How to use this quote template
Enter your business, the customer under Quote for, and each product or service with its quantity and unit price. Use Project / reference for the customer's request number or project name, which they will need when they raise a purchase order.
The Valid until date starts 30 days after the quote date. The terms box starts with wording that presents the quote as a firm offer at the prices shown until that date, and the notes box tells the customer how to accept; edit both to suit the deal. Every quote prints an Accepted by (signature and name) line with a date, so a signed PDF or printout records acceptance. A percentage or fixed discount, tax rate and shipping charge can be added under totals.
The first quote is numbered QT-1001. The template does not count up for you, so give each new quote the next number in your own log. Download as Word if the customer wants to negotiate wording, as PDF to send, or print it for signature.
A quote is a firm offer
A quote (or quotation) is a fixed price for a defined scope, offered for a limited time. Worded as a firm offer, as this template's default terms are, it generally works as an offer in contract terms: if the customer accepts it within the validity period and without changing the scope, an agreement is formed at that price, and raising the price because a supplier raised theirs is usually not open to you. The exact rules depend on the wording and on the law where you trade; some quotes are treated as invitations to negotiate rather than offers. That commitment is what the buyer is paying attention to, and it is why quotes tend to win work that estimates do not.
The consequence is that a quote must be precise about three things: what exactly is being supplied, what is not, and how long the offer stands. Everything else on the document is supporting detail. If you cannot define the scope well enough to commit, send an estimate and say why; the estimate template page compares estimates, quotes and bids side by side.
Validity: how long should a quote stand?
Every quote needs an expiry date. Without one, a customer can accept months later at prices that no longer make sense for you, and you are on shaky ground refusing.
- 30 days is the default in most industries and is what customers expect.
- 7–14 days when your input costs are volatile: fuel, metals, lumber, imported goods priced in another currency, or anything with a supplier who quotes you for a week at a time.
- 60–90 days for large, slow-moving B2B deals where a short window would just mean re-issuing the same quote three times. Protect yourself with a clause allowing price adjustment if a named input rises more than a stated percentage.
Put the actual date in the "Valid until" field. "Valid for 30 days" forces the reader to check the issue date and count; a date does not.
Terms to include on a quote
The terms field prints under the totals. Cover these points, briefly:
- Scope and exclusions. What is included and, just as important, what is not: delivery, installation, training, travel, taxes, permits, disposal.
- Price basis. Whether prices include sales tax, shipping, and any duties. State the currency if there is any chance of confusion.
- Payment terms. Deposit required, progress payments, final payment terms (Net 30, due on delivery), and accepted methods.
- Delivery or start date and what happens if the customer's delays push it.
- Change orders. How extra work is priced: a separate written quote, an agreed hourly rate, or both.
- Acceptance method. A signature line, a reply email, or a purchase order referencing the quote number. Say which you will accept.
- Warranty or guarantee, if you offer one, and its duration.
Keep the language plain. A quote that reads like a lease is off-putting to small customers and will be rewritten by large ones anyway.
Worked example
The example quote in the template (Fill with an example) is QT-1107 from a web studio to a dental group:
| Description | Qty | Unit price | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery workshop and sitemap | 1 | $1,200.00 | $1,200.00 |
| Design: home page + 6 templates | 1 | $4,800.00 | $4,800.00 |
| Development and CMS setup (hours) | 40 | $125.00 | $5,000.00 |
| Online booking integration | 1 | $950.00 | $950.00 |
| Hosting and maintenance (months, prepaid) | 12 | $49.00 | $588.00 |
The subtotal is $12,538.00. A 5% discount takes off $626.90, and with no sales tax on this quote the total is $11,911.10. Note the hours line: quoting 40 hours at $125 fixes the price at $5,000 whether the work takes 35 hours or 50, so the scope of "development" needs to be written into the terms.
Following up on a quote
A quote that is never followed up is a quote you have half-decided to lose. A simple, respectful sequence:
- Day 0: Send the quote with a two-line email that restates the outcome the customer wanted and invites questions.
- Day 2–3: A short follow-up, by phone if you have a number. Ask whether anything in the quote needs clarifying, not whether they have decided. Questions about scope are buying signals; use the call to resolve them.
- One week before expiry: A reminder that the pricing is held until the date on the quote, and an offer to extend it if their timeline has moved.
- After expiry: One final message asking whether the project is still going ahead. If not, ask what they chose and why. The answer is worth more than the sale you have already lost.
Track quotes in a simple sheet with columns for date sent, value, status and follow-up dates. Your conversion rate (quotes won ÷ quotes sent) is one of the most useful numbers in a small business: if it is very high you are probably pricing too low; if it is very low, you are either quoting unqualified leads or pricing above the market.
Quote-to-cash: what happens after acceptance
A quote is the first document in a chain. Knowing the rest of the chain avoids gaps.
- Quote is sent by you and accepted by the customer.
- Purchase order. Business customers usually respond with a purchase order that references your quote number. Check it matches the quote exactly; a PO with different quantities, prices or terms is a counter-offer, not an acceptance.
- Order confirmation from you, if the PO is acceptable.
- Delivery of the goods or services, with a packing slip or completion report.
- Invoice. Your invoice references both the quote and the PO number, and copies the accepted line items. Any additions must correspond to approved change orders.
- Payment and receipt. Payment arrives per your terms; issue a receipt if the customer needs one.
For consumer customers, steps 2 and 3 collapse into a signed quote or a deposit payment, and a deposit invoice often precedes the work.
B2B vs. B2C quotes
The same template works for both, but the emphasis differs.
Business customers care about total cost of ownership, delivery reliability, and fitting your quote into their process. Include your company's legal name and address, itemise clearly so their purchasing team can compare line by line, state lead times, quote in their preferred units and currency, and expect them to request changes to your terms. Offer Net 30 if you can afford to; it is the default expectation.
Consumers care about the total, what they are getting for it, and trust. Round totals help, exclusions must be in plain English, and a short warranty statement does more for conversion than a long terms section. Payment is usually a deposit plus balance on completion, and accepting cards or payment apps removes one reason to delay. Consumer-protection law also applies: in the US, the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule gives buyers three days to cancel many sales made at their home, and many states require a written contract for home improvement above modest amounts.
Pricing the quote
Because the price is fixed, the margin you build in is the margin you get. Price from cost up, not from the competitor's number down. Work out your direct cost, add overhead recovery, and then apply the margin you need using the markup calculator, which converts between markup on cost and margin on price. A common quoting error is adding a 20% markup while believing you are earning a 20% margin: a 20% markup is a 16.7% margin, so you keep a sixth less profit than you planned. And because a quote is fixed, price the risk in now; you cannot add it later.
Limitations
The template creates one quote at a time and keeps only your latest draft in this browser. It does not track which quotes were sent, accepted or expired, convert a quote into an invoice, or apply different tax rates to different lines. The default terms are a starting point, not legal advice.