A free quote template earns its keep by holding your terms, not your prices. Prices change per job. Terms almost never do, and they are the part people leave out when they are in a hurry.
Fix these once
- Your trading name, address, phone and email.
- Your tax registration number, if you have one.
- Your standard validity period.
- Your standard exclusions, the ones that apply to most jobs.
- Your deposit terms.
- How a client accepts.
Leave these blank
The client, the quote number, the dates, the scope and the price. A template with the last client’s name still in it is how the wrong name goes out, and on a quote that costs you credibility before they read the figure.
A template to copy
[Your trading name]
[Address] · [phone] · [email]
QUOTE No. QTE-____
Date: ____
Valid until: ____
Prepared for
[left blank]
Description Qty Rate Amount
____________________________ ___ ______ ______
____________________________ ___ ______ ______
Subtotal ______
Tax __% ______
Total ______
This price excludes
- [standard exclusion]
- [standard exclusion]
Terms
Valid for [30] days from the date above.
[Deposit terms.]
To accept, reply to this email quoting the number above.Save it, and every quote starts from there.
Keep more than one
If you sell in two different ways, two templates beat one that half fits both.
A photographer might keep quote-event.json with day rate and hours, and quote-commercial.json with a usage licence line and a separate exclusions block. Neither needs editing down each time.
The sheet saves to your own disk with Save as file, so a template is just a .json file you open instead of starting fresh. Nothing is stored for you.
Renaming the labels
Every label is a text box, so the template speaks the way your trade speaks. Rename Prepared for as Client. Rename Rate as Day rate. Rename Notes as Scope of works.
Some trades expect the word “Quotation” rather than “Quote” on the document. Change the title once in the template and it is right every time.
Columns
Pick the columns your pricing actually uses and drop the rest. The column bar adds Qty, Rate, Hours, Unit or Item code, or one you name.
For quoting, an Hours column with a Rate column reads more clearly than folding both into a single figure, because it shows the client what they are paying for rather than just what it costs.
A check before you save
- Is the validity period filled in, rather than left as a placeholder?
- Are your standard exclusions actually in the file?
- Is the deposit line worded the way you want to be held to?
- Is the price field empty?
- Does the document title match what your clients expect?
Where a template stops
It cannot track your quote sequence, and it cannot know which client you last quoted. Keep the numbering separate and check it before you send, as covered in numbering your documents.
A worked variant
A small print shop keeps two files. The first, quote-print.json, has Qty, Unit and Rate columns, an exclusions block about artwork supplied print-ready, and 14 days validity because paper prices move.
The second, quote-design.json, has an Hours column, no exclusions block, and 30 days validity. Different work, different risks, different document.
Neither needs editing down. That is the whole benefit.
Sending it
Export as a PDF before sending, so the layout holds on the client’s machine. The print settings that matter are the same across every sheet here and are set out in turning an invoice into a PDF.
If the client accepts, keep the acceptance with the quote file. When you come to raise the invoice, the quote number goes in the details box so both sides can match the two.
Next
For what belongs in each section, see how to write a quote that wins work. For the expiry question, see how long a quote should last. Or open the quote generator and build your template now.