Free contractor estimate template
A good estimate reads like a proposal: their property and the result they're after at the top, the problem in their words and your plan, the areas with photos, a base price plus options, what's included and not, the total and payments, and the deposit that books the work. Below is each section and what it's for. The form that builds it is free with an account, made for concrete and formwork jobs, and saves every proposal so you can reuse it.
What goes on an estimate, section by section
This is the proposal your customer gets, top to bottom. The form fills in every part of it.
Hero image: A wide photo of their property, taken from the street on the visit. Their place, not a stock photo.
H1 on the hero: The result they're after, not the product. Your business name sits above it; “Proposal for” their name and address sits under it.
- 03 · Proposal details
Proposal PRO-0012 · October 20 · Valid for 14 days
A number so you both talk about the same version, and how long the price holds. Material prices move.
- 04 · What you told us
Clients and family park on the lawn because the pad is too small, and there's no easy way out of the house for someone with a bad back.
The problem in their words, so they know you listened.
- 05 · Our plan
Widen the driveway so every vehicle parks on concrete, and pour a level path from the front door to the parking.
How the work solves it, in two or three plain sentences.
- 06 · The areas
Driveway · about 840 sq ft | Front path · about 90 sq ft
Each part of the job with its own photo, size and what you'll do there.
- 07 · Base price
Excavation · compacted base · vapour barrier · reinforcing · concrete at minimum thickness
What the job needs whatever they choose. Lines they can follow, not every bag and bolt, and never your unit costs.
- 08 · Your options
Option 1: Broom finish | Option 2: Exposed aggregate | Option 3: Stamped
What they choose, each with a photo of the finish and its total with the base. Options turn “yes or no” into “which one”.
- 09 · Included / Not included
✓ Cleanup, including all leftover concrete ✕ Lawn repair beyond the work edges
Settles the arguments before they start.
- 10 · Pour day
Line pump. Leftover concrete and washout leave the site with us.
How the concrete gets there and what leaves with it.
- 11 · Total and payments
Base + exposed aggregate · GST · Total | 20% to book · 50% at forms and base inspected · 30% on completion
Worked out, never typed. Payments tied to stages they can see are done.
- 12 · Still to confirm
The condition of the ground under the old surface
What you can't know until you dig, said up front instead of padded into the price.
- 13 · Ready to go ahead?
The deposit books your spot on the schedule. [Pay the deposit] Accepted by ______ Date ____
The close: one clear next step, the deposit, and a line to sign.
- 14 · Terms and your details
Valid for 14 days · changes become change orders · permits not included unless listed
One short paragraph, then your name, phone and email.
Fill in once, not every job
- ✓ Business name, colour and a one-line description of what you do
- ✓ Your name, phone, email and the area you serve
- ✓ Tax name and rate (GST is 5% across Canada; add your province's tax if you charge it)
- ✓ Your usual payment split and how many days a price holds
- ✓ Your standard terms
Keep off the customer's copy
- ✕ Your material quantities, unit costs and markup. They invite line-by-line haggling.
- ✕ Hours and hourly rates, unless the job really is billed by the hour
- ✕ Supplier names and dump fees as separate lines. Fold them into the line they belong to.
Fill it in, print it, send it
Fill it in on site and watch the customer's copy build beside it; on a phone, swipe between the two. Every section has the questions to ask at that point of the visit, and the job types cover concrete and formwork: driveways and paths, slabs, steps, footings, foundations, walls and ramps. Take a photo of the front for the top of their copy and one of each area. Tax, total and each payment are worked out for you.
- ✓ Every proposal saved to your account
- ✓ Copy last week's job as the start of this one
- ✓ Your business details and price book filled in once
- ✓ Print or save as a PDF, or copy it into an email
Or have it sent for you
A template still means typing it up at night and chasing the deposit. We set up the system that sends the estimate, collects the signature, sends the deposit invoice when it's accepted and reminds the customers who go quiet.
By Nova and Carver Lloyd – Digital Cowboy. Business know-how and AI, working together.
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