How to Write Estimates That Win Projects
As a freelancer, writing professional estimates can be critical to winning projects of all sizes.
Here is what worked for me. As a freelancer, and then as an agency owner, we developed this format over years and many lessons along the way.
Note that we estimated and billed our projects by deliverable. You won’t find any mention of hourly rates or the number of hours to complete the project.
You may use a different estimating and billing method, but most of this will still apply.
Checklist: 12 Items to Include in Every Creative Services Estimate
Keep this list handy for your next estimate. You can scale this depending on the size of the project.
Date
Client company name and address
Prepared for (name)
Executive Summary
Project Summary with details taken from brief
Deliverables – what you’re providing, broken down in stages
Calendar with a timeline
Rounds of revisions included
Sales Tax details
Terms & Conditions – payment terms, deposits, kill fees
Legal Terms – usage and copyright where appropriate
Acceptance and approval to start
Critical Things to Know Before Writing an Estimate
Writing a thorough estimate is an investment in time. Before you start, you should have this information:
A written brief from the client outlining the project
A budget or budget range—is this a project for $1,000, $5,000, or $25,000?
A general timeline and an understanding of any fixed deadline
For a small project, you might get this information in an email from the client. For example, the client might say, “I’ve got a $1,000 budget for another blog post about X. It’s like the last one you did. Is this enough for the job and could you start next week? I can send you details later today. I need to submit it by (date).”
They’re waiting for you to say yes, so they can send you background info.
For a larger project, you should expect a more detailed brief.
If you don’t get this information, ask for it. Don’t waste your time writing an estimate when you’re guessing about the details of the project.
What if They Don’t Give You a Budget Range?
Try to get it out of them. They may say, “Give us an estimate, and we’ll decide whether to proceed.”
Here’s how to answer that. Tell them that you need a budget range to write an appropriate estimate.
For example, a website could cost anywhere between $500 and $50,000.
If they don’t give you a number, you could say, “From what you’ve described, I’ve done similar projects that range from $5,000 to $7,500. Does that sound like your budget?” Keep asking until you get a useful answer.
No Budget Number? Consider Walking Away
If they still don’t want to talk about money, think very seriously about whether you want to provide an estimate.
Every business has budgets for various line items. They’re not secrets. There’s no good reason for withholding a budget number from you.
This is a sign of how they work. Spend your time with better clients.
The Basics of a Creative Services Estimate
At the top of the page:
Date
Client company name and address
Prepared for (name)
Why do you want “Prepared for (name)”? Include it in case they share your estimate within the company. That way, any reader knows who’s in charge of this project. It’s not necessary for small companies.
The Guts of Project Estimates
These are the critical elements that we included in our estimates.
Executive Summary
Project Summary with details taken from brief
Deliverables – what you’re providing, broken down in stages where appropriate, including any key meetings such as kick-off meeting, presentation meeting
Calendar with a timeline for larger projects
Rounds of revisions included
Importance of an Executive Summary in an Estimate
The Executive Summary isn’t necessary for small projects, but for larger jobs, it should be one or two paragraphs that describe the project and its goals.
It doesn’t need to include details on budgets, timelines, terms and conditions, etc.
This is a “just the facts” summary.
The Project Summary Outlines Your Understanding of the Job
You will take much of the project summary from the client brief. We would often re-write and add some detail to what the client gave us rather than simply cut and paste.
The Project Summary was our opportunity to assure the client that we understood what the project entailed.
It also included the goals for the project. Something like, “With this project, our goal is to deliver a specific outcome of X.”
Your Deliverables are the Heart of Your Project Estimate
The deliverables section is usually the longest and most detailed part of the estimate. This is where you explain what you’re going to do, how you’ll do it, and how much it will cost.
For any significant projects, we broke down our deliverables into:
Project kick-off meeting
Description of deliverables
Initial concept presentation
Revisions and final concept presentation
Production
Final project presentation
Project Kick-Off Meeting—All Hands on Deck
For the Project Kick-Off Meeting, we outlined our expectations of both parties to start the project.
We wanted a meeting, either face-to-face or over video conferencing.
In the description, we outlined who would be present for the meeting from our side. This included anyone who had a leading role in the project. It might be the creative director, copywriter, designer, programmer, and project manager.
We would ask the client to include anyone on their side who had a significant say in the project. For larger projects, this sometimes meant 5 – 10 people from the client team.
Even if the project involved only one person from each side, we wanted a formal start to the job.
In our description of the Kick-Off Meeting, we proposed a thorough review of the project deliverables. We asked that the client hand over any research, documents or other materials that would be helpful to us.
We made sure they knew that this was the time to ask any questions before we got started.
Also, we would review the calendar and timeline. It was the chance to adjust any due dates.
Description of Deliverables
You’ll want to create a mini-template for how you describe deliverables for any project. If you do many similar jobs, this will save you a lot of time.
Break out your deliverables by phases, and perhaps tie a payment schedule to those deliverables.
The first deliverable was generally an initial concept presentation. Typically for any project that involved design, we would present three concepts for the clients to review. I wrote about Successful Concept Presentations and the Power of Three here.
We would include two rounds of revisions. Our Terms and Conditions would say, “Includes up to two rounds of revisions. Further revisions will be estimated if necessary.”
It’s up to your project manager to track revisions and let the client know when further revisions will be extra. Having a strong project manager prevents endless scope creep. I wrote more about How to Prevent Scope Creep and Get Paid What You’re Worth here.
Once the client chose a concept, we would start on the deliverables.
In some cases, there were smaller presentations along the way. This was especially the case where a larger project included sub-projects.
Be Sure to Describe Sub-Projects Within Projects
Let’s say the project is a series of blog posts, each of which needs three quotes from experts.
That means for each quote, you’ll have to contact the experts. You’ll need to read background material, then contact them, send questions in advance, interview them, write notes, write the quotes, get approvals, make some revisions… times three. That’s just for a few paragraphs of each blog post.
It’s a similar process for designers creating a piece that needs charts, graphs, photography, or illustrations. You need to create a look for one and get approval before completing them all.
You’ll want to describe this process in your estimate. If you’re not careful, these types of sub-projects can play havoc with your schedule and budget.
You’re counting on timely approval for the first sample so you can keep going with the rest of the project.
Revisions and Final Project Presentations
In this section, you want to acknowledge the time in the schedule for revisions keeping an eye on the date for final project presentations.
Like the kick-off meeting, you want anyone who has a say in the project from the client team to be included for any comments and approvals. With luck, everyone is smiling, and you have final approval.
Depending on the type of project, there may be further production involved (printing, programming), or the files are ready for upload.
The Importance of a Calendar and Timeline
We always liked projects with deadlines. A bit of pressure on us and the client ensured that projects didn’t drift.
For us, calendars and timelines were the domain of the project manager. This included reminding the client that we needed approval of a stage before we moved to the next phase.
Calendars are essential on projects with immovable deadlines. Let’s say you need to have a website ready for a product launch. You can’t be late! That’s where the project manager rules. If you committed to a date, whether you’re on the creative side or client, you had better deliver.
For us, Excel worked well, but there are dozens of calendaring options available. You may have to choose the one the client is most comfortable with.
Finish the Estimate with These Elements
Think of this as the “legal details” of your estimate. This section can be a template that you’ll use on most estimates.
Sales Tax details
Terms & Conditions – payment terms, deposits, kill fees
Legal Terms – usage and copyright where appropriate
Acceptance and approval to start
If you have to charge taxes, you should mention whether they’re included. In Ontario, Canada, we don’t include taxes in estimates. They only show up on the invoice. This may be different in your jurisdiction.
Terms & Conditions should include details on deposits, progress payments, and other payment terms such as kill fees. If you want a deposit before starting, this is the place to say it.
If you are offering any type of discount, include it here. I wrote about our discount offers in 5 Money Strategies for Freelancers.
Legal Terms can outline ownership and usage rights. In our case, we only said that rights go to the client only upon full payment of the project. In other cases, where for example, software is embedded in the solution, you should include licensing details such as terms and renewal fees.
Acceptance and approval to start should be explicit. In some fashion, the client needs to give you formal approval to proceed. They could sign the PDF or send it back with an email giving authorization. If they phone you, send them an email acknowledging the approval, so you have a written record.
Billing by Deliverable? Here are the Logical Break Points
Let’s say you’re working on a big project and you’d like to get paid along the way as you complete specific stages. That means, in your estimate you’ll break out costs for the various sections of the project.
In our experience, this is what worked:
An upfront deposit to start the project. About 25% of the total seemed fair, but feel free to adjust that.
An invoice at the presentation of initial concepts. You’ve done a good chunk of work to get to this point, so bill for it.
An invoice at approval of final files. This may be the last invoice, or if there’s still some management involved, the second last.
The last invoice will wrap up any final details.
This is for a large project that might run over a few months. For shorter ones, you may want 100% in advance, or 50% upfront, and the rest upon completion.
Try to avoid billing 100% upon completion. Some projects take forever, and you’re stuck being the bank for the client. It’s a killer on your cash flow. Be a business person. Get paid before you start or as you go.
An exception to this is many large companies or government. They often won’t pay a deposit, but they will pay progress payments and generally the rest within 30 days.
Make sure you have the discussion about payment terms early in your meetings with the client. What if they say they pay 90 to 120 days? Do you want them as a client or not?
Avoid “Rough Estimates” or “Ballpark Figures”
Try to be as precise and definitive as possible in your project-based estimates. Rough estimates and ballpark figures can waste time and often lead to misunderstandings.
Client, “You said this would be about $5,000.”
You, “Yeah, but that was before you turned it into a $20,000 project.”
It’s not a good way to work. Take the time to get all the details you need, then provide solid estimates. If the project starts to change along the way, provide additional estimates. Don’t simply do the work and then surprise the client with an unexpected invoice.
Last Words—Physical Design of Estimates
Have a designer create a template that specifies the fonts, font sizes, leading, use of bold, all caps, etc.
Make your estimates look good, even before the client gets to the numbers. Our estimates were also easy to scan with appropriate headings and subheads.
Appearances matter. Make your estimates (and invoices, too) attractive. Why not? There’s enough ugliness in the world.
Learn more about the importance of writing good estimates in my book, How to Start a Successful Creative Agency. It’s the essential business guide for graphic designers, copywriters, filmmakers, photographers, and programmers.
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