A contractor proposal template for jobs that start with a walkthrough, not a drawing set.
The sections a residential proposal needs to close and hold up, with sample contractor proposal wording and a priced schedule as a working spreadsheet.
Get the contractor proposal template
A working spreadsheet, not a picture of one. The totals, overhead, and margin are live formulas. We email it over, so no download to lose track of.
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A homeowner comparing three proposals is not comparing prices. They are comparing how confident each contractor sounds about what the job involves. The proposal that names the prep, the access, and the thing that might go wrong reads as the one that has done this before, and it wins at a higher number more often than the one-line quote does.
This template is for that kind of job: a kitchen, a roof, a repipe, a fence, a paint job, anything priced from a walkthrough and a conversation rather than from drawings. It is shorter than the construction proposal template and it spends its words on the places residential proposals usually go quiet.
The template
| Section | What goes in it | What it prevents |
|---|---|---|
| Who and where | Your company and license, the customer, the job address, proposal number, date, valid-until | The quote from March being accepted in September |
| What we saw | Two or three sentences on the existing condition that drives the price | "You never told me the siding was rotten" |
| Scope of work | What you will do, in the order you will do it, by area | Scope creep by assumption |
| Options | Up to three tiers, or a stated range if the job depends on what you find | A yes-or-no decision when the customer wanted a choice |
| Not included | Permits, repairs to concealed damage, moving furniture, disposal of owner items | Free work |
| Price | The total for each option, with the itemized schedule attached | Line-by-line haggling over a number that was never a line |
| Schedule and access | Start window, working hours, what you need from the customer | Day one spent waiting for a key |
| Payment | Deposit, progress payments tied to milestones, final | Financing the job yourself |
| Changes | Written approval before extra work, priced from the same rates | The unpaid Saturday |
| Acceptance | Signature, name, date, and which option was chosen | Starting work on a handshake |
Sample contractor proposal
What we saw: "The rear elevation has peeling paint and failed caulk at most window trim, with bare wood exposed on the south-facing fascia. The front and sides are in fair condition and need washing and spot priming only."
Scope: "Pressure wash all elevations. Scrape, sand, and spot prime failed areas on the rear elevation and south fascia. Re-caulk all window and door trim. Apply two finish coats of exterior acrylic to siding and trim in colors selected by the owner from the manufacturer's standard range."
Options: "Option A, as above: $7,840. Option B, as above plus full prime coat on the rear elevation for longer life: $8,620. Option C, Option B plus replacement of the two sections of rotted fascia noted in the photos: $9,310."
Not included: "Lead-safe containment if testing finds lead paint (this house is pre-1978; testing is $150 and recommended). Carpentry beyond the two fascia sections. Painting of gutters, downspouts, or the detached shed."
Payment: "Ten percent on acceptance to schedule. Forty percent on completion of prep. Balance on completion."
Why the options section earns its place
Three tiers change the question from "is this contractor too expensive" to "which of these do we want," which is a better question to be asked. Keep the tiers honest: each one should be a scope you would be happy to do, priced from the same rates, with the entry option never dropping below your minimum charge for showing up at all.
A range works where a tier does not. If the price depends on what is behind the drywall, say so with a low and a high and a sentence about what moves it, rather than a precise number you will have to walk back.
Filling it in
Write the "what we saw" paragraph from your photos the same day. It is the section that proves you looked, and it is the one that fades fastest from memory. Price the schedule with labor at a burdened rate, and enter profit as a margin, not a markup: the labor burden calculator and the markup vs margin calculator give you both numbers.
When a template stops being enough
The template can hold three options. It cannot price all three from one set of rates without you doing the arithmetic three times, and it cannot tell you the proposal was opened twice last night and not signed. FlyQuote presents tiers priced by one engine from your cost codes, sends the proposal as a branded page with a matching PDF, tracks when it is opened, and records the signature when the customer accepts. See tiers, ranges, and proposal designs.