Quotation Format: What to Include, With a Free Sample and Generator
The standard quotation format, section by section, with a filled sample you can copy and a free generator that produces it as a PDF. Works for a price quotation, a job estimate or a service quote.
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Most quotation formats circulating online are a table with a logo above it. That is a layout, not a format. A format is the set of statements the document has to make so that the customer can say yes without asking a follow-up question, and so that you are protected if they say yes six weeks later when your supplier has put prices up.
Below is the structure, the reason each part exists, and a filled example. The generator further down produces the same thing as a PDF.
Section by section
The standard quotation format
Eleven parts, in the order a buyer expects to read them.
| Part | What goes in it | Why it is there |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Your details | Trading name, address, phone, email, tax number if you have one | The customer has to know who is bound by the offer, and finance has to know who to set up as a supplier |
| 2. The word QUOTATION | Or ESTIMATE, or PROFORMA INVOICE — whichever it actually is | Mislabelling an estimate as a quotation can bind you to a price you meant as approximate |
| 3. Quotation number | QUO-001, in its own series | Gives both sides a reference; lets the later invoice point back at it |
| 4. Date issued | The day you send it | Starts the clock on the validity period |
| 5. Valid until | A date, not “30 days” | Caps your exposure to price movement and quietly prompts a decision |
| 6. Customer details | Decision-maker, company, site or delivery address | Addressing a person rather than a company gets answered faster |
| 7. Itemised lines | Description, quantity, unit price, line amount | Lets the customer trim scope instead of rejecting the whole price |
| 8. Subtotal, discount, tax | Each shown separately, tax named and rated | A single figure invites the question “what is this made of?” |
| 9. Quoted total | The number, made visually obvious | It is what they are looking for; do not make them hunt |
| 10. Scope and exclusions | What is included, what is not, lead time | Exclusions named now are terms; named later they are excuses |
| 11. How to accept | Reply to accept, deposit required, what happens next | A quotation without an instruction gets filed rather than answered |
Filled in
Quotation sample
The same format with real wording in it. Copy the structure and replace the content.
QUOTATION — QUO-0148
Date: 14 October 2026 · Valid until: 13 November 2026
Enquiry ref: Reception refit, east wing
From: Harbour Joinery Ltd, 12 Mill Lane, Bristol · 0117 555 0180 ·
hello@harbourjoinery.example · VAT 921 4457 33
Prepared for: Ms A. Oyelaran, Facilities Manager, Kestrel Group, 4 Prince Street, Bristol
1. Supply and install reception desk, American oak veneer, 3.2 m — 1 × 4,150.00 = 4,150.00
2. Wall panelling to rear elevation, 14 m² — 14 × 96.00 = 1,344.00
3. Removal and disposal of existing desk — 1 × 280.00 = 280.00
4. Site survey and setting out (already carried out) — 1 × 0.00 = 0.00
Subtotal 5,774.00 · Discount (5%) −288.70 · VAT at 20% 1,097.06 · Quoted total 6,582.36 · Deposit to proceed (30%) 1,974.71
Includes: materials, fabrication, delivery, installation, making good.
Excludes: electrical work, floor covering, redecoration beyond the panelled area,
out-of-hours working. Lead time: 4 weeks from acceptance and deposit.
To accept: reply to this email quoting QUO-0148. We will invoice the deposit and book
the installation week.
Two things in that sample do more work than the rest. Line 4 prices the survey at zero rather than leaving it out — it tells the customer they have already had something for nothing, without invoicing for it. And the exclusions list names redecoration, which is the single most common source of “but I assumed that was included” in fit-out work.
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Quotation Format Generator
Fill the format in below and download it as a PDF. The valid-until date fills itself from the validity period, the totals calculate as you type, and nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Online Quotation Generator
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Variations
Formats for different kinds of work
The eleven parts stay. What changes is how the lines are built.
Supply only
Quantity × unit price, with delivery as its own line. State whether the price holds if the quantity changes — a price per unit at 500 units is not the price at 50.
Labour and materials
Two blocks, subtotalled separately. Customers who query a price almost always query the labour, and separating it lets you defend one without reopening the other.
Day rate
Rate, number of days, and what a day means — hours, travel, whether a half day is billed as half. Ambiguity here is the most common invoicing argument in consulting.
Milestones
Phases with deliverables, each priced, each with a payment trigger. The customer sees the cash-flow shape before agreeing to it.
Good / better / best
Three priced options on one document. Converts far better than a single figure because the question changes from whether to buy to which to buy.
Schedule of rates
Rates without quantities, for call-off work. Say how long the rates are fixed and what triggers a review.
Quote from the site, not from the office
Invoice & Quotation Generator keeps this format on your phone. Quote while you are still standing in the customer’s reception, and the details are already there when the job turns into an invoice.
- The same quotation format, filled on a phone
- Customer and item details saved for reuse
- Valid-until dates and deposits calculated
- Export the PDF and send it before you leave
- Free, with unlimited quotations
By trade
Quotation formats for specific trades
The eleven parts are the same. What each trade has to name, exclude and assume is not.
Construction quotation
Schedule of works, preliminaries, provisional sums, retention and the exclusions that keep ground conditions and asbestos off your cost sheet.
Interior design quotation
Design fee separated from the FF&E budget, stage fees, a named number of revisions, and procurement margin declared up front.
Electrical quotation
Call-out, labour, itemised materials and certification on its own line, with a stated assumption about the existing installation.
Catering quotation
Per-head food pricing with staffing, hire and travel priced separately, a final-numbers date, and cancellation terms written before the deposit.
Photography quotation
Coverage hours with an overrun rate, a stated number of edited images, usage rights, travel and the deposit that secures the date.
Transport quotation
Route and vehicle, the rate basis, free waiting allowance, drops included, fuel treatment and the goods-in-transit limit.
Sales quotation (goods)
Unit prices with a printed quantity break, one-off tooling shown separately, delivery priced, and a validity matched to your own cost.
Software development quotation
Phased pricing with a deliverable on each phase, a definition of a change request, IP ownership and support quoted separately.
Printing quotation
Origination kept out of the unit price, stock and finishing specified properly, quantity breaks and an overs-and-unders tolerance.
Questions
Quotation format FAQ
What is the correct format for a quotation?
There is no legally prescribed format. A quotation is an offer, so what matters is that it is unambiguous: who is offering, to whom, for exactly what, at what price, for how long the price holds, and how to accept. The order below is the one buyers are used to reading, which is the only real argument for following it.
What should a quotation include?
Eleven things: your business details, a quotation number, the date, a valid-until date, the customer’s details, an itemised description with quantities and unit prices, the subtotal, any discount, tax, the quoted total, and the terms covering what is excluded and how to accept. Anything beyond that is presentation.
Is a quotation format different from an estimate format?
The layout is identical. The difference is the promise. A quotation states a price you are bound to if the customer accepts within the validity period; an estimate states a likely cost and says what would change it. Title the document accurately and add a basis-of-estimate line to an estimate.
Should a quotation be sent as PDF or Word?
Send PDF. A Word file can be edited after you send it, renders differently on the recipient’s machine, and looks provisional. Keep the editable copy for yourself and send the PDF. The generator above produces the PDF directly.
Does a quotation need a quotation number?
Yes, in its own series — QUO-001, QUO-002. It gives the customer something to quote back when they accept, lets you find the document when they ring three weeks later, and lets the invoice reference the quotation so the person approving payment can match the two.
Can I use a quotation format for any currency?
Yes. The generator carries every currency, and the symbol follows the amounts into the PDF. State the currency explicitly in the terms when you quote across a border — “all prices in USD” — because a bare symbol is ambiguous in a dozen countries.