How to write a quote
that survives the job.
A quote is not a price list. It is a firm offer with an expiry date, an itemised scope and a set of exclusions — and the two fields most people leave off are the two that decide whether the job ends in a profit.
Short answer: itemise it, always state the validity date, and write down what the price does not cover. On price: labour at an hourly rate that carries your overheads, materials at invoice cost plus 10 to 30 %, a 5 to 10 % contingency, then your margin. A 35 % deposit covers the materials and the mobilisation, and construction contracts often hold back 5 to 10 % until the snagging is done.
Written by the Tool Pantry team on 22 October 2026. The worked example is our own arithmetic, with the assumptions shown. The percentages — markup on materials, contingency, deposit, retention — are common practice in the trades rather than rules: they vary by country, trade and contract, so treat them as a starting shape and check your own local ones.
Quote, estimate, invoice: three different documents
The three get confused, and the confusion costs money. A quote is a firm offer with a price and an expiry date. An estimate is a best guess, and saying so changes what the client expects. An invoice asks for money that is already owed.
Only a quote has an expiry date, and that is the point of it: it is a price you are willing to honour for a stated window. Once the client accepts it, the quote becomes the invoice, and the estimate becomes a quote.
The fields that belong on a quote
| Field | Why it is on the document |
|---|---|
| Who it is for | A quote without a named client is a price list, and a price list is much easier to compare than a quote is to accept |
| A quote number | One reference that follows the job through to the invoice, so nobody is matching documents by date |
| The date | Anchor point for the validity window and for any "valid for 30 days" claim |
| Line items, each with a quantity and a rate | Where the scope and the money both live. This is the part clients actually read |
| Tax, either included or stated as extra | "Plus tax" written on the quote is what stops a disagreement at the end |
| A validity date | The window in which you are held to the price |
| Payment terms | What is due when, and how much up front |
| What is not included | Travel, permits, disposal, patching, and anything else you would otherwise absorb. Two thirds of a job going badly comes from a line that was never written down |
The last two rows are the ones people leave off, and they are the two that save the job. A quote without a validity date is a promise with no end date; a quote without an exclusions list is a negotiation you have not noticed you are having.
Itemised or one lump sum
One number is faster to write and worse to defend. A single total tells the client nothing about what they are buying, and it tells you nothing about what you will be paid for if the job takes an extra day.
Itemising costs you an afternoon up front and buys three things: the client can see what the money is for, a change of scope becomes a change to one line rather than an argument about the whole price, and when something goes wrong you can point at the line that went wrong. The quote generator writes the line items because the arithmetic is the easy part and the scope is the hard part.
The exception is a repeat job with a fixed scope, where a lump sum is faster for both sides and nobody is pretending it is custom work.
How to price it
There are two ways to set a price, and the honest choice depends on how well you know the job.
Cost-plus
You add up what the job costs you and add a margin. The risk stays with you, which is why the margin has to cover the things that go wrong. Common structure:
- Labour — estimated hours times an hourly rate. The rate is not your wage: it has to recover the hours you do not bill, the tools, the insurance and the profit.
- Materials — the invoice cost plus a markup, because buying them is not the same as using them. Common markup on materials is 10 to 30 %, and what it covers is hardware, fuel, waste and the trips.
- A contingency — 5 to 10 % on the direct cost, for the job that takes longer than estimated.
- Your margin — what is left after all of that.
Fixed price
You agree a total and absorb the overrun. Use it when the scope is genuinely clear, and the hours are genuinely knowable. If you cannot say how many hours the job takes, a fixed price is not a discount, it is a donation with a deadline.
A worked example
Two days of work, priced cost-plus:
| Line | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 16 hours at $65 | $1,040 |
| Materials | Invoice cost plus markup | $420 |
| Contingency | 8 % of the direct cost | $117 |
| Cost | — | $1,577 |
| Margin | 25 % of cost | $394 |
| Quote | before tax | $1,971 |
| With 20 % tax | — | $2,365 |
Two numbers in that table are worth keeping. The margin is 20 % of the price, not 25 % — the percentage you add to cost is not the percentage you keep. And a 10 % rise in material prices costs $42, which is 11 % of your margin: the 8 % contingency covers that nearly three times over. Without the contingency line, the same price rise would come straight out of your profit.
Deposits, payments and what is not included
A deposit is not a discount, it is funding. The common range is 30 to 50 % up front, and its job is to cover the material and the mobilisation, so you are not financing the job out of your own pocket for three weeks. On the example above, 35 % is $690, which covers the $420 of materials and the trip out and back.
The rest usually follows the work: progress payments as stages complete, and a final payment on completion. Construction contracts often hold back a small percentage — commonly 5 to 10 % — as retention, released later. Retention is not a punishment; it is what makes the snagging list get done.
Then the exclusions, and this is the part that protects the margin. Write down what the price does not cover: travel and parking, permits and inspection fees, disposal of the old material, making good, patching, and any work that turns out to be behind the wall you said was fine. Those are the lines that turn a profitable job into a loss, and they belong on the quote rather than in a later conversation.
Why the validity date is on the quote
Material prices move, and a quote without an expiry date is a quote you honour at last year’s prices. 14 to 30 days is the common window, and the quote generator defaults to 14. Two rules make it work: the date goes on the document, and the line that says what changes inside that window is either a fixed price or an hourly rate with a cap.
A short validity period is not a stalling tactic when the reason is stated. "This price holds until 14 March, after which materials are re-quoted" is a fair sentence. "Call me for a quote" is not.
Sending it
The document is the deliverable, so it has to survive the trip. Print or save the quote as a PDF from the tool, then check two things: that the number and the total match what you quoted in the email, and that the file fits. A quote with photographs of the work on the second page can be several megabytes, and a lot of mail providers stop at 25 MB — our Gmail attachment guide has the measured numbers, and the PDF compressor gets it under the limit in your browser.
Two more things go out with it. A calendar entry for the expiry date, so you are not the one surprised when it lapses — the time duration calculator counts the days. And a short expiry note in the email body, not only in the attachment, because that is the part people read.
When the client accepts, convert the quote rather than retyping it: the quote to invoice converter carries the line items across, and the email signature generator puts your details on the message that sends it.
What should a construction quote include?
Who it is for, a quote number, the date, each line item with a quantity and a rate, tax stated as included or extra, a validity date, payment terms, and what is not included. That last one is the field people skip and the field that decides whether a job ends in a profit or an argument.
Should I itemise the quote or give one total?
Itemise, unless it is a repeat job with a fixed scope. Line items make the scope visible, turn a change of scope into a change to one line, and give you something to point at if the job drifts. One lump sum is faster to write and much harder to defend.
How much should I mark up materials?
Common practice is 10 to 30 % over the invoice cost, and the markup is there to cover hardware, fuel, waste and the trips rather than to make money on the materials themselves. Labour is usually quoted at an hourly rate that already carries your overheads and profit.
How long should a quote be valid?
14 to 30 days is the common window. The point is that material prices move, and a quote with no expiry is a promise at last year's prices. State the date on the document and say what happens when it passes.
How much of a deposit should I ask for?
30 to 50 % up front is common, and it is funding rather than a discount: it should cover the materials and the mobilisation. The rest usually follows the work, with a final payment on completion, and construction contracts often hold back 5 to 10 % as retention until the snagging is done.
Is my quote uploaded anywhere?
No. The quote generator runs in your browser, and the PDF is printed from there. Nothing is stored and there is no account to create.