APPLIANCE REPAIR ESTIMATE TEMPLATE
Free appliance repair estimate template
An appliance repair estimate written at the kitchen counter: the appliance by brand, model and serial, the fault reported and the fault found, the diagnosis fee counted toward the repair, labor by the job and each part by part number, with the part's lead time and the return visit. Free in Word and PDF, with every line explained.
Word and PDF · Free · No email, no sign-up
The short answer
An appliance repair estimate names the appliance — brand, type, model number and serial — records the fault the customer reported and the fault you found, and prices three things on their own lines: the diagnosis fee you've already charged, the labor for the repair as a flat job price, and each part by name and manufacturer part number, with whether it's on the van or on order.
Then the sentence that decides the job: whether the repair is worth it. A customer looking at a $350 repair on a twelve-year-old refrigerator wants to hear your view, and an estimate that says so is the one they trust.
Around that go your business and registration details, the customer and the address, the estimate number and the date it holds until (parts prices move, so keep it short), what's included, and how to pay — most often the diagnosis fee today and the balance when the machine is running.
FREE TEMPLATE · WORD AND PDF
The appliance repair estimate template, filled in
Below is the template filled in for Ridgeway Appliance Repair, a fictional appliance repair business, so you can see every line in use. The downloads are the same estimate with [bracketed] lines to replace — free, no email address, no sign-up.
![Free Appliance Repair Estimate Template — the blank fill-in estimate as it downloads, with [bracketed] lines to replace](/estimate-templates/appliance-repair-estimate-template-preview.png)
Example · fictional business
Ridgeway Appliance Repair Fresno, CA (559) 555-0118 · service@ridgewayappliance.example CA appliance service dealer registration # 00000 (example) | ESTIMATE |
Prepared for Marcus Delgado 4418 N Van Ness Blvd Fresno, CA | Appliance GE side-by-side refrigerator, model GSS25GYPFS, serial ending 2203, about 6 years old Reported: fridge side warm, freezer fine · Found: evaporator fan motor failed; frost on the evaporator Part ordered on your go-ahead; return visit in 2–3 business days, about 1 hour |
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service call and diagnosis Travel, testing, fault found — paid today and counted toward the repair | 1 | $95.00 | $95.00 |
| Labor — replace evaporator fan motor, clear frost, test Flat job price, return visit included | 1 | $135.00 | $135.00 |
| Part — evaporator fan motor, GE WR60X26866 OEM, on order, 2–3 business days | 1 | $112.00 | $112.00 |
| Replace the fresh-food door gasket Torn at the hinge corner and letting warm air in — recommended, not needed for this repair | 1 | $148.00 | +$148.00 |
| Subtotal | $342.00 | ||
| Sales tax, 8.35% on parts (example) | $9.35 | ||
| Estimated total | $351.35 | ||
Deposit to begin
$95.00 books the job; the balance is due when the work is finished.
What's included
The diagnosis, the part by part number, fitting it, clearing the frost, a test to a steady 37°F in the fridge and 0°F in the freezer, and taking the old motor away. Not included: the door gasket (see the option) and any further fault that shows up once the fan is running — we'd stop and price it before going on.
How to pay
The $95 is today's diagnosis fee, paid at the door, so nothing more is due until the repair is done. The balance is due when the fridge is holding temperature — card, cash or check.
Every figure on the example is an example, not a price guide — use your own rates. The Word file is a standard .docx you can edit in Word or any app that opens Word documents; the PDF prints as-is if you'd rather fill it in by hand.
Quotes and a website, one place
Start your appliance repair website — quoting is built in
Add your business name and your town, and Zarla builds your appliance repair website from this one line. The same dashboard sends quotes like this one as a link your customer accepts online, and drafts the invoice when they do.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
LINE BY LINE
What goes on an appliance repair estimate
Every line on the template, in order, and what to write on it.
| The line | What to put there |
|---|---|
| Business name, contact and registration number | Your trading name, phone, email and address, and your state registration or license number where your state has one — California registers every appliance service dealer, for example. |
| Estimate number, date and valid-until date | A number that never repeats, the date you diagnosed the fault, and the date the price holds until. Fourteen days suits appliance parts; the price you were quoted for the motor won't hold a month. |
| Prepared for and the appliance | The customer and the address the appliance lives at, then the machine: brand, type, model number and serial from the rating plate, and its rough age — the age is what makes the repair-or-replace conversation honest. |
| Reported and found | The fault the customer described and the fault you found, in one line each. “Reported: won't drain · Found: failed drain pump, sock in the filter” is the line that makes the labor price make sense. |
| Service call and diagnosis | The fee for coming out and finding the fault, and whether it counts toward the repair. If it does, show it as a line and say in the notes that it's paid — the customer sees the credit they were promised. |
| Labor | The repair as a flat job price — most appliance shops price from a rate guide — or hours × rate, with what the job includes: the return visit, the test cycle, taking the old part away. |
| Parts by part number | Each part by name and manufacturer part number, OEM or aftermarket, and whether it's on the van or on order with the lead time. Parts are taxable in most states, so they stay on their own lines. |
| Tax, total and deposit | Sales tax on parts — and on labor where your state taxes repair labor — the estimated total, and what's been paid today. |
| Options, what's included and how to pay | A second fault or a worn part as an option on its own line, the scope in plain words, and how to pay: the diagnosis fee today, the balance when the machine is running. |
STEP BY STEP
How to write an appliance repair estimate
Five minutes at the counter with the rating plate in front of you — the customer decides while you're still in the kitchen.
Put your details and registration number at the top
Business name, phone, email, address and your state registration number if your state has one. Save the file once with these filled in.
Number it, date it, set a short valid-until date
The next number in your series, today's date and the day the price stops holding — two weeks is plenty for a parts price.
Name the appliance, the fault reported and the fault found
Brand, type, model and serial from the rating plate, the machine's rough age, what the customer told you and what you found.
Price the diagnosis, the labor and each part
The diagnosis fee and whether it counts toward the repair, the repair as a flat job price with the return visit in it, and each part by part number with OEM or aftermarket and its lead time.
Add tax, total it, say what's paid
Sales tax on parts, and on labor where your state taxes it; the estimated total; the diagnosis fee as the deposit already paid.
Say whether it's worth repairing, then how to pay
Your honest view against the price of a new machine, what's included, and how to pay — the fee today, the balance when it's running. Hand it over before you leave.
How appliance repair estimates win the job
Give the repair-or-replace answer yourself. The customer is going to look up the price of a new machine the moment you leave. The rule most technicians use: if the repair costs more than half the price of a new one and the appliance is past half its expected life, say so. The customer who hears “honestly, I'd replace this one” calls you for the next three repairs.
Count the diagnosis fee toward the repair, and show it. “It's $95 to come out and find the fault, and that comes off the repair if you go ahead” is what books the call. On the estimate, the fee is a line and the notes say it's paid — the customer sees the deal exactly as it was promised on the phone.
Put the part number on the line. A part by name and manufacturer number, OEM or aftermarket, with its lead time, is a price the customer can check and a part you can order without a second call. It also makes the next repair faster: the model, serial and part number are already on paper in their drawer.
Price the second fault as an option. The torn gasket, the worn drain hose, the noisy fan on the other machine — on its own line as a recommendation, not folded into the repair. The customer adds it without feeling upsold, or skips it without arguing about the base price.
Registration and refrigerant. In the US most states don't register appliance repair businesses, but some do — California's Bureau of Household Goods and Services registers every appliance service dealer and its number belongs on the estimate — and anyone opening a sealed refrigerant circuit on a refrigerator, freezer or air conditioner needs EPA Section 608 certification. Check your state's licensing board.
Tax. In the US nearly every state taxes the parts you install, and a number tax repair labor too — Texas, Connecticut and Wisconsin among them — so keep parts and labor on separate lines and check your state's revenue department or your accountant before you set the tax line. Outside the US the rule is the other way around: in Australia and New Zealand a GST-registered business gives a consumer a price that includes GST, and in the UK and EU a VAT-registered business shows the VAT and quotes consumers a price with it included. Confirm the details with your accountant.
Send it from Zarla and get it accepted online
A Word estimate is a fine way to start. The slow part is everything after you send it: waiting for a reply, wondering whether they opened it, and retyping every line into the invoice when they say yes.
If you build your appliance repair website with Zarla, quotes are in the same dashboard. Build the quote from your own price book — one price, or up to three options side by side with the one you'd pick marked Recommended, and any line as a checkbox extra. Send it as one link, by email. Your customer picks an option, ticks any extras, types their name to accept, and gets a copy; Zarla drafts the invoice for exactly what they chose, with any deposit you asked for, and the job moves to Won. The quote template is already in your brand: your website's logo, colors and fonts, set once for every quote and invoice. On a paid plan, with your Stripe account connected, that invoice carries a pay-now button, so the deposit comes in as soon as you send it.
Want to see the website first? Browse appliance repair website templates or see how Zarla builds appliance repair websites. Still setting up? Read how to start an appliance repair business and write your appliance repair business plan. Setting your rates? See how much to charge for appliance repair.
The whole paper trail of a job, step by step: how to write a quote, then the appliance repair invoice template, then how to write a receipt — with a free receipt template. For any other trade, start from the free estimate template.
Appliance repair estimates: common questions
Your business, contact and state registration details; the customer and the address; an estimate number, the date and a valid-until date; the appliance by brand, type, model and serial with its rough age; the fault reported and the fault found; the diagnosis fee and whether it counts toward the repair; the labor as a flat job price; each part by name and part number with its lead time; tax where it applies, the estimated total and what's been paid; then what's included, any option, and how to pay.
An estimate is your best calculation of what the job will cost, given what you can see today; the final price can move if the work turns out different. A quote (or a fixed price) is the price you will charge for the work described. A bid is a quote submitted against someone else's specification, usually in construction. Say which one your document is in its title.
Charge it — finding the fault is skilled work and a drive — and say on the phone what happens to it. Most shops count it toward the repair when the customer goes ahead; the estimate then shows the fee as a line and the notes say it's paid, so the credit is visible. If you don't credit it, say so before the visit, never on the estimate.
On the estimate, in one sentence under what's included: “A new unit of this type runs about $X; at six years old this one is worth repairing, at twelve I'd replace it.” Give your view against the price of a new machine and the age of theirs. Customers trust the technician who talks them out of a repair, and they come back.
Fourteen days is sensible: parts prices and availability move faster than labor, and a motor quoted this week may be a different price next month. Put the date on the estimate and re-quote the part if the customer comes back after it.
Usually the diagnosis fee is the deposit — paid at the door, counted toward the repair — and the balance is due when the appliance is running. Ask for more up front only when you're special-ordering an expensive part the customer could cancel on, and say so on the phone before you order it.
Yes. The appliance repair estimate template on this page downloads free as a Word document and a PDF — no email address, no sign-up. Edit it in Word or any app that opens Word documents, or print the PDF and fill it in by hand.
Not from a Word file — the customer replies by email or phone, and you type the job into an invoice later. To get a yes in one tap, send it from quoting software. If your appliance repair website is on Zarla, the quote tool is in the same dashboard: your customer opens one link, picks an option, ticks any extras and types their name to accept, and Zarla drafts the invoice for what they chose — which, on a paid plan with Stripe connected, carries a pay-now button. Jobber, Housecall Pro, Wix and Squarespace send quotes customers accept online too.
Send estimates from your own appliance repair website
Add your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line — with quoting in the same dashboard.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.