From takeoff to proposal: how to build a bid recap that holds up
The takeoff tells you what you're building. The estimate recap tells you what it costs and what you'll charge — and the bid proposal tells the customer exactly what that price buys. Get the recap wrong and you either lose the job or win one you can't make money on. Get the proposal wrong and you end up eating the scope you meant to exclude. The free template above handles both, linked together, so the number on your proposal is always the number your recap calculated.
What goes on an estimate recap
Every trade organizes its estimate a little differently, but the recap always rolls up the same five direct-cost buckets:
- Labor — hours by classification (general foreman, foreman, journeyman, apprentice, helper) × base wage × (1 + labor burden). Burden covers payroll taxes, workers' comp, liability insurance, benefits, and fringes. Not sure what yours is? Run the numbers in the labor burden calculator.
- Material — takeoff totals or supplier quotes, entered pre-tax. Sales tax is applied once on the recap so it's never double-counted.
- Equipment — rentals, owned-equipment rates, lifts, trenchers, crew trucks.
- Subcontractors — the leveled number for each lower-tier sub. Level them first with the bid leveling matrix.
- Other direct costs — permits, small tools and consumables, freight, dumpsters, per diem, travel.
Applying overhead, profit, and bond
Once you have total direct cost, the recap stacks the markups in order:
| Line | How it's calculated |
|---|---|
| Sales tax on material | Material subtotal × sales tax %. Part of direct cost. |
| Overhead | Total direct cost × overhead %. Covers office staff, estimating, insurance, and costs not charged to jobs. |
| Profit | (Direct cost + overhead) × profit %. |
| Bond | Subtotal before bond × bond %. Set to 0% when no bond is required. |
| Grand total | The bid price — carried automatically to the proposal. |
Some contractors apply one combined OH&P markup; others apply overhead and profit separately as shown here. Either way, the template shows the result both ways at the bottom: total markup on direct cost and gross margin on the bid price.
Markup vs. margin — the mistake that costs contractors money
Markup is added on top of cost; margin is a share of the selling price. If your target is a 20% margin and you mark cost up 20%, you've actually priced a 16.7% margin. On a $1M job that's a $33,000 miss. To price to a target margin, divide instead of multiply: Price = Cost ÷ (1 − margin). Check your math with the free markup vs. margin calculator.
The recap also shows labor % of direct cost (labor-heavy bids carry more productivity risk) and bid price per labor hour — a quick sanity check against similar jobs you've won or lost.
Writing a bid proposal that protects your number
The proposal is where you define what the price includes. Vague proposals turn into scope arguments; specific ones turn into change orders. The Bid Proposal tab is laid out as a printable letter:
- To / From / Project — customer, your company and license number, project, location, and the exact bid documents and addenda you priced.
- Base bid — linked to the recap grand total, with a line to write out the amount in words.
- Scope of work — a plain-language narrative of what you're furnishing and installing.
- Inclusions — what's in, stated explicitly.
- Exclusions — what's out. The template starts with common ones: overtime, bonds, utility fees, engineering, patch and paint, rock and hazardous materials, work by others.
- Clarifications and assumptions — access, sequencing, material escalation, hoisting, and how changes will be priced.
- Alternates — add or deduct, amount, and whether the customer accepted.
- Unit prices — for adding or deducting quantities after award.
- Schedule, validity, and payment terms — start assumption, "valid for 30 days," progress billing, and retainage.
- Acceptance — signature blocks for you and the customer.
A good rule: if you had to make an assumption to price it, write it down in the proposal. The exclusion list you send today is the change order you get paid for later — pair it with the change order template when scope moves.
After you win: turning the estimate into a budget
The estimate recap becomes the job budget, and the budget becomes the schedule of values you bill against. Re-keying all of that is where numbers drift. Field PM turns your estimate into a cost-coded budget, then tracks labor hours, material, subcontracts, and change orders against it from the field — so you know by week three whether the job is tracking to the margin you bid. Start a free 30-day trial — no credit card required.
Related free templates and calculators
- Bid Leveling Matrix — level sub and supplier bids before they go into the recap
- Markup vs. margin calculator
- Labor burden calculator
- Schedule of Values template
- Change Order template
- Browse all free construction templates
