Contractor Quote Comparison Workbook

The lowest number on the page isn't always the lowest cost

One quote bundles permits into the total, another lists them as "TBD." One includes a 2-year warranty, another says nothing about warranty at all. Laid out separately, on paper, in different formats, it's genuinely hard to tell which contractor is actually offering the better deal — not just the better-looking number.

This workbook puts every quote through the same categories, so the comparison is apples to apples instead of whichever quote happened to look tidiest.

• Side-by-Side Comparison Grid — labor, materials, permits, timeline, and warranty terms for every quote, in the same rows
• Hidden Cost Flags — a dedicated row for costs quotes often bury or omit (permits, disposal, change-order rates)
• Automatic Lowest-Cost Summary — the workbook calculates the actual lowest total once every category is filled in
• Lowest-Cost-Per-Day Summary — factors in the quoted timeline, so a cheaper-but-slower quote doesn't automatically win

Step by step

1. Enter each contractor's quote into its own column, using the same category rows for every quote.
2. Fill in the hidden-cost flags for anything a quote left vague or excluded.
3. Let the workbook calculate the lowest total cost automatically.
4. Check the lowest-cost-per-day figure before deciding — a faster job can be worth a higher headline price.

• Editable Excel workbook
• Side-by-side comparison grid
• Hidden-cost flag rows
• Automatic lowest-cost and lowest-cost-per-day calculations
• Works on any device

• Renovation Payment & Cost Tracker — once you've picked a contractor, track every payment against the budget this comparison set.