What an estimate is
An estimate is your price for a job before you do it, written so the customer can say yes. It names the work, lists what goes into it, shows the total and says how long the price holds. A signed estimate is the start of the paper trail that ends with a paid invoice.
Some customers say quote, bid or proposal. In practice an estimate is one price for one scope; a proposal gives two or three options; a bid answers a set of plans.
What every estimate should have
- Who and where: your business, license number if your trade has one, the customer and the job address.
- The scope in plain words: what you will do and, when it matters, what you will not.
- Line items: quantity, unit and price, so a customer can see where the money goes.
- Tax, discount and total.
- A good-until date, so last year's price is not held against you.
- The deposit and when the rest is due.
- A signature line, or a link the customer signs on their phone.
Pricing the lines
Price each line from your own costs: labor at your loaded hourly rate, materials at what you pay plus your markup, and overhead spread over the year. Our free labor rate calculator and markup calculator show the math. For a quick read on the going rate, several trades have a sourced cost calculator under free tools, and the trade templates below pull those typical prices in where one exists.
Sending it and getting it signed
Print the estimate to PDF and text or email it, or hand over a printed copy at the kitchen table. If you want the customer to sign on their phone and pay the deposit by card, tap Customize and send from Koira: the estimate you made here opens in a free Koira office as a draft, ready to send.