Elements of the Job Estimate

I'm not going pretend to be a lawyer and explain why you need to have one in legal-speak, today I'm going to talk about just sitting down at your computer and creating one from scratch, right on Word. My thinking is to make a template that you can print a few copies and keep them on hand.

You can also use the templates provided by word that are, fill in the blank, put your logo here, and come in a variety of colors, some redesigned template could look pretty custom if you are retailer. They work great when you have a list of standard items, but to me they are worthless when you start listing individual tasks for custom welding services.

What I decided to do for my situation was to simplify to the basics. What do you really need to create a job estimate?

Your company name, address, phone...eg

A description of the service needed.

A description of the service to be provided.

An estimate of cost to the customer, and the time it will take to complete the project.

A couple of lines for the signatures and dates.

What I did was to take my cues from the "Quote" templates I scouted out earlier. A simple centered "Job Estimate" header including All my company contact information and an email link, hit enter.
Click paragraph left and enter down a few lines. Type Customer Name,.
Below that I typed Project Description, and hit enter repeatedly until approximately 1/4 of the page is blank. this gives you plenty of room to pencil in details like a mechanic would if he were working on a car.

The next little line is "Description of services rendered," and again enter down an inch or two. then completion date and below that cost to customer, space across the same line and type, total $___.__

Below that line I typed a little good faith statement and thank you for your patronage kind of short paragraph and then then the signatures lines.

In just a little bit of time you have an important document that protects you as well as your customer. Its just good business to have an agreement in writing.