MARGINCANVAS
Home → Tools → Multi-Trade Bid Estimator
Construction Bid Estimator

You finished the job, the invoice cleared, and you still cannot say what you made on it.

Multi-trade labor, materials and overhead into a margin-protected client quote.

$49 USD · one-time
Buy on Etsy · $49Gumroad coming soon
Instant download · Excel & Google Sheets · works on Mac and Windows · on Etsy today, Gumroad soon
Multi-Trade Bid Estimator dashboard
Who it's for

Made for the way you actually work.

  • General contractors and remodelers pricing jobs across several trades
  • Electricians, plumbers and HVAC techs who quote by the hour
  • Builders who sub work out and need every trade in one bid
  • Anyone who has won a job and found out later it paid nothing
What's included

Everything in one file.

  • Dashboard: Quote, margin and cost per unit, with two charts. Read-only.
  • Start Here: Five steps from opening the file to a real number on screen.
  • Bid Estimate: Where you build one bid. The main working sheet.
  • Client Quote: The printable quote you send the client. Prices only.
  • Rate Card: Your trades and their hourly cost. Enter once; used on every bid.
  • Settings: Overhead and target profit margin.
  • Instructions: What each sheet does, and what to do if a number looks off.
  • About: Version, license and support.
  • PDF Quick-Start Guide: two pages, first result in five minutes
How it works

Three steps to a number you trust.

  1. Open Rate Card. Enter your all-in hourly cost for each trade, wage plus burden, not the rate you bill.
  2. Open Settings. Set your overhead percentage and the profit margin you want every job to earn.
  3. Open Bid Estimate. Name the job, enter the scope size, and pick a service tier.
A look inside

The screens you'll be working in.

List of the nine sheets in the contractor bid estimator spreadsheetBid Estimate sheet with trades, hours, materials and equipment for one jobPrintable client quote page showing prices only, with no costs shownRate card listing forty construction trades with hourly wage and burdenThree steps to build a contractor quote: enter costs, set margin, send itCompatibility list showing Excel, Google Sheets, Mac and Windows support
Questions

Good to know.

Does this work in Excel and Google Sheets?
Both, and each has its own file in your download. The EXCEL- file opens directly in Excel 365, no macros, no add-ons, nothing to install, and it works offline. For Google Sheets, open the GOOGLESHEETS- PDF and click the link inside: it takes you to a native Sheets template with the charts, their dollar figures and the protections already in place. Make a copy and it's yours. Everything you type and every number the workbook calculates is identical in the two.
What is the difference between margin and markup?
Markup is a percentage of cost; margin is a percentage of price. A 20% markup on $10,000 gives $12,000 and a 16.7% margin. This workbook solves for margin, so 20% means you keep 20%.
What should go in the rate card?
Your all-in hourly cost: wage plus payroll taxes, insurance, workers' compensation and any benefits. Not the rate you bill the client.
What does the service tier do?
It multiplies labor hours to reflect job difficulty, occupied properties, tight access, heritage work. Materials are unaffected.
I'm not confident with spreadsheets. Will I manage?
Yes. The white cells are the only ones you touch. The Quick-Start Guide has your first real number on screen in about five minutes, and if you get stuck, message me.

One mispriced job costs more than this.

$49 once, and it's yours to keep. It pays for itself the first time it stops you underpricing a job or leaving margin on the table. No subscription, no login, just a file that does the maths.

Buy on Etsy · $49Gumroad coming soon
Related tools

Owners like you also use.

Change Order Tracker dashboard
Profit TrackingTrades & Construction

Change Order Tracker

Track every change order against what it actually cost, find which kind keeps losing money, and stop pricing extras at a discount.

$39View →
Project Cash Flow Forecaster dashboard
Cash Flow ForecastingTrades & Construction

Project Cash Flow Forecaster

Month-by-month cash on a fixed-price project, including retainage, so you know how much of your own money the job needs before you sign.

$49View →
Construction Job Cost & Profit Tracker dashboard
Profit TrackingTrades & Construction

Construction Job Cost & Profit Tracker

Compare what a job was estimated at against what it actually cost, find where the margin went, and track cumulative profit across every job.

$59View →