Word Estimate Template

Both layouts are document-style price proposals built for Microsoft Word: your details and the client's at the top, the priced work in tables, then the total, your notes and a place for the client to accept. Each comes as a Word (.docx) file with sample details, an Excel (.xlsx) file with the same fields and formulas, and a blank PDF to print and fill in by hand.

• Word job estimate. One table of job items for a single piece of work. It's titled "JOB ESTIMATE", with an "Estimate no.", a "Client and site" block, "Scope" and "Exclusions" notes and an "Estimated total". In the sample, a cleaning company prices a one-time deep clean of a 2,400 sq ft office:

  • open office area, 2,400 sq ft at 0.18, 432.00;
  • 2 restrooms at 85.00, 170.00;
  • kitchen and break room, 120.00;
  • 24 interior windows at 6.00, 144.00;
  • carpet spot treatment, 95.00.

  The estimated total is 961.00 with tax at 0%.

• Word project quote. A fixed-price quote for a defined project, titled "PROJECT QUOTE", with a "Quote no.", separate Equipment, Crew and Delivery tables that each have a subtotal, "Quote terms" and "Exclusions" notes and a "Quoted total". In the sample, an event audio-visual company quotes a two-day member conference:

  • Equipment: a projector and screen, wireless microphones, and speakers and a mixer, each for 2 days, 1,920.00;
  • Crew: 18 technician hours at 65.00 and 8 hours for a setup and teardown crew of 2 at 90.00, 1,890.00;
  • Delivery: delivery and pickup, 150.00.

  The quoted total is 3,960.00 with tax at 0%. The quote terms say "This is a fixed price for the equipment, hours and delivery listed", and the footnote says changes to the equipment or hours are quoted separately.

The Google Docs estimate template has a different pair: an itemized service estimate and a phased project proposal that asks for a deposit. Neither Word layout has a deposit line.

1. Download the Word (.docx) file for the layout you want.
2. Open it in Word. Microsoft says files from the internet open "as read only or in Protected View" to help protect your computer. If a yellow bar appears at the top, select Enable Editing to start typing (What is Protected View?). Microsoft recommends editing only if you trust the file's contents.
3. Save a copy under a name for this job, such as the estimate or quote number.

The files were generated and checked with software libraries, not opened in Microsoft Word. Look over the layout once it opens, and adjust column widths or spacing if anything has moved.

In the Word file, every amount is typed, not calculated. When you change a quantity or a price, retype the line amount, any section subtotal, the subtotal, the tax and the estimated or quoted total, then check the sums before you send. Word can calculate inside a table with its own formulas, such as =SUM(ABOVE), but the template doesn't use them, and Microsoft notes that a formula result updates when the document is opened or when you update it (Use a formula in a Word table).

The Excel version of each layout has the same fields with formulas for each line amount and the totals. You can work the numbers out there and copy them into Word:

• Job estimate: the subtotal adds up the job items, the tax rate applies to the subtotal, and the estimated total is the subtotal plus tax. The table has three blank rows.
• Project quote: each table has its own subtotal, the subtotal adds up all three tables, the tax rate applies to that subtotal, and the quoted total is the subtotal plus tax. Each table has one blank row.

To leave the tax out, set its rate to 0% rather than deleting the row, because the totals refer to it. If you add rows in Excel, insert them inside the table and copy the amount formula down.

Whether you need to charge sales tax, and on what, depends on where you work and what you sell. Check with the tax agency where you work. Both layouts have a "Sales tax, if applicable" line that starts at 0%.

Once you've replaced the sample business details with your own, keep that version as your starting point. Microsoft says you can create a template by saving a document as a .dotx file, and Word for Windows keeps your templates in the Custom Office Templates folder (Save a Word document as a template). Start each new estimate or quote from it, then change the number, dates, client and lines.