Professional Estimate Templates for Consulting, Freelance, Corporate and Trade Work

The templates below price different kinds of work in different ways. The two consulting layouts price days or hours by phase, the graphic design estimate prices deliverables and revision rounds, the bid proposal prices scope sections with allowances and alternates, and the contractor estimate separates labor, materials and subcontractors. Find the kind of work you're pricing below, then start from the template built for it.

Every worked example comes with three files: a PDF blank form to fill in, and a DOCX and an XLSX file holding the sample described. The figures in the samples are invented and have no currency symbol.

Consulting and professional services

The project proposal with a phased estimate prices an engagement phase by phase, with the days each one takes at one day rate, then sets out a timeline, the assumptions behind the price and a proposed payment schedule. Its sample is a 9-week online store rebuild: 34 days across five phases at 720.00 a day, from a 4-day discovery workshop to 2 days of support after launch, for an estimated total of 24,480.00. It proposes 25% (6,120.00) on acceptance, 40% when the design is signed off and 35% at launch.

PDF blank form · DOCX with the sample · XLSX with the sample

If you bill by the hour rather than the day, the project estimate template prices each phase in hours at its own rate and adds fixed-fee items, such as 1,500.00 for two weeks of launch support, for 23,690.00 in its sample, with a 20% proposed deposit of 4,738.00.

PDF blank form · DOCX with the sample · XLSX with the sample

Freelance creative work

The graphic design estimate template sets a fixed fee per deliverable and charges open-ended work hourly. In its brand identity sample for a new cafe, four deliverables (the logo suite, brand guidelines, a business card and two menu pages) come to 3,360.00 and 9 hours at 85.00 add 765.00, so the work totals 4,125.00. A font license bought for the client is added at 120.00, for 4,245.00, and the proposed deposit is 25%, or 1,061.25. It states that each deliverable includes 2 revision rounds and leaves printing, photography and website work out.

PDF blank form · DOCX with the sample · XLSX with the sample

For other freelance work, the website project estimate prices discovery, design, build and content migration, and the photography session estimate prices coverage hours, a second photographer, edited images and prints.

Corporate and commercial clients

When a company sends you a bid package, the bid proposal template answers it. The sample bids on a second-floor office fit-out: framing, drywall and ceilings (66,800.00), doors and finishes (62,500.00), general conditions (23,100.00) and two allowances (9,380.00) make 161,780.00, and 10% overhead and profit brings the base bid to 177,958.00. Two add alternates and one deduct alternate are priced on their own lines and stay out of that total unless the owner accepts them in writing. It also records the addenda received, lists what's excluded and ends with an authorized signature.

PDF blank form · DOCX with the sample · XLSX with the sample

For an organization planning a move or purchase before it has quotes, the budget estimate template sets a budget for each cost category with a contingency rate: its office-move sample totals 9,640.00 and a 10% contingency takes it to 10,604.00, with a line for whoever approves it.

Flooring

There's no flooring-only template in this collection, but two of the templates here price flooring as part of a larger job. The remodeling estimate template charges flooring installation at 4.50 a square foot over 560 sq ft (2,520.00) and holds the flooring material as an owner allowance at 6.00 a square foot (3,360.00), so the final cost moves up or down with what the owner picks. Its kitchen remodel sample comes to 55,794.00 before a 10% contingency of 5,579.40, for 61,373.40. The bid proposal above prices installed carpet tile (5,200 sq ft at 4.60, 23,920.00) and luxury vinyl tile (1,600 sq ft at 6.40, 10,240.00) for a commercial floor.

PDF blank form · DOCX with the sample · XLSX with the sample

Trades and construction

The contractor estimate template holds a complete job estimate for a trade project. Its sample turns a garage into a home office. Labor is 80 carpentry hours at 65.00 and 32 drywall hours at 55.00 (6,960.00); materials come to 4,170.00; and two subcontractors priced from their written quotes, electrical at 2,400.00 and HVAC at 3,100.00, add 5,500.00. Those make 16,630.00; the contractor's 12% markup adds 1,995.60 and permit fees go through at cost (380.00), so the estimate comes to 19,005.60. It names what's excluded, gives a valid-until date and has a line for the client's signature.

PDF blank form · DOCX with the sample · XLSX with the sample

For a single trade, start from the template for that work:

• General construction by division: the construction project estimate.
• Electrical: the electrical job estimate, with panel work, circuits and devices.
• Plumbing: the plumbing job estimate, with the reported problem, fixtures, parts and labor hours.
• Painting: the painting estimate, priced by room or surface and square foot.
• Landscaping: the landscaping project estimate, from site preparation and hardscape to plants and irrigation.
• Roofing: the roofing estimate, priced by roofing squares with tear-off and decking repair.
• Commercial cleaning: the commercial cleaning estimate, with a monthly price for a visit schedule.
• Repairs after a diagnosis: the service call estimate, with the diagnosis, labor, parts and a trip fee.

No template here covers HVAC alone. HVAC work appears as a subcontractor line in the contractor estimate and as a phase line in the remodeling estimate.

• Separate fixed and variable items. Put allowances, alternates, contingency and markup on separate lines, which shows the client what may change and why.
• Show passed-through costs plainly. Permit fees, licenses or similar costs paid for the client sit apart from your own work, as the contractor and graphic design samples show.
• Keep a deposit proposed. An estimate isn't a bill: show a deposit as proposed, with the payment schedule you're asking for, and invoice it once the client accepts.
• Check the tax line. Each sample shows sales tax at 0% on a line marked "if applicable". The templates leave that to you, so ask the tax agency for your area whether your work is taxed.