How to write a quotation that gets accepted

A quotation is a promise about a price. When a client says "yes" to it, you have, in many places, the beginning of a contract. That is why a good quotation is clear and short, and why a sloppy one costs money later: the client remembers what they understood, and you remember what you meant.

This guide covers what to put in a quotation, how to word it, and the details that prevent the conversations nobody enjoys, and a free quotation template goes with it.

Quotation, estimate, proposal: know which you are sending

The three words get mixed up, but they mean different things, and the difference matters:

• A quotation is a fixed price for a defined list of items. If the client accepts, that is the price.
• An estimate is your best guess, and the final cost may differ. If you send an estimate, say so, and say how much it could change.
• A proposal explains the problem and your approach and then gives a price. It persuades as well as prices.

If the client needs to decide between suppliers on price, send a quotation. If they need to be convinced that you understand the problem, write a proposal and include the price in it. Whatever you send, label it with the right word at the top.

What every quotation should contain

Think of the quotation as something a stranger could pick up and understand without calling you.

1. Who and who. Your business name and contact details, and the client's name or company. Include a tax or company number if the law where you are requires one.
2. A number and a date. A quotation number lets both sides refer to it. The date shows when it was written.
3. The items. One line for each thing you will supply, in plain words, with its price. If quantities matter, show them.
4. The total. Clearly stated, with the currency, and a statement on tax: whether VAT, GST or sales tax is included or will be added.
5. What is included, and what is not. This is the part people skip and later regret.
6. How long it is valid. Give an end date.
7. Payment terms. A deposit, stages or payment on delivery, and when an invoice is due.
8. How to accept. Reply to an email, sign and return, or place an order. Make it one clear step.

Our free quotation template has these parts ready: as many priced lines as you need with the tax and the total worked out for you, what is included, validity and how to accept. You fill in a short form, the document fills itself in, and you download it as Word or PDF.

Describe items so they cannot be misread

Vague lines are where disputes come from. Compare:

• "Website design": vague. How many pages? Who writes the text? How many rounds of changes?
• "Five-page website (home, services, about, prices, contact), design and build, two rounds of changes": clear.

You do not need to write an essay. You need enough detail that two reasonable people would agree what was promised. If an item has limits, state them: hours, quantities, dates, number of revisions.

Price in a way that is honest and easy to compare

Pricing is part strategy and part honesty. A few principles hold up:

• Show the total first. Clients look for it. Do not make them add up lines.
• Do not hide costs. Delivery, installation, setup and other fees should be on the page. Surprises after acceptance damage trust more than a higher honest price.
• Say what is optional. If something is an extra, mark it as such, with its own price, so the client can choose.
• Be consistent. The same job for a similar client should not have a wildly different price unless something is actually different.

If you are not sure what to charge, work out your costs, the time involved and what you need to earn, then check the market. Do not start from the lowest price you think they will accept. A price that is too low is hard to raise and attracts clients who negotiate on everything.

Tax, currency and rounding

Three small things that cause a surprising number of problems:

• Tax. State whether prices include tax. If you must charge it, show it separately. Tax rules differ by country, so check what applies to you.
• Currency. Name it, especially when you work across borders. "1,200" means nothing without a currency.
• Arithmetic. Check it twice. A wrong total on a quotation is awkward to correct, and may bind you to the lower figure.

Validity: give the price a deadline

A price that never expires is a risk. Costs change, your schedule fills, and a quotation from last spring can come back months later. Write an end date: "valid until 30 November 2026". Fourteen to thirty days is common, though the right period depends on how fast your costs move.

A deadline also helps the client. It gives them a reason to decide rather than let the message sink to the bottom of the inbox.

Make saying yes easy

Tell the client exactly what to do. "To accept, reply to this email with 'Accepted' or sign below and send it back. We will then confirm the start date." If you need a deposit, say how much and how to pay it. If you want a signature, make clear where.

After acceptance, keep the record. Save the accepted quotation with the reply that accepted it. If you later raise an invoice, use the same item names and prices so the two documents match. Our invoice template is a good partner for the next step, and the sales offer template fits when you are selling goods rather than services.

Common mistakes

• No end date. The price lives forever.
• Missing exclusions. The client assumes everything is included.
• Mixing estimate and quotation. The client hears "fixed", you meant "about".
• Different names for the same thing. Items on the quotation, the invoice and your emails should match.
• Sending it without reading it. A wrong date, name or total is the most avoidable error in business.
• Silence afterwards. If you have not heard in a few days, follow up once, politely, before the validity date.

Using AI for the first draft

If you would rather not start from a form, ask nerix in the chat to write an offer, and tell it what you are selling, the price, and how the client accepts. It drafts the quotation, opens it in a document beside the chat, and keeps each version so you can go back, and you can ask for it shorter, firmer or simpler. It can also be sent by email as a PDF or Word file from the document, or sent for signing.

What it cannot do is know your costs, your tax obligations or what you agreed on the phone. Check every number and every item yourself before it goes out. A draft that saves you ten minutes is not worth a wrong total.

The short version

State who, what, how much, what is included and what is not, until when, and how to accept. Keep the language plain. Check the arithmetic. A quotation that is easy to understand is easy to accept, and easy to enforce if it ever comes to that.