Know your real costs.
Price every job by margin.
An estimating & job costing workbook for small contractors — it calculates your fully-burdened labor rate, recovers your overhead on every bid, and shows your true profit when the job is done.
Free templates give you a form. This gives you the math.
Most estimate templates are a list of line items with a total at the bottom. The numbers that decide whether you make money are missing. This workbook builds them in.
Fully-burdened labor rate
Payroll taxes, workers comp, benefits, and overhead — rolled into the real cost of a crew hour, automatically.
Margin pricing, not guesswork
Set a target gross margin and the price computes itself. No more "cost times 1.3 and hope."
Client-ready proposal
A clean proposal tab by trade, with your terms. Print it or save as PDF — your costs and margins stay hidden.
Estimate vs. actual
Enter actual costs as invoices come in. See variance by category and your true gross profit on every job.
How it works
Five linked tabs. Set up your numbers once — then every estimate uses them.
Enter your overhead and crew once
Wages, payroll taxes, workers comp, benefits, and your annual overhead. The workbook computes each worker's burdened cost and your fully-loaded labor rate — the number most contractors have never actually calculated.
Pick items, enter quantities, done
Choose line items from a customizable cost database (24 remodeling items included). Materials, labor hours, overhead recovery, contingency, and a margin-based price calculate themselves. Comes with a complete worked bathroom-remodel example.
Send the proposal, then track the job
Hand the client a clean scope-of-work proposal. When the job's running, log actual costs against the estimate and watch your real margin — so the next bid is sharper than the last.
One price. Yours forever.
No subscription, no per-seat fees, no upsells inside.
- All 5 linked tabs: Company Setup, Cost Database, Estimate, Proposal, Job Costing
- 24 pre-loaded remodeling cost items — fully customizable, holds 100
- Complete worked example (bathroom remodel)
- Works in Excel 2016+, Google Sheets, and Apple Numbers
- Free updates for the life of the product
- Email support for anything in the workbook
Questions contractors ask
Will it work with my software?
It's a standard .xlsx file — no macros, no add-ins. It works in Microsoft Excel 2016 or newer (Windows and Mac), Google Sheets (upload to Drive), and Apple Numbers. Nothing to install and no internet connection needed.
I'm a solo operator with no employees. Does it still apply?
Yes — enter yourself as the crew. Most solo contractors have never calculated what their own hour actually costs once taxes, insurance, and overhead are in. That number alone tends to pay for the workbook on the first bid.
Are the included costs accurate for my area?
The 24 included items are realistic starting points, but material prices and labor vary by region — that's exactly why the cost database is editable. Replace the example numbers with your local costs and the workbook gets more accurate with every job.
What kind of support do you offer?
Questions about a formula, a tab, or how to customize the workbook for your business? Email us — we usually reply within two business days. We're glad to help with anything the workbook does; we just can't price your jobs for you.
What if it's not for me?
30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked.