Free Estimate Generator
Price the work, show the client exactly what it covers, and send it the same day. Fill in the form and watch the estimate build itself beside it — nothing leaves your browser until you ask for the file.
An estimate is not a bill
That difference is the whole document. An estimate names a price for work you have not done yet, so it asks for a decision rather than for money: no amount is due, no payment terms apply, and no bank details belong on it. This page prints it that way on purpose — the estimate you download says what it costs and when the figure stops standing, and nothing else.
It also means an estimate can be wrong without anyone being at fault. Materials move, the scope grows, the site turns out to be harder than it looked. Say so on the document itself and the conversation about the final figure is one you have already started.
What to put on an estimate
- A number of its own — EST-0001 — kept apart from your invoice sequence, so you can tell at a glance which document a client is asking about.
- The date you priced it, and the date the price stops standing.
- Line items a non-specialist can read: what the work is, how much of it, at what rate.
- Labour and materials separated, if that is how the client will compare you against the next quote.
- Any tax you will have to add, shown as its own line rather than folded into the rate.
- What is excluded — permits, disposal, making good, anything the client might assume is in the figure.
How long an estimate should stand
Long enough for the client to decide, short enough that your costs have not moved. Thirty days is the common default; two weeks is sensible when materials prices are moving, and a season is not unreasonable for work booked well ahead. Put the date on the document rather than in the covering email — the email gets forgotten and the PDF gets forwarded.
From estimate to invoice
Once the client says yes, the estimate has done its job and the same figures have to become a bill. Retyping them is where numbers drift. Saving this estimate to an account keeps it as a document you can send for online acceptance and then turn into an invoice in one step, with the line items, taxes and totals carried across unchanged.
Already agreed the work? Bill for it with the free invoice generator. Holding the figure firm instead? That is a quote.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask before they trust a free estimate tool.