FREE TOOL
Create professional estimates for potential clients. Download as PDF instantly.
Estimate is valid for 30 days from date of issue.
Want to send this directly to your client and convert it to an invoice? Sign up for Incusia.
A $6,400 estimate with a 50 percent deposit asks for $3,200 when the client accepts, and leaves $3,200 to invoice later. Acceptance is the moment the deposit invoice exists. A price that only lived in a message does not do that.
An estimate is a decision document. The client is comparing you with someone else, or with doing nothing. A messy quote reads as messy work. A clear PDF with line items, tax, and an expiry date reads as a grown-up business. You do not need an account to look like that. Fill this form and download the file.
Keep estimates distinct from invoices. An estimate is “here is what it would cost.” An invoice is “please pay this.” Mixing the labels confuses accounts payable and delays the yes. Put a validity window in the notes, often 30 days. Materials and your calendar move. A quote from last quarter should not come back as a demand you have to honor at old prices.
Show tax if you will charge tax later. Buyers compare gross totals. Hidden VAT is a classic way to win the email and lose the kickoff call. If you need to add or strip a rate from a number you already have, use the VAT Calculator, then type the result into the estimate. Deposits belong in notes as well. Work that starts only after 40% is paid should say so here, not in a later invoice the client has not seen yet.
Price the lines from a real rate, not a vibe. The Freelance Rate Calculator gives you an hourly floor. Multiply by honest hours, add a buffer for revisions, and write that as line items people can understand. “Website package” is vague. “Homepage design, two inner pages, one round of revisions” is something a client can approve without a follow-up call.
This page does not convert the estimate into an invoice. When they say yes, recreate the lines in the Free Invoice Generator or send them from Incusia. Saved clients and a payment button are the reason to graduate. Starter is $9 per month with unlimited invoices and a price that stays locked for the life of the account.
A $6,400 estimate is a price you will invoice, not a range you will revisit. The deposit line, $3,200 on acceptance, is part of that promise. If you are not ready for them to say yes and owe that amount, the document is still a conversation and should look like one.
When they accept, the deposit invoice should exist without you rebuilding the estimate from memory. $3,200 billed that day, and $3,200 left, is the job staying one job. A fresh invoice for $6,400, with a note that they "sort of agreed," is how the deposit disappears.
List the work in line items a non-expert can understand, with quantities and rates. Add a validity date so the quote does not haunt you six months later. State what is excluded, especially materials, permits, or extra rounds. Put your name, their name, and a way to accept the estimate. Download the PDF and send it before you start buying supplies. An estimate is not an invoice. It should still look finished. This generator builds a professional estimate you can save as PDF with no account. When they say yes, copy the lines onto an invoice and add a due date.
Scope, site or address if it matters, labor, materials you will supply, allowances, exclusions, a timeline, and how long the price holds. Homeowners compare estimates that look alike. If you hide dump fees and they appear later, you look dishonest even if the work is good. Separate labor from materials when the client might buy paint themselves. Add a note about change orders. A one-line “renovation $18,000” is not an estimate. It is a hope. Use this template so the page has room for those lines, then walk the client through it once. Confusion on estimates becomes fights on invoices.
An estimate is usually an offer, not a completed contract, until both sides accept it in writing. Some places treat a signed estimate plus a deposit as the agreement. Price ranges labeled “estimate only” are weaker than a fixed quote. If you need the number to hold, say how long it is valid and what happens if materials jump. This PDF is a professional document. It is not a substitute for a contract on a large job. For a small freelance gig, a clear estimate plus an email saying “go ahead” is how a lot of work starts. For construction, get a proper agreement.
Put the same tax story on the estimate that you will put on the invoice. Buyers compare gross totals. An estimate that hides VAT or sales tax looks cheaper until the invoice arrives, which is how jobs die after a handshake. If you are not tax-registered, say the price is as shown. If you are, show net, tax, and gross. Confirm the rate before you send. This generator lets you include a tax figure. Use the VAT calculator if you need the split. Matching estimate and invoice tax lines is a small courtesy that prevents a large argument.
Fourteen to thirty days is common for freelance and small trade work. Materials-heavy jobs may need a shorter window when prices move weekly. Ninety days looks generous until lumber or a contractor’s calendar has changed. Print the expiry on the estimate. After that date, you requote. If a client asks you to honor a year-old PDF, you can, as a favor, or you can send a revised estimate. Do not leave the field blank. A quote with no expiry is an open tab on your time. This form includes space for that date. Use it.
Yes. No signup, no watermark. Fill the estimate, preview, download, send. Close the tab and the data is gone, so save the file and copy the estimate number into your log. You will not get a pipeline of open quotes from this page. That is the tradeoff. When you send estimates every week, Incusia can keep clients and turn a won quote into an invoice without retyping. For the bid you need to send before lunch, the free PDF is the whole point. Do not wait on an account to look professional.
Send an estimate when the scope or price can still change, or when the client has not agreed to hire you. Send an invoice when money is due: a deposit, a milestone, or the finished job. If you invoice before they agree, you look presumptuous and they may ignore the PDF. If you only ever send estimates, you never create a due date. Deposit jobs often need an estimate first, then an invoice for the deposit with the same line items. Use this generator for the maybe. Use the invoice generator for the now.
Break the job into hours or production steps before you pick a total. Add a buffer for revisions, site access, and the meeting that always appears. List exclusions so “quick extra” work becomes a change order instead of a gift. If you are guessing materials, use an allowance and say so. Underquoting is usually skipped steps, not generosity. Walk the site or the brief once more. Then type the lines here instead of a round number you saw a competitor use. A detailed estimate that loses the job is still better than a cheap estimate that bankrupts the week.
The estimate states the price and the deposit. Saying yes is what sends the first invoice.
$9/month
Send invoices and estimates, get paid
Price locked forever
$29/month
Run the whole business from one place
Everything in Starter, plus
Price locked forever
$99once
Pro, forever. One payment, nothing after that.
Incusia is invoicing software for people who send their own invoices.
It handles invoices, estimates, recurring billing, expenses and follow ups in one place, in any currency.
It is built for freelancers, sole traders and small businesses, not for finance departments.
Last reviewed 28 August 2026.