16 free tools, updated for 2026
Labor burden, markup, bid leveling, proposals, change orders and cash flow. Built by working estimators for general contractors and subcontractors, free in your browser.
The toolkit
Pick a tool, replace the example with your numbers, and get a result you can defend in a bid review.
Turn a base wage into the true cost of a productive hour and a billable crew rate.
Find the markup that covers your overhead and hits your profit target.
Price extra work with proper markups and a request your GC can approve.
Turn quantities into crew-days, duration and equipment days with typical rates.
Compare owning a machine with renting it and find the break-even hours.
Level up to six sub quotes on one scope and find the true low bidder.
Build a professional, branded proposal with trade-specific scope language.
Pick proposal-ready exclusions and clarifications for your trade.
Score an opportunity on weighted criteria and get a bid or no-bid call.
Price P&P bond premiums tier by tier, plus the bid bond and change order true-up.
Measure areas once and get order quantities for five trades, with an Excel takeoff.
Estimate jobsite overhead over the schedule, by category and per month.
See the cash gap retainage and slow pay create, month by month.
Bill each period from a schedule of values, with retainage and stored materials.
Check retainage caps and prompt pay rules, and work out late-payment interest.
Turn your furnishing dates into notice, lien and suit deadlines for your state.
What the tools show you
These are the tools' own example numbers. Open any of them and swap in yours.
Labor burden
Payroll taxes, insurance and benefits add 30.1% to wages, and paid time off and downtime spread that cost over fewer working hours.
Bid leveling
Bidder C bid $204,900 on drywall and acoustical ceilings but excluded scope. Plugging the gaps and the bond makes Bidder B the true low bidder.
Leveled low bidder, after plugs and bond
Cash flow and retainage
Payroll goes out every week while payment lands 45 days after each pay app, less 10% retainage. The balance bottoms out in month 5.
Forecast your job's cash →How it works
Wages, quotes, schedule or contract terms. Every input has a sensible example you can replace.
Totals, charts and the one number that matters for your bid update as you type.
A branded PDF or an Excel file with live formulas, with a reference number you can track.
Yes. Every calculator and builder works free in your browser with no account. To download a branded PDF or Excel file, you verify your email once; after that, downloads are one click.
Each tool uses the same method our estimators use on real bids, with current federal payroll rates built in where they apply. Every tool page explains the formulas, shows a worked example and lists the inputs you should replace with your own.
No. Your inputs stay in your browser so you can come back to them. We only record that a download happened, with its reference number, so you can find it again under My downloads.
Yes. Proposals carry your company name, and reports are formatted to send to a GC, an owner, a bank or a bonding agent. Excel files keep live formulas so you can keep working in them.