A quote without an expiry date is an open offer. A client can accept it months later, at a price that no longer covers your costs, and in many places you will struggle to argue. Setting a quote expiry date is the cheapest protection you have.
How long is right
It depends on what moves underneath your price.
- 7 to 14 days. Materials that move weekly. Fuel, timber, imported parts, anything priced in a currency you do not earn in.
- 30 days. The common default for services and labour-heavy work.
- 60 to 90 days. Long lead times, where the client genuinely needs time to arrange finance or permits.
Shorter is not rude. It reads as a business that knows its costs.
Where to put it
On the face of the document, next to the date. On the sheet here, the Details box has a Valid until row for exactly this. Fill in an actual date rather than “30 days”, so nobody has to count.
Repeat it in your terms if you like, but the date in the box is what people read.
A worked scenario
A joiner quotes 340,000 for a fitted wardrobe in March, valid 30 days. The client goes quiet.
In July the client emails: “We would like to go ahead with your quote.”
Board prices have risen 14% since March. Without an expiry, the joiner is arguing about whether the quote still stands, which is an argument that damages the relationship whichever way it goes. With an expiry, the reply is straightforward:
Thanks, good to hear from you. That quote lapsed on 12 April, so let me send an updated one this week. The scope is unchanged; board prices have moved since March.
Same outcome, no dispute. The date did the work.
When a quote lapses
Re-quote rather than reviving the old one. Issue a new number, a new date, and a new validity period.
Keep the old quote on file. If the client asks what changed, you want both documents side by side rather than a memory of what you said in March.
Holding a price on purpose
Sometimes you want to hold. A good client, a quiet month, a job you want.
Say so explicitly and put a limit on it: “Happy to hold this price until the end of October.” That is a decision you made rather than a lapse you failed to notice, and it earns goodwill precisely because it is visible.
Price rises mid-job
Different problem. If you have quoted and started, the quote governs. Absorb the movement or renegotiate honestly, but do not add a line to the final invoice that the client never agreed to.
The protection against this is in the quote itself: an exclusion noting that material prices are those at the date of quotation. Then a rise is a conversation you flagged in advance, not a surprise on the bill.
What about estimates
An estimate needs a date too, but the pressure is different. An estimate is already understood to be indicative, so its date is about the accuracy of the figure rather than a commitment you are locked into. There is more in when the final bill differs from the estimate.
Chasing before it lapses
A quote going quiet is not a rejection. Most of the time the person who asked for it is waiting on someone else.
Send one short note a few days before the expiry date:
Hello Peter, that quote for the wardrobe expires on Friday. Happy to extend it if you need more time, just let me know. If the scope has changed I can send an updated one.
That is a nudge and a courtesy in the same message. It also creates a natural reason to make contact that does not read as chasing.
Recording what you sent
Keep every quote you issue, including the ones that lapsed. When the same client returns two years later, opening the old file tells you what you charged and what you assumed, which is worth more than the memory of it.
Save each one to your own disk with Save as file. Nothing is stored for you here, which is covered in the help page.
Next
For building the document, see how to write a quote that wins work. For a reusable starting point with your validity period already in it, see a quote template you can reuse. Or open the quote generator and set a Valid until date.