The job, and an important disclaimer
The example below is a bathroom faucet replacement for a hypothetical customer. Every dollar figure is invented purely to illustrate how an estimate is built. It is not a price guide, not a market rate, and not a suggestion of what you should charge. Your numbers come from your own material costs, your hourly rate, and your overhead.
The scenario: a homeowner's bathroom faucet is dripping, the shutoff valves are corroded, and they want the whole thing replaced. You walked the job, took photos, and noted that the customer wants you to supply the faucet.
The header block
The top of the document carries your business name and contact details, the customer's name and the job site address, an estimate number (in this example, EST-1042), and the date issued. Nothing here is decoration: the estimate number is what you reference when the customer calls back in two weeks, and the date anchors the validity period you will state in the terms.
The scope in one sentence
The scope reads: "Supply and install a new bathroom faucet, replace both shutoff valves and supply lines, test for leaks, and remove the old fixture." One sentence, plain words. The customer can read it and know exactly what the line items below are paying for. Everything after this sentence exists to price that promise.
The line items
Here is the itemized body of the estimate. Remember, the prices are hypothetical and chosen to make the arithmetic easy to follow.
| Line item | Qty | Unit price | Total | Why it is there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bathroom faucet (mid-range, supplied by contractor) | 1 | $85.00 | $85.00 | Customer asked you to supply it; priced at your real cost plus your chosen margin |
| Angle stop shutoff valve | 2 | $14.00 | $28.00 | Existing valves are corroded; replacing them now prevents a callback |
| Braided supply line | 2 | $9.00 | $18.00 | New lines with a new faucet, never reused from the old one |
| Plumber's putty, thread seal, misc. consumables | 1 | $12.00 | $12.00 | Small materials still cost money; they get a line instead of vanishing |
| Labor: remove old faucet, install and test new | 1.5 hr | $90.00 | $135.00 | Your hourly rate from your own costs; includes testing and cleanup |
The decisions behind the numbers
The faucet is listed as its own line at your cost plus margin, rather than hidden inside a lump sum, so the customer can see what they are buying and you can swap the model without rewriting the estimate. The shutoff valves are included because replacing a faucet over corroded valves is how a clean job becomes an emergency callback; listing them separately also shows the customer why the price is not just the faucet plus an hour.
Labor is 1.5 hours, not the 45 minutes the swap might take on a perfect day, because the estimate covers the real job: protecting the vanity, fighting a stuck mounting nut, testing both valves, and cleaning up. Consumables get their own small line so they stop leaking out of your margin job after job.
EstimateBook drafts line items like these from a voice note or photo of the job, using your trade, region, and hourly rate. The draft is a starting point; you adjust quantities, prices, and markup before anything is sent.
Totals, tax, and the grand total
The line items sum to a subtotal of $278.00. Tax appears as its own line below the subtotal, because the customer should see the full price and because tax rules vary by state and province, including whether labor is taxable where the job is. With hypothetical tax of $16.68, the grand total reads $294.68 in bold.
If you apply a markup or discount, show it as its own visible line between the subtotal and tax rather than baking it invisibly into prices. Visible math builds trust; hidden math invites questions.
Terms and acceptance
The terms block on this example is four short sentences: the estimate is valid for 30 days from the date issued; the price assumes no hidden damage inside the wall, and anything found is priced and approved before the extra work; faucet warranty follows the manufacturer, and your workmanship warranty is stated in your own words; payment is due on completion.
At the bottom is the acceptance block: signature, printed name, and date. The customer signs, you schedule the job, and the estimate number EST-1042 becomes the reference for the invoice later. The blank version of this structure is laid out section by section in the free estimate template, and the full method for building estimates from scratch is in how to write an estimate.