Contractor Estimate Template: Phases, Allowances and Change Orders (Free PDF, Word, Excel)

This contractor estimate template is built for jobs that run in phases. Split the work into stages such as demolition, framing and finish, set the share of the price each one bills, hold back retainage if your contract calls for it, list allowances for what the client has not picked yet, and write down what is not included. The live preview on the right is what the client gets, as a PDF, a Word file or an Excel sheet. No account, no email step.

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How to Write a Contractor Estimate

Pick General contractor in the Trade menu and the form loads demolition, framing and finish carpentry lines, lumber, drywall and fixtures, plus fields for the phase or draw, percent complete and retainage. Then work through it in this order.

1. Add your business once. Logo, name, contact details and license number. They stay saved in your browser for the next estimate.
2. Describe the job. Client, job address, a title and a scope of work in plain sentences. “Kitchen remodel, 14 by 12 feet, cabinets and flooring replaced, layout unchanged” tells the client what the price covers and what it does not.
3. Break the work into phases. One labor line per phase, with the hours and rate or a flat price. Materials go in their own table at your cost with a markup, so your cost never prints.
4. Set the money terms. Sales tax rate, deposit to start, how long the price is valid, and the progress billing schedule. Add retainage if your contract uses it.
5. Write the exclusions and send. Then download the PDF.

Hours, Rates and Flat Prices

Some phases are best priced as hours times a rate, such as demolition or punch list work where the scope is fuzzy. Others, like a tile install by the square foot, are better as a flat line. Use whichever you can defend line by line. If you want to check what an hour of your crew really costs before you set a rate, run the numbers in our technician cost calculator.

Markup and Overhead

Materials carry a markup for the trips, the hauling, the returns and the risk. Overhead is a separate question: office costs, insurance, vehicles and tools still need paying on every job. The template lets you set markup once for all materials or per line. What is right depends on your trade and your market, so we do not suggest a figure.

Phases, Allowances and Exclusions

Phases and Progress Billing

Phases make a big job readable. The client sees what happens first, what it costs and when you bill for it. Each phase gets a percentage of the contract price, and the percentages add up to 100. A common pattern is a deposit to start, one draw per finished stage, and a final payment after the punch list. The estimate prints the schedule as a table, so there is no surprise when the second invoice arrives.

Tie each draw to something the client can see, such as “demolition complete” or “framing passes inspection”, not to a calendar date. If a delay is not your fault, a date-based draw leaves you funding the job.

Retainage

Retainage is a share of each progress payment held back until the job is done. It is common on commercial work and public projects, and some residential clients ask for it. If your contract includes it, state the percentage, which draws it applies to and when it is released, for example with the final payment after sign-off. The template has a retainage field for exactly that. Rules on retainage differ by state and by contract type, so use the terms your own contract sets.

Allowances

An allowance is a placeholder amount for something the client has not chosen yet: cabinets, tile, lighting fixtures, appliances. You price the install in the estimate and set a dollar allowance for the product. If the client picks something cheaper, the difference comes off. If they pick something dearer, the difference is added. Write that sentence into the estimate. Without it, allowances turn into disputes at the end of the job.

Name each allowance with what it covers and what it does not. “Tile allowance: $2,000 for tile supply only, installation priced separately” is clear. “Tile allowance: $2,000” is an argument waiting to happen.

Exclusions

A list of what the price does not include protects you more than any other line. Typical entries are permit fees if the client pulls them, hazardous material testing and removal, work behind walls that is only found once they are open, structural repairs beyond the stated scope, appliances, furniture moving and landscaping repair. Pick the ones that apply to the job and delete the rest. Keep each exclusion to one short line, and put the list on the first page where the client can see it.

Change Orders: Put the Rule in the Estimate

Changes are normal on construction jobs. The client wants an extra outlet, or you find rot under the old floor. The problem is not the change, it is doing the work first and pricing it afterwards.

The rule to put in the estimate is short: any change to the scope is written up as a change order with its price and its effect on the schedule, signed by the client, before the work starts. That sentence goes in the terms block of the template. It means the first change order is not a negotiation about whether change orders exist.

What a Change Order Line Contains

• A number, so the estimate and its change orders stay in order
• The description of the change, in plain words
• Labor and materials added or removed, with markup applied the same way as the original estimate
• The effect on the finish date, even if it is zero days
• The new contract total after the change
• A signature and date from the client

The template has a Change order # field in the job details and an Exclusions field next to it, and the change order rule goes in the payment terms box. When a change comes up, start a new estimate from the same details, keep the original numbers, add the change lines and send it as a separate signed document. The original stays untouched, so both sides can see how the total got where it is.

Small Changes Still Count

Many contractors skip the paperwork for small favors and then lose track of them. A one-line email reply that says “yes, add this for the price below” is better than a verbal okay. A signed change order is better still.

Construction Estimate Example

Here is a filled-in layout for a kitchen remodel. Every figure below is an example to show the structure. They are not market prices and not a guide to what your work should cost.

Job: Kitchen remodel, layout unchanged. Example contract total: $32,000.

Exclusions in this example: permit fees paid by the client, appliances, hazardous material testing and removal, repairs to structure found after demolition.

Payment schedule in this example: 10% deposit, 10% after demolition, 30% after framing and rough-in, 35% at finish carpentry, 15% after the punch list. Retainage of 5% held on draws 2 to 4.

Change order 1 in this example: add six recessed lights, example price $1,150, adds two days. New contract total: $33,150. Signed and dated before the electrician returns.

Notice what the layout does. The client can follow the money. The allowances are labeled. The retainage is released on a named event. The change order adds to the total in plain view. This is what separates a contractor estimate from a one-line price on a business card.

Contractor Quote vs Estimate

People search for both, and clients use them interchangeably. Contractors tend to mean this:

• Estimate: your best calculation of the price from what you can see today. It can move if the scope changes or something is found behind the wall.
• Quote: a fixed price for a defined scope, valid for a set time. If the scope holds, the price holds.
• Bid: a price submitted to compete for a job, usually against others and often from plans or specs.

On a phased job with allowances, a fixed quote is risky if the allowances are loose or the scope is not fully drawn. An estimate with allowances, exclusions and a change order rule gives both sides room to adjust. Whatever you call it, put it at the top of the page and say what the price is based on. The switch above the form changes the document title between Estimate and Quote.

If the job is a roof, start from the roofing estimate template, which adds squares, pitch and tear-off lines. For a simpler one-visit job, the general estimate template is faster to fill in.

When the client signs, press Invoice above the form: the details carry over to our contractor invoice template format, where retainage and earlier payments come off the balance.

When to Move to Software

If you run several phased jobs at once, a spreadsheet gets heavy: draws, change orders and signatures live in different files. Estimating tools let clients approve from their phone and turn an approved estimate into an invoice without retyping. Joist is built around estimates and invoices for contractors, while Jobber’s plans cover the job from quote to payment. If you are a one-person crew with a few jobs a month, this template is enough.