Free estimate maker for service pros

Most service estimates carry the same handful of things:

• your business name and how to reach you
• the customer's name and the address of the job
• an estimate number and the estimate date
• one line for each service or part you plan to do or supply, with quantity, rate and amount
• any discount and tax, and the total
• how long the price stays open, and any deposit you ask for before you start
• a note on what the price covers and what it leaves out

Give every estimate its own number and use it once, so you and your customer can point to the same document later. What an estimate has to show can differ by state, so check what applies where you work. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.

An estimate comes before the work: what you plan to do and what you expect it to cost, for the customer to say yes or no to. An invoice comes after the work, or when a payment is due: what was done and what is owed.

Many service pros use "quote" and "estimate" for the same document. Others use "quote" for a price they mean to hold and "estimate" for a best figure that can move once the job is opened up. If the difference matters on a job, say in the notes which one you mean.

A habit that saves arguments: get the estimate approved in writing, build the invoice from the same lines, and explain any line that changed. This page makes estimates; for an invoice, use the invoice maker.

Long enough for the customer to decide, short enough that your part and material prices have not moved. Habits that help:

• pick a number of days that fits your trade and use it on every estimate, so you do not have to think about it each time
• go shorter when the job depends on a part or material whose price changes often
• put the date on the estimate, so the customer does not have to count
• if the customer comes back after the date, check your prices and send a fresh estimate

In this tool, choose 7, 14 or 30 days under "Valid until", pick a date, or leave the line off.

A deposit is common when you have to order a special part or hold a large block of time. Habits that help:

• put the deposit amount on the estimate and say what it covers
• agree up front what happens to it if the job is cancelled
• write down the date it was paid and how
• show it on the final invoice, so the customer sees the total, what they already paid and what is left

In this tool, type it under "Deposit to start" as a dollar amount or as a percent of the total. The estimate then shows the total, the deposit to start and the balance after deposit. Some states limit deposits on certain kinds of work, and the rules differ by state, so check yours before you set one. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.

Jobs change once you open things up. Habits that help:

• stop and tell the customer before you do the extra work, not after
• say what changed and what it does to the price
• send an updated estimate, or a short written note of the change with the new amount, and wait for a yes in writing; a reply to your text or email gives you both a record
• keep the first estimate and the update together
• on the invoice, put the added work on its own line, so the customer sees what changed

Some states have their own rules on changing a price after the customer has said yes, for certain kinds of work, so check what applies where you work. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.

Press Download PDF. Your browser's print window opens with only the estimate on the page, sized for US Letter. Choose "Save as PDF" as the destination; on a phone, use the save or share option in the print preview.

If a web address or a date shows at the edge of the page, switch off "Headers and footers" in the print options. On an iPhone, Safari adds that line itself and has no switch for it.

Not unless you choose to. The estimate is put together in your browser, and the PDF comes from your browser's own print function. Nothing you type leaves your browser unless you create an account and choose to use this estimate there.

Send to customer opens OnsiteBoard in a new tab and passes the estimate to that tab inside this browser. It is saved to an account only after you create one and choose to use it.

While "Keep this draft in this browser" is ticked, the draft is saved in this browser only, so a reload does not lose it. Press Clear to remove it. A logo you pick stays in the page and is not saved.