Quoting guide

How to write a trade quote customers can actually understand

A professional quote is not the longest document. It is the clearest record of what you are offering, what the customer is paying for, what is not included and what happens next.

Start with the job identity

Make it obvious which customer, property and job the quote belongs to. A quote number, issue date, customer name, job address and your business details remove basic ambiguity before the scope even starts.

Customer and main contact
Job or site address
Quote number and issue date
Business identity and contact details

Write the scope in the order the work happens

Customers understand trade work more easily when the scope follows the job sequence. “Prepare, repair, prime, paint” is clearer than one broad “paint interior” line. “Isolate, remove, install, test” is clearer than “replace tapware”.

Use enough detail to define the result and important preparation without turning the quote into a method statement.

Describe included areas or components
Name important preparation
State finish or completion expectations
Separate optional or condition-sensitive work

Keep price lines meaningful

Itemisation should help the customer understand or approve the job, not expose every internal cost. Separate lines when a customer may reasonably add, remove or compare that part of the work.

Quantities and units are especially useful when the work is naturally measured by square metre, linear metre, item, day or room.

State assumptions and exclusions before they become variations

A clear exclusion is better than a silent assumption. Existing-condition risk, access, customer selections and concealed work are common places where quotes go wrong.

If something cannot honestly be known until work begins, describe the approval process for additional work instead of pretending the uncertainty does not exist.

Make GST, deposit and next steps unambiguous

In New Zealand, customers should be able to tell whether amounts are GST-inclusive and what deposit, if any, is required. Keep the deposit request separate from bank-payment instructions so the customer understands both the amount due and how to pay it.

Finish with a clear expiry or validity period, relevant terms, and one obvious way to accept the quote.