Construction estimate builder

Line items, quantities and unit costs, with markup applied and the client-facing total calculated as you type.

Free, no signup. Edit it here, then take it with you as CSV.

Cost$9,602.00
Markup$1,728.36
Client total$11,330.36
Margin15.3%
Line itemCategoryQtyUnit cost

Markup is applied to cost, so the margin it produces is always lower than the markup percentage. That gap is where estimates lose money.

Frequently asked
Does this include overhead?

No. These are direct job costs. Office, vehicles, insurance and unbilled staff are overhead, and they need to be recovered either through a separate rate or through the markup you set here.

Why is my margin lower than my markup?

Markup is measured against cost, margin against the price. An 18 percent markup gives about a 15.3 percent margin. If you need a specific margin, divide cost by (1 minus the margin) instead of marking up.

Should I show line items to the client?

A summary by category usually beats a full line-item list. Detailed lines invite negotiation on individual items, and the ones clients pick at are usually the labor lines you cannot actually reduce.

Keep it live instead of rebuilding it.

This is a snapshot. In Wisegrid the same thing stays current as the work changes, and the rollups read off it automatically. Start your 7-day free trial, no credit card required.