LMN Master Estimate Template Creation Walkthrough

In this article:

Master Estimate vs Template Service Estimate

Before You Build Anything

Build a Master Estimate Template for Design-Build Standard Estimates

Build a Template for Maintenance Service Estimates

Best Practices for Both Template Types

Master Estimate vs Template Service Estimate

This guide walks LMN users through two related, but slightly different, template setups:

Before You Build Anything

Before building templates, make sure your LMN foundation is in good shape:

✅ Confirm your default budget is correct so every estimate starts from the right financial baseline.
✅ Review your Price List, because template pricing is only as good as the labor, equipment, material, and service items feeding it.
✅ Make sure you understand the estimate type difference: Standard Estimates are for one-time projects like installs and design/build work, while Service Estimates are for recurring work like maintenance, turf care, clean-ups, irrigation, and snow.

💡A good rule of thumb: 
➡ If the work is a one-off project, build it in Standard. 
➡ If the work repeats through the season, build it in Service.

Build a Master Estimate Template for Design-Build Standard Estimates

What is a Master Estimate?

A Master Estimate is a single, central estimate that houses your most common design/build Work Areas so your team can import the right pieces into a new quote instead of rebuilding from scratch every time.

This approach helps with:

• Speed, because estimators import pre-built scopes instead of recreating them.
• Consistency, because client notes, calculators, items, and pricing come across the same way each time.
• Control, because leadership can maintain one approved template instead of dozens of one-off versions floating around the account.

Step 1: Create an Internal Template Customer

1. Create an internal CRM contact (such as "!Templates") so your template estimates stay grouped together and are easy to find at the top of the customer list.
2. Under that internal contact, create a Standard Estimate named something clear (such as "#MASTER# Design/Build – Work Areas Library")

Step 2: Set the Estimate Up Like a Template

1. On the template estimate, turn ON: Exclude from Stats so the estimate does not inflate sales reporting or dashboard numbers.
2. Leave the estimate unlocked while building, then lock it once the template is finished to prevent accidental edits.

Step 3: Build Each Design-Build Scope as a Pricelist Template First

Before adding anything into the Master Estimate, build each common scope as a Pricelist template first. This gives you a cleaner, more controlled process because you are standardizing the scope at the source before it ever becomes part of your master library.

For each reusable design/build scope:

1. Create the Work Area or estimating shell in the Price List Templates area.
2. Give it a clear name your team will recognize.
3. Assign the correct Cost Code so reporting and job costing stay clean later.
4. Add labor, equipment, materials, and subs that reflect a real job scope.
5. Build the calculators that should drive quantities and labor time.
6. Add both Client Notes and Crew Notes so the scope is ready for both proposal use and field execution.
7. Build and assign the appropriate Production Rate calculators for labor so the estimate is tied back to real production logic.

⭐️ This is the real win: once each scope is built properly as a Price List template, you are no longer reinventing patios, planting beds, lighting, or drainage work every time someone builds a quote.

Step 4: Add Those Price List Templates into the Master Estimate

1. Once your reusable scopes are built in the Price List, add them into the Master Estimate so it becomes your central library of approved Work Areas. A strong design/build master estimate often includes things like patios, walkways, planting beds, lighting, retaining walls, grading, sod, or drainage scopes.
   ⚠️ At this stage, the Master Estimate is not where you should be inventing scopes from scratch. It is where you organize, maintain, and govern the approved scopes your team will import into real quotes.

Step 5: Add Production Rates to Labor Items

Production Rates are what turn a template from a static shell into a real estimating tool. They help users estimate time consistently and train new estimators to follow the same logic every time.

💡A useful LMN template trick is to click into each labor calculator, choose the Production Rate you want the team using, and add a tiny placeholder measurement like .01 so the calculator is ready to surface when the Work Area is used later.

The image below shows the Production Rate calculator in action:

Step 5: Standardize Client Notes

Open the Client Notes tab and write your standard client-facing scope descriptions for each Work Area. Those notes will come across with the Work Area whenever it is imported into a new estimate, which keeps proposal language consistent across the team.

Step 6: Use Import, Not Copy-and-Hope

When a salesperson is building a real estimate, the best practice is to create a fresh Standard Estimate for the customer, then use the Import button to pull only the needed Work Areas from the Master Estimate.

⭐️ This is the big win of a Master Estimate: you keep one controlled library, then build custom quotes by selecting the right pieces for each project.

Step 7: Refresh Pricing as Costs Change

When your Price List is updated, return to the Master Estimate and use Refresh Pricing so the template reflects current costs.

💡 Do this on the template so future estimates start with fresh pricing instead of stale numbers.

Optional Step: Save Individual Work Areas as Templates Too

If your team uses some scopes constantly, you can also save a Work Area as its own reusable template. That is helpful when you want a fast shortcut for one common scope, even if you are also maintaining a larger Master Estimate.

Build a Template for Maintenance Service Estimates

Maintenance estimating follows a different structure because recurring work belongs in Service Estimates, not Standard Estimates. Instead of one giant Work Area library, the better pattern is to build a reusable Service Estimate template that can be copied and customized for each real customer.

Step 1: Create a Maintenance Template Estimate

1. Create or reuse your internal "!Templates" client, then create a new Service Estimate for maintenance under that client.
2. Give it a clear name (like #TEMPLATE# Maintenance Services) so no one confuses it with a live customer contract.

Step 2: Build Each Maintenance Service as a Price List Template First

Before loading services into your maintenance template estimate, build each recurring service as a Price List template first. Just like design-build, this keeps your estimating structure standardized at the source and makes future updates much easier.

For each reusable maintenance service:

1. Build the service shell in the Price List Templates area.
2. Add the Labor, Equipment, and Materials needed for one visit or one unit of work.
3. Build the Production Rate Calculators to easily quantify material quantities and time required for equipment usage
4. Add both Client Notes and Crew Notes so the service is ready for customer proposals and field execution.
5. Build the appropriate Production Rate calculators for labor.
6. If needed, tie those calculators to jobsite measurements or recurring service quantities.

💡Typical maintenance templates may include mowing, spring cleanup, fall cleanup, pruning, turf care rounds, irrigation visits, or bed maintenance services.

Step 3: Add Those Approved Services into the Template Service Estimate

Once the recurring services are properly built in the Price List, add them into your maintenance template estimate through Services + Pricing. Each service should include:

• A Service Type
• A clear Service Name
• A Billing Type such as Per Visit, Per Season, or Per Hour/Unit depending on how the work is sold and billed.
• The expected number of visits for the season.
• The correct Cost Code.

⭐️ At this stage, your template estimate becomes the organized, reusable seasonal shell your team can copy for real customers rather than a place where services are built from scratch.

Step 4: Confirm the Right Items and Logic Are Attached to Each Service

Once the service is added into the template estimate, confirm the labor, equipment, materials, notes, and calculator logic are all behaving correctly.

For example, a mowing service might include:

• Maintenance labor
• Crew truck or trailer time
• Any small materials or consumables that belong with the service

Step 4: Apply Production Rates to Maintenance Labor

For recurring services, Production Rates are what keep the estimate tied to actual field performance. Add the calculator to your labor item, choose the right production rate, and enter the jobsite measurement or unit driver.

Then match equipment time to labor time. A practical LMN formula taught in Bootcamp is:

Step 5: Pull Measurements into the Template

Use the Site Measurement Tool so your calculators are tied to real square footage or units instead of guesses. This saves time and improves consistency when building maintenance estimates.

Step 6: Exclude, Lock, and Copy

Once your maintenance template estimate is built:

1. Turn on Exclude from Stats so it stays out of reporting.
2. Lock it to prevent accidental edits to the master version.
3. When quoting a real customer, copy the template and then adjust visits, scope, measurements, and pricing to match the property.

Best Practices for Both Template Types

• Use a clear naming convention so templates are obviously internal and not real customer work.
• Keep template pricing fresh by updating the Price List first, then refreshing or rebuilding the template logic as needed.
• Use templates to drive consistency across estimators and reduce missed items.
• Standardize client notes and crew notes so proposals and field execution stay aligned.
• Do not estimate directly inside the master version. Build the library once, then import or copy into live customer work.

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