Price Quote Template and Quote Generator

Send a quote when you know the scope well enough to commit to the number: a list of products, a defined installation, a service package. The price holds for the items and quantities listed until the valid-until date, and anything the customer adds later is priced separately.

Send an estimate when hidden conditions could change the work, such as repairs and remodeling, and the final bill may differ. A third option for open-ended work is time and materials: you quote the hourly rate and material markup instead of a total, and bill what the job takes.

Thirty days is the default for most quotes. Shorten it to 7 to 15 days when your supplier prices or freight rates move week to week, and lengthen it to 60 or 90 days for project work that needs budget approval. When the date passes, reissue the quote at current prices rather than honoring the old one by habit.

If you must quote long lead-time goods whose cost may change, say so in the terms (for example, a clause that passes through documented supplier increases). That makes the quote partly variable, so state it plainly and keep the rest of the price fixed.

• Payment: deposit on acceptance, balance due date (for example, Net 15 after delivery) and accepted payment methods.
• Scope: what the price includes and, just as important, what it does not.
• Changes: added items or work are quoted in writing before you do them.
• Delivery: lead time from acceptance and who bears shipping cost and risk.
• Cancellation: what the customer owes if they cancel after you order materials, such as restocking fees at cost.
• Warranty: manufacturer warranty on goods and your own warranty on labor, with its length.
• Taxes: which lines carry sales tax and what happens if the customer gives you an exemption certificate.

A quote is an offer. When the customer accepts it before it expires, by signing, by a written reply or by issuing a purchase order that cites it, you generally have a contract on the quote's terms. For sales of goods, the Uniform Commercial Code lets an offer be accepted in any reasonable manner (section 2-206) and generally requires a signed writing for sales of $500 or more (section 2-201). Services follow ordinary contract law, where a signed acceptance is the simplest proof.

If the customer's purchase order arrives with its own fine print, section 2-207 decides which terms apply, and the answer is not always yours. Put the terms that matter on the face of the quote and ask the customer to reference the quote number on the PO. This is general information, not legal advice; have an attorney review standard terms you plan to reuse.

In business-to-business sales the documents follow a fixed order:

1. You send the quote with a quote number.
2. The buyer accepts by signing it or by sending a purchase order that cites the quote number.
3. You deliver, with a packing slip or delivery note showing the PO number.
4. You bill with an invoice that references the PO and the quote, minus any deposit received.
5. The buyer matches the invoice to the PO and the delivery and pays.

The Turn into an invoice button above starts step 4 with the quoted lines, the deposit entered as paid and the quote number as the reference.

The prefilled quote is an IT installer pricing an office network for a dental practice: access points and a switch (taxable hardware), cable drops and configuration (labor), a 5% discount and a $1,000 deposit due on acceptance.

The 5% discount comes off every line, so the taxable hardware drops from $1,185.00 to $1,125.75 and the 8% tax is $90.06. The quoted total is $2,868.81, and after the deposit the balance is $1,868.81. The 8% rate is an example; use your own combined rate.

Installers and service companies with defined packages, wholesalers and makers answering requests for quotation, printers and sign shops, caterers and event businesses, and agencies selling fixed-scope projects. If your jobs are priced from a site visit with unknowns, the estimate template fits better.