An estimated quote is the document most trade contractors actually hand over: a priced scope built from the takeoff, the rate and the markup, offered as the price subject to what the site turns out to hold. What it commits to is the method and the unit prices; what it reserves is the quantity the site adds. The free template on this site prices it from the material total, the hours, the overhead and the markup and prints the lines; The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, cited below, puts the median annual wage for cost estimators at $78,740 in May 2025, and a contractor prices the estimated quote by that method rather than hiring for it.
What the estimated quote commits to
The unit prices, the rates and the method are the commitment; the customer can see how the number was built and how a change would be priced. That is why the lines print separately. The free estimate template on this site prints the lines and the margin from your own takeoff and markup, and Markupbird Pro keeps the estimate against the customer and the job with the win or loss recorded against the markup.
What it reserves
The quantities the site adds, the conditions the drawings do not show, and the customer's changes, each priced by the same method as a change order and signed before it is billed. Pro records the change against the estimate.
Turning it into a fixed quote
When the site is known, the same lines become a fixed price; the template's figures do not change, only the words on the document. Pro issues either under the company's name and records which won. The free estimate template on this site prints the lines and the margin from your own takeoff and markup, and Markupbird Pro keeps the estimate against the customer and the job with the win or loss recorded against the markup.
Questions people ask about estimated quote
Is an estimated quote binding?
What binds is what the document says it commits to; the wording is the contractor's adviser's, the price behind it is the template's.
What markup should the estimate carry?
Whatever covers the overhead share and leaves the profit the company needs, chosen with the margin in front of you; the template prints the margin the total carries at any markup you try.
Is an estimated quote binding?
An estimate is the contractor's best figure and may change with the scope; a quote is a fixed price for a defined scope. Call the document what it is and state the validity date on either.