Free Electrical Estimate Template (PDF Generator)

How to write an electrical estimate

1. Add your business and license

   Company details, license number and logo, plus any regulator notice your state requires on the proposal.

2. Enter the customer and the property

   Name, contact details and the job address — the permit and any utility order attach to the property.

3. Number and date it, and set the valid-until date

   The number is prefilled. Set how long the price holds while copper and panel prices move.

4. Write the scope by circuit and by device count

   One row per circuit with the amperage and wire size, one row per device type with the count, and the panel or service details in the job line.

5. Add the code-required extras and explain them

   Protection devices, grounding upgrades and the load calculation as their own rows with a plain-language reason in the details, so the customer does not read them as padding.

6. Set the permit, exclusions, deposit and optional add-ons

   Permit and inspections with who pulls them; drywall patching and painting excluded in writing; the deposit; upgrades marked Optional so they print priced outside the total.

7. Download, send, and convert on approval

   Text or email the PDF the same day. When it is signed, untick Optional on accepted add-ons and press Convert to invoice.

What to include on an electrical estimate

What should an electrical estimate include so it holds up?

Circuits, devices, the panel spec, the permit, the exclusions — and the license line at the top. The same Texas rule that governs invoices, 16 TAC §73.51(f), names proposals first: contractor's name, address, phone number and license number on all proposals, invoices and written contracts, plus the TDLR 'Regulated by' notice. California's §7030.5 puts the license number on calls for bid. Then write the scope the way you'll wire it: '200A main breaker panel, 40-space, copper bus', 'meter base and 4/0 aluminum SE cable, overhead service, approx. 20 ft', 'grounding electrode system: two rods, #4 copper GEC, bond to water main', 'two 20A small-appliance circuits, two GFCI receptacles each'. Device rows carry a unit price so the customer can add a receptacle without a new quote.

The code-required extras deserve their own sentence, because they're the lines customers question. When you touch a circuit, the code edition your jurisdiction has adopted — and its local amendments — may require AFCI or dual-function breakers, GFCI protection in specific locations, tamper-resistant receptacles, or surge protection at a service change. Which of those apply is local, so say on the estimate which ones you've included and why ('AFCI breakers on the six reworked circuits, required under the adopted code for the areas served'). The customer who understands the $312 of breakers on the estimate doesn't dispute them on the invoice.

• Exclusions: drywall patching and paint, utility fees (passed through at cost if any), trenching, and hidden conditions — aluminum branch wiring, knob-and-tube, undersized or heat-damaged conductors, corroded service equipment.
• Change-order clause: 'Conditions not visible at the walkthrough will be priced by written change order before work continues.' Then use one when the first knob-and-tube run appears.
• Power-off window: on a service upgrade, say the power will be off most of a working day and that the utility controls the reconnect. The customer plans around it instead of calling you at 3 pm.

How do you price a panel upgrade or an EV charger install?

From your costs, because the published ranges disagree with each other by thousands. Fixr's EV charger guide (updated January 2025) lists Level 2 charger hardware at $600–$1,200, installation labor at $420–$800 and a panel upgrade, where needed, at $1,500–$4,000, and notes that adding a 240-volt outlet usually requires a permit. Housecall Pro's July 2026 guide puts a panel upgrade at $1,200–$2,000 and a dedicated circuit at $570–$1,000. Two reputable sources, a $2,000 gap on the same job. Price yours from labor hours at your real rate plus materials at sell, then check the margin with the markup and margin calculator.

• Service upgrade rows: the panel; meter base and service entrance conductors; the grounding electrode system; labor as one lot line ('two electricians, one day; coordinate utility disconnect and reconnect; re-terminate and label every circuit'); permit, inspections and utility coordination; and the code-required breakers as their own material row.
• EV circuit rows: load calculation (Morgan Hill, CA, for example, requires one unless the main service is 200A or larger); labor to run the circuit; cable by the foot; breaker sized for a continuous load; conduit and fittings; the box, receptacle or hardwire whip; permit and final. NEC 2023 625.40 puts EV equipment over 16A or 120V on its own branch circuit, so say 'dedicated circuit' in the details.
• Devices: one row per type with the count; a separate labor row for the difficult locations rather than a padded per-device price.

Anything bigger than a service call deserves the full seven steps in our estimating guide, including the part about a 30% markup being a 23% margin.

How much deposit should an electrician take?

Enough to cover the panel, meter base and wire you're buying before you show up, collected on acceptance — within your state's limit. California caps the down payment on home-improvement contracts at $1,000 or 10% of the contract price, whichever is less; most states set no cap and a few set different ones. The deposit guide has the amounts by job type and the state rules, and the script for asking without losing the job.

Write what it covers and what releases the balance: 'Deposit covers panel and service materials; balance due when the final inspection passes.' Tying the balance to the inspector's sign-off gives the customer a third-party event to trust, which is why it works. The generator prints the deposit on the estimate and carries it into the invoice as a payment received when you convert. And before you order a panel for someone you met once, run them through the vetting checklist — the deposit conversation itself is one of the tests.

How do you keep the estimate from turning into a dispute?

Four habits. Print the unit price for extra devices on the estimate ('additional receptacles at $__ each') so the mid-job 'can you add one in the pantry' has a number before you answer. Use a written change order for every hidden condition, signed or acknowledged by text with a photo, before the work continues. Set a valid-until date that reflects copper and equipment pricing — thirty days is the default, shorter when prices are moving. And get the signature: the acceptance block is on every estimate PDF, and a signed estimate plus signed change orders is the paper trail that wins a small-claims hearing. When the job is done, 'Convert to invoice' carries the accepted rows, the deposit and the customer across, and you add the change-order lines so the invoice matches what was approved.

FAQ

• 16 Tex. Admin. Code §73.51 — Electrical contractors' responsibilities
• California Business and Professions Code §7030.5
• CSLB — What a home improvement contract must include (down payment cap)
• City of Morgan Hill, CA — Solar PV and EV charging station permits
• NEC 2023 625.40 Electric vehicle branch circuit (code text)
• Fixr — Cost to install an EV charger at home (January 2025)
• Housecall Pro — 2026 electrician pricing guide