Free Estimate Template
A blank estimate to print or fill in by hand. Print it and complete it by hand, or let the generator fill it in for you.
What an estimate should include
An estimate is your best informed guess at the cost of a job before it starts. The blank carries the fields that stop it being misread:
- The word Estimate, so nobody mistakes it for a fixed quotation.
- An estimate number and the date.
- The customer's name and the address of the job.
- Each part of the work, with quantity, rate and amount.
- What the figure assumes, and what would change it.
- How long the estimate stands, and the total.
Filling it in on site
Walk the job with the customer and write the scope as you go, room by room or stage by stage. A line the customer watched you write is a line they will not dispute later.
Write the assumptions in plain words beside the total: no rot under the floorboards, access from the street, materials at today's prices. They are what protects you when the job turns out different.
Estimate or quotation?
An estimate can move; a quotation generally cannot once it is accepted. If you are sure of the price and the scope is fixed, a quotation is the stronger document. If there is real uncertainty, an estimate with its assumptions written down is the honest one.
Keeping estimates useful
Number them and keep copies. When a customer accepts an estimate weeks later, you need to know what you said, what you assumed and when the offer ran out.
Questions
- Is an estimate legally binding?
- Generally not in the way a quotation is, because it is presented as an approximation. A wildly low estimate can still cause a dispute, so state your assumptions.
- How long should an estimate be valid?
- Thirty days is common. Where material prices move quickly, shorter is sensible.
- Can I turn an estimate into an invoice?
- Yes. When the work is done, invoice for what was actually done and refer to the estimate number.