4 templates
Client-ready estimate
Estimate, take off, and mark up a job in one workbook so you can send a bid that wins the work.
Watch the walkthrough
Budget vs. actual
See whether every job is making money, with budget vs. actual and change orders tracked in the same file.
Watch the walkthrough
AIA-style pay app
Build progress billing and pay apps from a clean schedule of values, line by line.
Watch the walkthrough
Gantt chart schedule
Lay out tasks and dates on a Gantt chart so everyone on the job knows what's next.
Watch the walkthrough
+$1,940
$248,400
$32,500
1 task blocked
About the templates
Excel templates for contractors, built inside a family business
Every template here started as a problem in our family’s general contracting business.
My dad ran the jobs. He was the GC, the superintendent, the project manager and the estimator. He’s old school. He doesn’t know what a SUMIFS formula is, and he doesn’t want to learn Excel.
So every gap in how we ran the business turned into a template:
His bids were typed in Microsoft Word. Simple, but anything but presentable.
His schedule lived in his head, so every question about a job went through him.
Our pay applications were rebuilt by hand every month, digging up old certificates to get the previous billing right.
And when a job was done, he knew what he bid it for and what was in the bank account. What the job actually made was a guess.
Every template follows one rule: it has to be dad-proof. Easy enough for a 65-year-old who doesn’t want to learn Excel, and smart enough that the math is never wrong.
Four construction Excel templates that cover the whole job
Bid it, schedule it, bill it, and know what you made. Each template handles one of those, and each has its own page with a full guide and samples.
Construction Bid Template
Price every line with its cost type, quantity, unit cost and its own markup. Sections add themselves up, the top of the sheet shows markup on cost and margin on price, and the Proposal tab puts the bid on your letterhead with the terms and a place to sign. Use it as a construction estimate template for any job you price line by line.
See the Construction Bid Template →
Construction Project Tracker
A Gantt chart that draws itself. Type a start date and the number of work days, and the finish date skips weekends and your holidays. Every task has a trade and a status, so anyone can see what’s next, what’s coming up and who’s responsible. Print it for the site meeting.
See the Construction Project Tracker →
Schedule of Values
Monthly progress billing from one schedule of values, laid out like the AIA G702 and G703. Type this period’s work, and the previous billing, stored materials, retainage and current payment due fill in. Every earlier application stays in the file, exactly as it went out.
See the Schedule of Values →
Job Costing Tracker
Budget vs. actual while the job is still running. Log each bill to its cost code, and every line shows actual, remaining and % used, with a red flag when it goes over. The top of the sheet shows pace and projected profit, and change orders only count once they’re approved.
See the Job Costing Tracker →
How the four templates work together
They’re four files, but they’re built as one system, and the samples show it. All four use the same job: Harbor Plaza, a shell and site package for a retail center.
01
Bid it. The Bid template prices the job at $1,810,586.
02
Schedule it. The Project Tracker lays out 25 tasks and milestones, from notice to proceed in November to owner handoff in April.
03
Bill it. The Schedule of Values bills it monthly. Application 04 asks for $356,536.
04
Know what you made. The Job Costing Tracker checks every bill against the budget. Two lines ran over, and projected profit is $138,291.
You don’t retype anything between them. The Bid’s Export tab lays out the job’s lines for the Schedule of Values at price, and for Job Costing at cost. The numbers you bid are the numbers you bill and the numbers you track.
Why a construction spreadsheet instead of software
Construction management software does more than a spreadsheet. If you run dozens of jobs with a full office, it may be worth it.
For a small contractor, it usually means a monthly fee for as long as you use it, a program everyone has to learn, and your numbers living in someone else’s system.
A spreadsheet you own works differently. You open it in Excel, which you already have. You can email it to your accountant, print it for a meeting, or add a column to fit how you work. Nothing is locked, and there’s nothing to renew.
The usual problem with spreadsheets is that they break. A formula gets typed over, a row gets missed, and the totals are wrong without anyone noticing. These are built and tested so that doesn’t happen: sections add themselves up, you only type in the blue cells, and checks turn red when something doesn’t add up.
Construction templates for every trade
I get a lot of emails asking whether these work for electricians, roofers or plumbers. The answer is yes, because the templates are built around the work, not the trade.
If you price a job in line items and need to present a bid, the Bid template fits. Roofers bid by the square, painters by the foot, electricians by the circuit and the hour. The columns are the same.
If you want to compare what a job cost against what you budgeted, the Job Costing Tracker fits, whether it’s a kitchen remodel or a retail shell.
If the job has a schedule, the Gantt chart fits, from a kitchen remodel to a six-month build.
If you bill in progress payments, the Schedule of Values fits, whether you’re the GC or the sub.
Each template’s page has samples for different trades: general contractor, remodeling, roofing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, concrete and painting. They run from an $8,504 panel upgrade to a $1.8 million shell. Same files, different lines.
What you get in every file
Blue cells are yours. Black cells calculate. Type in blue and everything else works itself out. There are no macros, and nothing is locked.
A blank file and a filled-in sample. The sample is the Harbor Plaza job, so you can see every tab working before you type a thing.
A PDF guide for each template, and a walkthrough video on its page.
Two editions: one for Excel 2021 and Microsoft 365, and a classic edition for Excel 2010 to 2019, on Windows or Mac.
One file per job. Save a copy of the blank file for each new project.
Construction templates FAQ
Are there free contractor templates here?
No. These are complete Excel files, and there’s no way to give away part of one without handing you a spreadsheet that doesn’t work. The walkthrough videos are free, so you can watch each template work before you buy.
What does it cost?
$97, one time, for all four templates. No subscription.
Can I buy just one?
No. The library is one price: all four templates for $97.
Does it work in Google Sheets?
No. The templates are built for Excel only.
Does it work on a Mac?
Yes, in Excel for Mac.
Will it work for my trade?
If you price work in line items, track costs against a budget, schedule tasks or bill in progress payments, yes.
Which template should I start with?
The one that answers the question that costs you the most. If you’re not sure a job is making money, start with Job Costing. If bids take all evening, start with the Bid template.