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Landscaping estimate template

The full template below — scope lines, the exclusions that stop free work, terms and a signature block. Copy it, print it, or take the Word version and put your logo on it.

Landscaping estimate

[Your company name, address, licence and contact]
Estimate no. ________   Date ________   Valid until ________

Prepared for

Job address

Scope of work

Price

Subtotal ________   Tax ________   Total ________
Deposit due on acceptance ________   Balance due ________

Not included in this price

Terms

Acceptance

The owner accepts the scope, price and terms above.

Signature     Printed name     Date

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How to price the job before you fill this in

Landscaping work prices by area and by material volume, with access and disposal priced separately because they vary more than the planting does. Whatever unit you use, the price underneath it has to cover three things: the loaded cost of the hours, the share of overhead those hours consume, and the margin you intend to keep. Miss any one and the job looks profitable right up until year-end.

Landscaping quotes go wrong on access, disposal and volume. Machine access decides your labour hours more than the design does, disposal tonnage is usually underestimated, and material ordered by area instead of volume comes up short every time. Price all three as their own lines so a change in any one is visible.

If you've never run the numbers, do it in this order: loaded labour rate, overhead per billable hour, then the rate you should charge. It takes about fifteen minutes once.

The parts of this template that do the most work

The exclusions. Every line in that list exists because someone did that work for free. Deleting a line because it seems negative is how you end up back there — read the exclusions guide before you cut any of them.

The change order clause. Priced and signed before the work happens, every time. Verbal agreements on site are collected at the end of the job, if at all.

The expiry date. Material pricing moves and your quote shouldn't be open forever. Fourteen to thirty days is normal.

The signature block. An estimate that gets signed is a contract. An estimate that only informs is a price the customer takes to somebody else.

Send it the same day

Speed closes landscaping work more reliably than being the cheapest. The homeowner who has just watched you walk their job is more interested in you than they will be tomorrow, and considerably more than in three days. Fill in the scope on site, price it that evening, send it before you go to bed.

Questions contractors actually ask

How do I quote landscaping when the design isn't final?

Quote the site work and hardscape firmly and put plant material under a stated allowance. The base and the excavation are where your cost and risk live; the plant list is the easy part to revise.

Should I warranty plants?

Only where you control watering. Offer a one-season warranty when irrigation exists or a maintenance agreement is in place, and exclude it otherwise — in writing, before the first dry August.

How do I charge for disposal?

By the load or the tonne, as a separate line with a stated assumption about how many loads. Buried surprises are the norm in this trade, and a customer who saw the per-load rate on the estimate does not argue about the third one.

Can I use this template commercially?

Yes. Use it on your own jobs, put your company name and logo on it, and reuse it as often as you like. Reselling the template itself as a product is not permitted.

Is this a legally binding contract?

Once both parties sign, an estimate with scope, price and terms generally forms a contract — but contract law varies by province and state, and this is general information rather than legal advice. For high-value work, have a lawyer review your standard terms once. It's a one-time cost that covers every job afterwards.

The Word version, plus nine other trades

The Vault includes this template and nine more as editable Word files, the pricing calculator that produces the number you put in it, and pre-written terms for each trade.

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Pricing calculator, 10 trade estimate templates in Word, pre-written exclusions and terms, and the 10-minute pricing guide. One payment, no subscription, 30-day guarantee.

Other trades

All ten estimate templates, from roofing to handyman.