Free Handyman Estimate Template (PDF Generator)

How to write a handyman estimate

1. Add your business details

   Company details, logo and your license number or status line.

2. Enter the customer and the property

   Name, contact details and the job address.

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

   The number is prefilled; set a validity window.

4. Price every task on its own line

   One row per task with the hours or a flat price, your minimum charge stated once, and the assumptions that change the price in the details.

5. Say who supplies what and add the trip charge

   Customer-supplied fixtures versus yours, materials as rows or an allowance, and the trip charge as its own row.

6. Pre-price optional add-ons and set the deposit, if any

   Extras ticked Optional so they print priced outside the total; a deposit on material-heavy jobs; how changes get approved.

7. Download, send, and convert when approved

   Text or email the PDF. When the customer says yes, untick Optional on accepted add-ons and press Convert to invoice.

What to include on a handyman estimate

What should a handyman estimate include?

A priced task list, the assumptions behind each price, and the rules for what happens when reality differs from the list. Most handyman estimates fail on the second and third parts, not the first. "Replace exhaust fan — $170" is a fine line until the old fan turns out to be wired with lamp cord and there is no duct to the outside. The estimate should have said "like-for-like unit on existing wiring and duct; if either needs replacing I stop and text you a price."

• Task lines with a details sentence each. What is included, what the customer supplies, what you assumed.
• Materials as a lot with "cost plus markup, receipts available" in the terms, and the trip charge separate.
• Your minimum, stated once, so a customer who trims the list to a single task is not surprised.
• Optional add-ons under the total — the jobs they mentioned but did not commit to.
• Deposit and balance terms, the change rule, and a valid-until date.

If the customer is a landlord or a listing agent, add the property address to the job line and expect the estimate to be forwarded to an owner who has never met you. Write it for that reader: no shorthand, no "as discussed." The seven-step estimate guide covers the general method; a handyman estimate is that method with more lines and smaller numbers.

Should a handyman quote hourly or a flat price per task?

Flat-price the tasks you have done enough times to know the hours cold. Quote hourly, with a not-to-exceed number, for anything you cannot see until you open it up. Then put both on the same estimate. The customer does not care which model you used; they care that the faucet is $130 and the mystery leak under the sink is "1–2 hours at $85, I stop and call at two."

One caution on flat pricing: a flat price is a promise about your hours, not a coupon. If a flat-priced task blows up because of something you could not have seen, that is a change — tell the customer before you continue. If it blows up because you underestimated, eat it and fix your price list. The markup and margin calculator is worth ten minutes if you have never checked what your flat prices actually earn.

How much deposit should a handyman ask for?

For a half-day of small tasks with materials you can buy on the way, often none — the deposit is not worth the friction, and the payment risk is a few hundred dollars you can collect on the spot. When you are buying something specific for the job — a $300 fan, a custom-cut mirror, a special-order lockset — a deposit that covers the materials is normal and reasonable. The customer whose faucet you are installing tomorrow should not be surprised by a request for the faucet's cost today.

Where you can take more than that, be aware some states cap it. California's Contractors State License Board says a home-improvement down payment "cannot be more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less," with no exception for special-order materials — and its guidance on the unlicensed-work exemption repeats the 10 percent figure for small jobs. Other states set their own caps or none at all; the contractor deposit guide lists the ones verified against the statute. For a handyman, the practical rule is simple: never hold more of the customer's money than the materials you have bought and the day you have blocked.

How do you keep "while you're here" from eating the day?

Pre-price it. Every handyman knows the moment: the list is done, the tools are out, and the customer says "while you're here, could you just…" Say yes to the ones on the estimate's optional list at the printed price, and text a price for anything else before you touch it. The optional lines on this estimate exist so the customer sees the price for the pressure-washing and the mailbox post before you are standing in their driveway with a wet hose.

For anything bigger than a line item — the "while you're here, the deck is actually rotten" conversation — stop and write it down. A two-line text works for a $200 addition; for a change that turns a repair into a rebuild, the free change order template gives you the revised total and both signatures in a minute. The rule to print on the estimate is one sentence: anything not on this list is priced in writing before I start.

How long should a handyman estimate stay valid, and what happens after "yes"?

Two to four weeks. Beyond that your calendar has changed, the customer's list has grown, and material prices may have moved. A valid-until date also gives you a clean reason to follow up: "the price on the exhaust fan holds through the 26th — want me to book it?" Half of handyman estimates go quiet not because the customer said no but because nobody asked again; the follow-up cadence in why customers ghost after an estimate is built for exactly that.

After the yes, the estimate becomes the invoice. In this generator the Convert to invoice button carries the accepted lines, the customer and any deposit paid into the invoice generator with the balance already calculated; drop the optional lines they declined and add the hours that changed. For the general version of this tool, see the free estimate template.

FAQ

• CSLB — What should be in a home improvement contract (down-payment limit, written change orders)
• CSLB press release #24-21 — Handyperson exemption to increase to $1,000 in 2025 (AB 2622)