Free contractor bid comparison worksheet
How do you make a contractor bid comparison worksheet?
List every line item from all the bids down one column, with each bidder's price beside it. Where a bidder left an item out, price that gap at the median of what the others charged and add it back to their total. The bid with the lowest true total — not the lowest headline number — is the real value.
Download the worksheet
CSV — opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers. Free, no email required.
Why a plain total isn't enough
Three bids for the same job almost never cover the same work — one excludes permits, one excludes disposal, one folds in patch-and-paint the others left out. Comparing the bottom-line numbers compares three different jobs. The worksheet fixes that by putting every bid on one common scope.
How the worksheet works
List every line item down the left. Enter each bidder's price, and leave a cell blank wherever a bidder excluded that item. Each blank is a scope gap — price it at the median of what the other bidders charged, and add it back to that bid's total. The result is true cost: what each bid would actually cost to finish the whole job. Rank on that, not the headline.
When you want it done for you
The method is the same whether you do it by hand or not. BidsScores reads your uploaded bids, maps the line items across bidders automatically, prices the gaps, and produces a board-ready comparison — your first review is free.
Compare your bids on true cost, not the headline number.
Upload the bids you've collected and get a normalized, board-ready comparison — your first review is free.
Start freeCommon questions
What columns should a bid comparison spreadsheet have?
- One row per line item, then a column for each bidder's price, a column for the market (median) price of any gap, and a running total. Leave a bidder's cell blank when they excluded an item — that blank is a scope gap you price and add back before comparing totals.
Is there a free bid comparison template for property managers?
- Yes. BidsScores publishes a free contractor bid comparison worksheet (CSV) built around scope normalization: list every line item, mark inclusions and exclusions, price the gaps at market, and compare true cost. Download it, or upload your bids to have the normalization done automatically.