FREE ESTIMATE TEMPLATE
Free estimate template for any job
One clean estimate: the job in one line, every charge on its own line, what's included and what isn't, a valid-until date and a deposit to begin. Free in Word and PDF, with every line explained — and a trade-specific version for roofing, painting, plumbing and seven more.
Word and PDF · Free · No email, no sign-up
The short answer
An estimate needs your business details, the customer and the job address, an estimate number, the date and a valid-until date, and every part of the job on its own line — labor, materials, permits, disposal — with a subtotal, tax where it applies, the estimated total and the deposit you need to start.
Then the two paragraphs that win or lose the job: what's included and what isn't, and how to pay — how much books the date, when the balance is due, and how they can pay.
Pick the version for your trade below, or use the general template on this page for anything else.
FREE TEMPLATE · WORD AND PDF
The estimate template, filled in
Below is the template filled in for Lakeside Property Services, a fictional 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 Estimate Template — the blank fill-in estimate as it downloads, with [bracketed] lines to replace](/estimate-templates/free-estimate-template-preview.png)
Example · fictional business
Lakeside Property Services Boise, ID (208) 555-0131 · hello@lakesideps.example | ESTIMATE |
Prepared for Priya Natarajan 1480 Warm Springs Ave Boise, ID | Job Repair and re-stain rear deck, 320 sq ft Same address · 2 days, weather permitting Start on deposit; we'll confirm the date |
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Replace damaged deck boards 6 boards, pressure-treated, matched to existing | 6 | $38.00 | $228.00 |
| Pressure wash and prep Wash, sand rough spots, set proud screws | 1 | $180.00 | $180.00 |
| Stain, two coats Semi-transparent, color to be chosen from samples | 320 | $2.75 | $880.00 |
| Stain and supplies 2 gallons, brushes, tape and drop cloths | 2 | $62.00 | $124.00 |
| Haul away old boards | 1 | $45.00 | $45.00 |
| Subtotal | $1,457.00 | ||
| Sales tax, 6% on materials (example) | $21.12 | ||
| Estimated total | $1,478.12 | ||
Deposit to begin
$300.00 books the job; the balance is due when the work is finished.
What's included
All labor, materials and cleanup listed above. Railings, steps and the underside of the deck are not included; we'll estimate those separately if you'd like them done.
How to pay
Pay the $300 deposit by card, check or bank transfer to book the job; the balance is due when the work is finished.
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 business website — quoting is built in
Add your business name and your town, and Zarla builds your business 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.
WHICH ONE?
Estimate, quote, bid or invoice
Four documents that look alike and mean different things. Say which one yours is in the title.
| Document | What it says | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Estimate | Your best calculation of what the job will cost, from what you can see today. The final price can move if the work turns out different. | First contact, jobs with unknowns (what's behind the wall, what's in the garage), anything priced from photos. |
| Quote (fixed price) | The price you will charge for the work described. The number the customer will be billed for the work described. | Jobs you can see completely — a repaint, a water heater, a deck — and customers who want certainty. |
| Bid | A quote submitted against someone else's specification, usually competing with other bidders. | Construction and commercial work with drawings and a spec; government and property-management tenders. |
| Invoice | The bill for work done, sent after the job (or at a milestone), with what's owed and how to pay. | After the work. The estimate or quote becomes the invoice line for line, with the deposit taken off. |
Estimate templates by trade
Each trade's page has the same free template shaped for that trade — the lines its customers expect, the example filled in for a fictional business, and the rules that apply to it — plus the Word and PDF downloads.
- Construction estimate template — the job priced phase by phase, with a visible contingency and a milestone payment schedule.
- Contractor estimate template — a general contractor's estimate to a homeowner: your crew, each licensed sub, allowances, overhead and profit.
- Roofing estimate template — priced by the square, decking as an if-needed line, and the insurance-claim line done honestly.
- Painting estimate template — prep on its own line, walls by the square foot with the coats stated, a paint allowance.
- Electrical estimate template — permit and inspection first, the panel named, labor by task, options on their own lines.
- Handyman estimate template — one line per task, the trip charge, a job minimum, and the jobs that need a licensed trade.
- Plumbing estimate template — the unit named with its model, parts and labor apart, permit, haul-away and an add-on option.
- Remodeling estimate template — a bathroom by phase with allowances on everything the homeowner picks and a 10% contingency.
- Pressure washing estimate template — each surface by the square foot with the method named, and the roof as a separate line.
- Junk removal estimate template — the load by truck volume, item fees, labor extras, and the price confirmed on site before loading.
Pricing the job itself? Our trade pricing guides — pressure washing, plumbing, handyman, junk removal — carry the US rates and a free calculator.
LINE BY LINE
What goes on an estimate
Every line on the template, in order, and what to write on it.
| The line | What to put there |
|---|---|
| Business name and contact | Your trading name, phone, email and address — and your license number if your trade is licensed where you work. Customers check. |
| Estimate number, date and valid-until date | A number that never repeats, the date you wrote it, and the date the price stops holding — 30 days is common, shorter when material prices move. |
| Prepared for and job address | Who's asking and where the work happens. For a rental, the owner or property manager is often the one who pays, so name both. |
| The job in one line | What you're going to do, how long it takes and when you can start. The customer should be able to read this line to their partner. |
| Labor | A flat price for the job, or hours × your rate. If part of the job is hourly, say the rate and your best guess at the hours. |
| Materials | One line per material that matters, with quantity and brand where the customer would care. Mark anything they'll choose later as an allowance. |
| Permits, fees and disposal | Permit fees when the job needs one, dump fees, and the haul-away — on their own lines so the customer sees what's a cost and what's your work. |
| Tax, total and deposit | Subtotal, sales tax where your state charges it, the estimated total, and the deposit that books the job. |
| What's included and how to pay | The scope in plain words — what the price covers and what it doesn't — the deposit that books the job, when the balance is due, and how they can pay. |
STEP BY STEP
How to write an estimate
Fifteen minutes the same evening you looked at the job — the estimate that arrives first usually wins.
Put your details at the top
Business name, phone, email, address and your license number if you have one. Save the file once with these filled in so you never type them again.
Number it, date it, set the valid-until date
The next number in your series, today's date and the day the price stops holding. Add the customer's reference if they gave you one.
Describe the job in one line
What you'll do, where, how long it takes and when you can start. Then fill in who it's for and the job address.
Price every part on its own line
Labor, each material that matters, permits, disposal. A single “job — $2,400” line is the one customers push back on; five lines that add up are the ones they accept.
Add tax, total it, name the deposit
Apply sales tax to the lines your state taxes, show the estimated total, and state the deposit that books the date.
Write what's included and how to pay
Scope in, scope out, the deposit that books the job, when the balance is due and how to pay. Send it the same day.
How to win the job with an estimate
Send it the same day. Customers usually collect two or three estimates; the first one that arrives sets the price in their head and the others get compared to it. If you can't price it fully, send a range with a date for the full estimate.
Say what's not included. The line “railings and steps not included” costs you nothing and saves the conversation where the customer thought they were. Scope out is as important as scope in.
Offer an option, not a discount. A second line — the better stain, the extra coat, the larger unit — lets a customer trade up instead of asking for money off. Keep options on their own lines so the base price stays clear.
Tax. In the US, whether sales tax applies to your work — and whether it falls on the materials, the labor, both or neither — depends on your state, so keep materials and labor on separate lines and check your state's revenue department or your accountant. 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 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.
The whole paper trail of a job, step by step: how to write a quote, then how to write an invoice, then how to write a receipt — with a free receipt template.
Estimates: common questions
Your business name and contact details (and license number where your trade is licensed); the customer and the job address; an estimate number, the date and a valid-until date; the job in one line; every charge on its own line — labor, materials, permits, disposal; subtotal, tax where it applies, the estimated total and the deposit; then what's included, the deposit 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.
Thirty days is the common choice for a home-services estimate, and shorter when material prices move (roofing, lumber, copper). Print the date on the estimate: a customer who comes back after it can be re-quoted at today's prices without an argument, and one who accepts inside it knows the price holds.
Most home-services trades estimate free for jobs they're likely to win, and charge for a site visit that involves diagnosis — a plumber finding the leak, an electrician tracing a fault — then waive the fee if the customer books the work. If you charge, say so before the visit, and show the fee on the estimate as waived when it is.
Enough to cover the materials you have to buy before the job and the day you've blocked out — 10% to a third of the price is the usual range in home services, with more on jobs where you special-order materials. Some US states cap the deposit a contractor may take before work starts; check your state's licensing board.
Yes. The 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 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 website
Add what you do, your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line — with quotes, invoices and receipts 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.