Free Contractor Tool
Contractor Estimate Template
Add your materials and labor, set markup, overhead, and margin, and get a complete estimate you can copy and send. Priced by margin — so the profit percentage you enter is the percentage you actually keep.
Built by SubcontractorHub — the software contractors use to quote, finance, and run every job.
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Build Your Estimate
Pick a trade preset to start, then overwrite every line with your own pricebook numbers. Totals update as you type.
Materials
Materials subtotal: $4,065
Labor
Labor subtotal: $1,450 (10 hrs)
Markup, Overhead & Margin
Margin vs. markup: a 20% profit margin is the same as a 25.0% markup on your cost. Adding “20% markup” to cost only keeps 16.7% — this calculator prices by margin, so the number you enter is the number you keep.
Your estimate template
ESTIMATE [Your Company Name] | License #[______] [Address] | [Phone] | [Email] Customer: [Name] Job address: [Address] Estimate #: [____] Date: [____] SCOPE OF WORK [Describe the work in plain language — what will be done, what is specified, and what condition the site will be left in.] MATERIALS 3-ton condensing unit (14.3 SEER2) — 1 @ $2,450 = $2,450 Matching evaporator coil — 1 @ $780 = $780 Line set, 25 ft — 1 @ $310 = $310 Smart thermostat — 1 @ $185 = $185 Permit, pad, misc. materials — 1 @ $340 = $340 Materials subtotal: $4,065 LABOR Install crew (2 techs) — 10 hrs @ $145/hr = $1,450 Labor subtotal: $1,450 TOTAL Project price: $8,804 Sales tax (7%): $616 TOTAL: $9,421 EXCLUSIONS - Work not expressly described in the scope above - Concealed damage discovered after demolition or tear-off - Permit fees beyond those listed, if required by the AHJ - Structural, electrical, or code upgrades not specified TERMS - This estimate is valid for 30 days from the date above. - Changes to scope require a written, signed change order. - Payment schedule: [deposit / progress / final]. Accepted by: ____________________ Date: ____________
Preset rates are national mid-range 2026 starting points, not quotes. Replace every line with your own pricebook numbers before sending an estimate to a customer. This template is not legal advice — check your state's home improvement contract requirements.
How to Price an Estimate Correctly
Start with real material costs, then mark them up
Use current supplier pricing, not last year's. Material markup covers your procurement time, delivery, waste, and the risk of price movement between estimate and install — 10–20% is typical. If you are pulling material prices from a quote older than 30 days on a commodity-heavy job, you are quoting someone else's margin.
Price labor by burdened rate, not wage
A tech you pay $35/hour does not cost you $35/hour. Add payroll taxes, workers' comp, insurance, PTO, and non-billable time and the true burdened cost is usually 1.4–1.8x the base wage. Estimating against the raw wage is the single most common way profitable-looking jobs end up underwater.
Apply overhead as a percentage of direct cost
Rent, trucks, software, insurance, and office staff do not attach to any one job, so they get spread across all of them. Take last year's total indirect costs, divide by total direct job costs, and use that percentage. Most small contractors land between 10% and 20%.
Add profit as margin, not markup
This is where estimates quietly lose money. Markup is added to cost; margin is taken out of price. A 20% markup returns only a 16.7% margin. If you want to keep 20%, divide your total cost by 0.80 rather than multiplying by 1.20 — the difference on a $10,000 cost is $500 per job, every job.
Write exclusions before you send it
Almost every change-order dispute traces back to something the estimate did not say. Name what is not included — concealed damage, code upgrades, permits beyond those listed, work outside the described scope — and put an expiration date on the price. Thirty days is standard; use 14 on material-heavy jobs.
What Belongs on Every Contractor Estimate
Business and license details
Company name, address, phone, email, and license number. Many states require the license number to appear on residential estimates and contracts — leaving it off can make the document unenforceable and expose you to penalties.
Numbered, dated estimate
An estimate number and date turn a loose quote into a traceable document. When a customer accepts four months later and material prices have moved, the date is what lets you re-quote without an argument.
Detailed scope of work
Describe the work in plain language: what will be done, what materials are specified, and what condition the site will be left in. Scope detail is what prevents disputes — vague scope is what creates them.
Itemized materials and labor
Break out quantities and unit prices internally so you can defend the number and reuse it as a pricebook. What the customer sees can be summarized — show scope in detail, cost in summary.
Explicit exclusions
The list of what is not included does more work than anything else on the page. Concealed damage, code upgrades, unlisted permits, and anything outside the written scope belong here in writing.
Terms, expiration, and signature
Payment schedule, change-order policy, how long the price holds, and a signature line. An estimate is an offer until it is signed — the signature is what converts it into an enforceable agreement.
From Material Takeoffs to a Signed Proposal
A template gets the math right once. The jobs you lose are usually the ones where the estimate arrived three days after the walkthrough. SubcontractorHub's proposal and quoting tools let your reps build a priced, branded proposal on a tablet at the property — with your pricebook, your margin rules, and your exclusions already loaded.
Financing from GoodLeap, Sunlight Financial, and Service Finance is embedded, so the customer sees a monthly payment next to the total and can apply, get approved, and sign before your rep leaves the driveway.
See How It WorksYour pricebook and margin rules built in
Branded proposals built on-site, not back at the office
Good / better / best options side by side
Monthly financing payments shown with the total
Customer applies and signs in the driveway
Signed job flows to production — no re-entry
Contractor Estimate Questions
What should a contractor estimate template include?
A complete contractor estimate has eight parts: your business and license information, the customer and job address, a dated estimate number, itemized materials with quantities and unit prices, labor broken out by hours and rate, applied overhead and profit, sales tax, and the terms — what is excluded, how long the price holds, and the payment schedule. Estimates that omit exclusions and an expiration date are where change-order disputes start.
What is the difference between markup and margin on an estimate?
Markup is added to cost; margin is taken out of price. They are not the same number and confusing them is the most common estimating error in the trades. A 20% markup on $10,000 of cost gives a $12,000 price — but that is only a 16.7% margin. To actually earn a 20% margin on $10,000 of cost you must price at $12,500, which is a 25% markup. This calculator prices by margin, so the percentage you enter is the percentage you keep.
How much overhead should a contractor add to an estimate?
Most small-to-mid contractors carry 10–20% overhead — rent, trucks, insurance, software, office staff, and unbilled owner time divided across billable work. Calculate yours by taking last year's total indirect costs and dividing by total direct job costs. If you have never run the number, 15% is a defensible starting point, but overhead applied by guess is the reason profitable-looking jobs lose money at year end.
Is an estimate legally binding?
An estimate is generally not a binding contract on its own — it is an offer. It becomes binding when the customer accepts it and both parties sign, at which point it functions as a contract. Some states cap how far a final invoice may exceed a written estimate without written authorization, and many require specific license and cancellation-rights language on residential work. Put an expiration date and a clear exclusions list on every estimate, and check your state's home improvement contract requirements.
How long should a contractor estimate stay valid?
Thirty days is the common default, and it is short for a reason. Material prices move, and an estimate written against last quarter's pricing that a customer accepts five months later comes straight out of your margin. Shorten the window to 14 days on jobs where commodity materials — copper, lumber, steel, panels — drive most of the cost.
Should I show a line-item breakdown to the customer?
Show scope in detail, but not your cost structure. Customers should see exactly what work is included, what materials are specified, and what is excluded — that is what prevents disputes. They should not see your labor rate, your markup, or your overhead percentage, because those become negotiating targets rather than information. Present a scope-detailed, cost-summarized estimate: itemized work, one price.
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All calculations are estimates based on historical information and should be verified by the user. This tool is provided as a free service for planning purposes only and is not a substitute for a professional inspection or applicable local code requirements.