TREE SERVICE ESTIMATE TEMPLATE
Free tree service estimate template
A tree removal estimate template that covers pruning too: each tree on its own line — species, height and trunk size, what's near it, how it comes down — stump grinding and haul-away as separate lines, and your insurance where the customer can see it. Free in Word and PDF, with every line explained.
Word and PDF · Free · No email, no sign-up
The short answer
A tree service estimate gives each tree its own line: the species, the height and trunk diameter, what it's near — the house, the fence, the power line — and what you'll do to it, from a crown clean to a full removal, with how it comes down written on the line: climbed, from the bucket truck, with a crane.
Stump grinding and haul-away are separate lines. They're the two things a customer most often drops to save money, and the two things they most often assume are included — a line for each settles both.
Around that go your business and insurance details — general liability and workers' comp, named on the sheet — the customer and the address, the estimate number and the date it holds until, the crew and equipment, what's included and what isn't, and how to pay.
FREE TEMPLATE · WORD AND PDF
The tree service estimate template, filled in
Below is the template filled in for Cedar Hollow Tree Care, a fictional tree service 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 Tree Service Estimate Template — the blank fill-in estimate as it downloads, with [bracketed] lines to replace](/estimate-templates/tree-service-estimate-template-preview.png)
Example · fictional business
Cedar Hollow Tree Care Knoxville, TN (865) 555-0133 · office@cedarhollowtree.example Insured: general liability and workers' compensation | ESTIMATE |
Prepared for Robert and Jean Thackery 5208 Kingston Pike Knoxville, TN | Trees Three trees in the back yard, marked with orange tape at the walk-through Same address · 1 day, four-person crew, bucket truck and chipper Within 2 weeks; we call the day before |
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remove dead red oak About 60 ft tall, 30-in trunk, 12 ft from the house; sectioned from the bucket truck and lowered on ropes; cut to a 6-in stump | 1 | $1,850.00 | $1,850.00 |
| Remove leaning pine About 40 ft, 18-in trunk, open drop zone; felled and sectioned on the ground | 1 | $700.00 | $700.00 |
| Prune silver maple Crown clean: dead and crossing limbs removed, two limbs raised off the roof; about 45 ft, climbed | 1 | $650.00 | $650.00 |
| Stump grinding Oak and pine stumps ground 6 to 8 inches below grade; grindings left in a pile | 2 | $165.00 | $330.00 |
| Chipping and haul-away All brush chipped on site; logs and chips hauled off | 1 | $275.00 | $275.00 |
| Backfill the stump holes Grindings raked out, holes filled with topsoil, seeded | 1 | $180.00 | +$180.00 |
| Subtotal | $3,805.00 | ||
| Sales tax (if your state taxes tree work) | $0.00 | ||
| Estimated total | $3,805.00 | ||
What's included
The three marked trees as described, all brush chipped and hauled, logs removed, the lawn raked and the driveway blown clean. Not included: backfilling the stump holes (see the option), roots under the lawn, trees not marked, and any work the utility must do near the service line.
How to pay
No deposit for this job; payment on the day the work is finished, by card, check or bank transfer. Jobs that need a crane take a deposit to book it.
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 tree service website — quoting is built in
Add your business name and your town, and Zarla builds your tree service 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 a tree service estimate
Every line on the template, in order, and what to write on it.
| The line | What to put there |
|---|---|
| Business name, contact and insurance | Your trading name, phone, email and address, your general liability and workers' comp — named on the sheet, because a tree over a roof is the job where the customer checks — and your arborist certification or state license where you have one. |
| Estimate number, date and valid-until date | A number that never repeats, the date, and the date the price holds until — 30 days is common; a dead tree over a house shouldn't wait that long, and the estimate can say so. |
| Prepared for and the trees in one line | The customer and the address, then how many trees and how they're marked, the crew and the equipment, and when you can do it. |
| Each tree, on its own line | Species, height, trunk diameter, what it's near, and what you'll do: remove, crown clean, raise, thin. The description is where your price makes sense next to a cheaper one. |
| How it comes down | Climbed, from the bucket truck, with a crane, lowered on ropes — on the line. It tells the customer their roof and fence are safe and why the number is what it is. |
| Stump grinding | Per stump, with the depth and whether the grindings stay or go — a separate line the customer can keep or drop. |
| Chipping and haul-away | Brush chipped, logs hauled or left cut as firewood — its own line, so “is cleanup included?” is already answered. |
| Tax and total | Sales tax where your state charges it on tree work (most don't), and the estimated total — tree work is usually paid on completion. |
| What's included and how to pay | The scope in plain words — which trees, the cleanup, what you won't touch (roots, unmarked trees, the service line) — and how to pay: on completion, or a deposit for a crane day. |
STEP BY STEP
How to write a tree service estimate
From the walk-through to an estimate the homeowner approves by text — before the next storm does the decision for them.
Put your details at the top
Business name, phone, email, address, your insurance — general liability and workers' comp — and your arborist certification or state license. Save the file once with these filled in.
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. Note the walk-through date and how the trees are marked.
Walk the property and size each tree
Species, height, trunk diameter at chest height, what's within reach of a fall — house, fence, pool, power line — and the access for a truck or a crane. Mark each tree with tape.
Give each tree a line and say how it comes down
Removal or the pruning you'll do, with the method on the line: climbed, from the bucket, with a crane, lowered on ropes. Then the crane or bucket truck as its own line if you're charging for it.
Add stump grinding, haul-away, tax and the total
Stumps per unit with the depth; chipping and haul-away as one line; sales tax where your state charges it; the estimated total.
Write what's included and how to pay
Which trees, the cleanup, what you won't touch — roots, unmarked trees, the utility's part near the line. Payment on completion, or a deposit for a crane day. Send it from the driveway.
How tree service estimates win the job
One tree, one line, with its size and what it's near. “Remove dead red oak, 60 ft, 30-in trunk, 12 ft from the house” explains your price before the customer asks. “Tree removal — $1,850” starts an argument with the number the other company wrote on a business card.
Say how it comes down. Sectioned from the bucket, lowered on ropes, with a crane — the method is the safety, and the safety is what a homeowner with a tree over the roof is buying. Put it on the line, and put your insurance at the top where they'll see it first.
Keep stump grinding and haul-away as separate lines. They're the two things customers drop to save money and the two things they assume are included. Separate lines mean they choose, and the price they approve is the price you bill.
Offer the small add-on. Backfilling the stump holes, cutting the oak into firewood lengths, a second pruning next year — one option line sells itself to a customer who has already said yes.
Permits, licenses and the power line. In the US, tree work has few national rules and many local ones: many cities require a permit to remove a tree over a set trunk size and protect some species outright; a handful of states license tree companies (Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey and Louisiana among them, and California requires a contractor license for jobs over $1,000); and OSHA keeps anyone who isn't line-clearance qualified at least 10 feet from power lines, so near a line the utility clears first. Check your city and state before you quote, and put the permit on its own line when one is needed.
Tax. In the US, tree removal and pruning aren't taxed in most states, but a few tax them as landscaping services (Texas among them), so check your state's revenue department or your accountant before you add a 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 tree service 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 tree service website templates or see how Zarla builds tree service websites. Still setting up? Read how to start a tree service business and write your tree service business plan.
The whole paper trail of a job, step by step: how to write a quote, then the tree service invoice template, then how to write a receipt — with a free receipt template. For any other trade, start from the free estimate template.
Tree service estimates: common questions
Your business, contact and insurance details (general liability and workers' comp, and any arborist certification or state license); the customer, the address and the trees in one line; an estimate number, the date and a valid-until date; each tree on its own line with species, height, trunk size, what it's near, what you'll do and how it comes down; the crane or bucket truck if charged; stump grinding per stump; chipping and haul-away; a permit where the city requires one; tax where it applies and the estimated total; then what's included, what you won't touch, 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.
By the tree: height and trunk diameter set the base, then what it's near (a house or power line means sectioning and rigging instead of felling), the access for a truck or crane, and the condition — a dead tree is more dangerous to climb. Write those facts on the line so the price explains itself.
Only if the estimate says so — most tree companies price it as a separate line per stump, with the depth and whether the grindings stay or are hauled. Keep it separate: it's the line customers most often drop, and the one they most often assume is included.
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.
Usually not — payment on the day the work is finished is normal for a one-day job. Take a deposit when you have to book a crane or a large crew for a specific day, and say so on the estimate.
Yes. The tree service 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 tree service 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 tree service 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.