Contractor Bid and Job Costing Template Excel Google Sheets, Construction Estimate Proposal with Budget vs Actual Tracker, Instant Download

Bid the job and track it in one file. Most tools do one or the other: a bid calculator that stops at the number, or a job-costing sheet with nothing to feed it. This workbook does both, and the bid you build becomes the budget you track against.

This is a general contractor's estimating and job-costing workbook. You build a sectioned bid, hand the client a clean proposal, and then log real costs against the same divisions as the work runs, so you see budget versus actual while you can still do something about an overrun. No macros, no add-ins, no subscription.

WHAT'S INSIDE (7 TABS)

1. Start Here. Plain instructions, a 60-second setup checklist, how to clear the sample job, and Google Sheets import steps.
2. Settings. Your company info, your loaded labor rate, overhead percentage, and profit markup. Edit the list of divisions to match how you bid. Set these once and the whole workbook follows.
3. Bid Builder. One line per scope item. Pick a division, describe the work, enter quantity and unit cost, and add your own labor hours. Line cost equals quantity times unit cost plus hours times your loaded labor rate. Line price adds overhead and markup on top. Any line can override the default markup in its own column.
4. Proposal. The client-facing sheet. Pulls your company header and totals the bid by division automatically, shows a clean price per division with no internal costs, and includes terms and signature lines. Print-ready for letter paper.
5. Budget vs Actual. The budget per division comes straight from the Bid Builder cost. Log your real costs and they flow in here by division, with variance and an over-budget flag, so the job never gets away from you.
6. Actuals Log. One place to log every real cost against a division: labor, material, subs, rentals, and permits. Everything else computes.
7. Dashboard. The whole job on one screen: contract price, budgeted cost, bid margin, actual cost to date, cost variance, and your profit if costs stop where they are today.

A complete sample job (a rear master-suite addition, sixteen bid lines across ten divisions with real costs already logged against six of them) is pre-filled so you can see the bid, the proposal, and the budget-versus-actual tracking all working before you clear it and start your own.

HOW THE NUMBERS WORK

Line cost is quantity times unit cost plus your labor hours times the loaded labor rate. Line price adds overhead and your markup on top of cost. The bid's cost per division becomes the budget on the Budget vs Actual tab, your logged actuals sit next to it, and the Dashboard shows what you make if costs stop today. The loaded labor rate is why a wage is not a cost: payroll taxes, workers comp, and insurance ride on every hour, and overhead is the truck, the office, and the software. Both are built into the price so the bid protects your margin.

COMPATIBILITY

Works with Microsoft Excel 2016+ and Google Sheets (import steps included). Formulas use only functions both platforms support. No macros or VBA anywhere in the file.

INSTANT DOWNLOAD

This is a digital product. You get the .xlsx file immediately after purchase. Nothing is shipped.

SUPPORT

If something is unclear or a formula misbehaves, message us through Etsy and we will get you sorted. Buyers also receive fixes and improvements to this version of the workbook.

Please note: because this is a digital file, all sales are final. If you hit a problem, contact us first and we will make it right.

The prices in the sample bid are realistic starting points, not quotes for your market. Review and adjust them to your local rates and your own labor rate before sending real bids.

Designed by Wareloft. Built with AI assistance and human-reviewed.

RUN MORE THAN ONE TRADE?

This workbook is also part of the ALL-TRADES ESTIMATOR BUNDLE: all 21 Wareloft workbooks in one download, for less than the price of four bought separately. See the bundle listing here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/4543437673/contractor-estimate-template-bundle-21