Every missing piece is a question they have to ask, and every question is a delay. Here is the checklist, with what each item looks like on the page.
1. Who you are
Business name, your name, phone, email, and your license number if your trade has one. Put the phone number where it is tappable. Customers call before they sign more often than they email.
2. Who it is for and where
The customer's name and the job address. It sounds obvious, and it is the item most often left off a text-message estimate. Without the address, the document is not about a specific job.
3. A number and a date
An estimate number and the date it was sent. The number makes it easy to refer to on the phone. The date starts the clock on the valid-through period.
4. The scope, as a list
One line per thing you will do. "Replace 50-gallon gas water heater. Haul off old unit. Install new expansion tank. Pull permit." Specific items are the difference between a customer who understands the price and one who compares it to a cheaper bid that quietly left things out.
5. What is not included
Two or three lines on what the price does not cover. "Does not include drywall repair or painting." Written down, it is a courtesy. Discovered later, it is an argument.
6. The price, where they cannot miss it
One total, large, near the top or at the end of the scope. If there are two ways to do the job, two totals with a label on each. Not a spreadsheet.
7. Timeline
How long, and when you can start. "Two days. Can start the week of the 20th." A timeline makes the price feel like a plan.
8. Payment terms
Deposit amount, when the balance is due, and how they can pay. "$1,200 at signing, balance on completion. Card, check, or Zelle." Read how much deposit to ask for if you are not sure of the amount.
9. Warranty, in one line
"One year on labor. Manufacturer warranty on parts." Short is fine. Missing makes the customer wonder.
10. A valid-through date and a way to accept
"Price good for 30 days." Then the way to say yes: a signature line on paper, or a link they can open on their phone and accept with their name. The easier accepting is, the sooner it happens.
Two things to leave off
Your hourly rate and your markup. The customer is buying the finished job at a price, and those numbers invite negotiation over things that are none of their concern.
There are finished sample estimates for 24 trades that show all ten items on one page, and free templates you can print. BidWriter Pro puts all ten on every proposal from the job description you type. Try it without signing up.
Free, no account: job price calculator, markup vs margin, hourly rate, and 84 sample estimates.
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