MERCER LANE PRESS · EXCEL SYSTEM · v1.1
Estimate the job, create the quote, track the actual costs and see what the job really made.
£2.99 Introductory price · one-time digital purchase
Buy the system on EtsyA connected landscaping estimate spreadsheet for contractors, owner-operators and small garden construction teams.
Microsoft Excel desktop required and supplied separately. Etsy handles checkout and download delivery, including applicable taxes and local-currency conversion. Digital download; no physical item.
CHOOSE WHAT YOU NEED
Both use the same six-pass estimating approach. Choose the smallest tool that solves the task in front of you.
FREE · ONE QUOTE REVIEW
Use the printable six-pass Landscape Bid Readiness Checklist to review scope, quantities, labour, equipment, overhead and pricing. It checks readiness; it does not calculate a price or maintain job records.
Open the free bid checklistPAID · COMPLETE JOB WORKFLOW
Use the 27-sheet Excel desktop system to prepare an estimate, export a customer quote, freeze an awarded budget, log costs and approved variations, and review final profit after closeout.
£2.99 · one-time digital purchase · no subscription. See actual workbook screens.
Buy the Excel system on EtsyExcel desktop required separately; tested on Windows Excel desktop 16.0. Book sold separately.
Labour, purchase quantities, equipment, delivery and disposal can disappear inside a price guessed from experience. Build them deliberately, recover overhead once and keep markup distinct from margin. Then preserve the awarded estimate so the final review tells you where the job differed.
The arithmetic uses your own inputs. The system does not supply universal landscape rates or guarantee that a bid or job will be profitable.
Define scope, convert quantities, estimate productive and paid labour, and include the complete direct cost base.
Apply one overhead method and markup or margin. Resolve readiness checks, review the bid and export the customer quote.
Copy the awarded handoff as values to preserve the sold budget. Record incurred costs and approved variations by Job ID.
Confirm final costs, revenue and overhead. Compare estimate versus actual, then review comparable production evidence.
Scope → Quantity takeoff → Materials → Labour → Equipment → Other costs → Overhead → Markup or margin → Bid review → Client quote → Won job → Actual costs → Variations → Actual profit → Production learning.
Separate measured and supplier purchase units. Apply coverage, waste, minimum orders and rounding increments, then include landed material cost.
Read the material quantities and waste guideUse direct hours or your company production rates. Keep productive and paid person-hours distinct. Cost owned equipment or rentals with minimum hire, delivery, collection and other fees.
Understand landscape labour-hoursInclude subcontractors, disposal, other direct costs and deliberate risk allowances. Choose one of five overhead methods and apply markup or target margin to the defined cost base.
Understand markup versus marginReal product views from the supplied fictional Demo. Prices, rates, customers and outcomes are teaching examples in USD, not benchmarks or recommended prices.
Client Quote presents your business, customer, project, public scope, exclusions, assumptions, separately priced options, validity, base price and optional single-rate sales tax. Up to 16 public scope statements fit the prepared two-page output.
Resolve the readiness checks and bid review, then export only Client Quote as PDF. Internal costs, overhead, profit and risk notes stay out of that output. Review both printed pages before issuing each quotation; keep the whole workbook private.
The awarded handoff is copied manually as values into the job register to freeze its baseline. Record incurred actual costs and approved variations once. Job Review compares revised budgets with actual materials, paid labour, equipment and other costs.
Final gross profit and profit after overhead appear only after genuine final closeout. Open-job costs are spending to date, not a forecast to finish. Log comparable completed production observations and review weighted actual rates before deliberately changing expected company rates.
Read the landscape estimate-versus-actual guide →One ZIP containing exactly six customer files:
Microsoft Excel desktop. Windows Excel desktop 16.0 is the tested environment; Mac, older Excel, Excel Web, Google Sheets and other apps are not individually certified. Use one responsible editor at a time and one currency per file.
Prepared capacity: 50 estimates and 50 jobs; 300 transaction rows per table; 100 library rows. Use prepared rows, keep dated backups and archive complete files. Adding a table row alone does not extend calculation ranges.
Amber cells accept inputs; grey calculations are protected. Unprotect without a password only for deliberate maintenance, then re-protect and check. Protection helps prevent accidental edits and is not encryption.
Enter your own current costs, production evidence, overhead assumptions, contract wording and local tax treatment. This is a management estimating tool, not an accounting, invoicing, payroll, design or tax-return application. It has no automatic supplier pricing, cloud collaboration or accounting integrations. Developed with AI assistance and reviewed by Mercer Lane Press.
Landscape Contractor Estimating & Pricing by Warren Holtby explains the six-pass method and sixteen complete worked estimates. The digital system gives you the working Excel files to put the process into practice.
The book is sold separately and is not included in this download.
Explore the companion bookIt connects estimating and customer quotation with a frozen awarded budget, actual costs, approved changes, final profit and production learning. It is a working Excel system with manual entry and review steps.
Yes. Replace library inputs with your own current supplier, labour, equipment and production evidence. Use one currency per file. Changing the currency label does not convert amounts.
Prepared capacity is 50 estimates and 50 jobs, 300 transaction rows per table and 100 library rows. Archive a complete dated file and start a fresh working file from the clean original when needed. Adding an Excel table row alone does not extend the prepared calculations.
No. Client Quote is a quotation/proposal. The system records incurred job costs and management profit; use your existing invoicing, payroll and accounting processes.
Open jobs show costs to date. Final profit requires completed status, confirmed final costs and revenue, explicit reviewed base revenue and overhead, clean cost logs, and all variations resolved as Approved or Rejected.
Windows Excel desktop 16.0 is the tested environment. Mac Excel, older Excel, Excel Web, Google Sheets and other spreadsheet apps have not been individually certified. Validation, protection and printing can vary. Use Excel desktop.
There is no product subscription. This is a one-time digital purchase; Microsoft Excel is required and supplied separately. The core workbook needs no macros, add-ins, external workbook links or internet connection.
Buy through Etsy and download one ZIP containing the six customer files. Extract it on your computer and read the Quick Start Guide. For product help, contact MercerLanePress through your Etsy order with the version and a non-sensitive description.
Keep estimate, quote, actual costs and final profit in one working process.
Get the digital system on Etsy — £2.99One-time digital purchase. Excel supplied separately. Etsy displays applicable tax and any currency conversion.