Quotations

Quotation Example: A Completed Quote, Field by Field

A quotation is a priced offer, and the things that make one work are different from the things that make an invoice work. Below is a completed quotation with each part explained, followed by the two fields that cause most of the trouble when they are missing.

By Arshad Hossain · Published 30 August 2026

The short version

A quotation is an offer. It must not read as a request for payment.
Without a validity date your price stays open indefinitely.
Price deliverables separately so one can be removed without requoting everything.
Say what is excluded — that is where scope disputes start.

QUOTATION

QUO-089 · March 12, 2026

Meridian Studio

billing@meridianstudio.com

+1 (415) 555-0142

840 Bryant Street, Suite 300 San Francisco, CA 94103

Bill To

Northwind Coffee Roasters

accounts@northwindroasters.com

+1 (503) 555-0188

1123 SE Division Street Portland, OR 97202

Valid Until:

April 11, 2026

#	Description	Qty	Rate	Amount
1	Brand identity system and logo suite	1	$4,200.00	$4,200.00
2	Packaging design — three SKUs	3	$850.00	$2,550.00
3	Photography direction	2 days	$1,150.00	$2,300.00

Subtotal$9,050.00

Discount-$452.50

Tax (8.5%)$730.79

Total$9,328.29

Notes

Thank you for your business. Please reference the document number with payment.

Payment Terms

Net 30. A 1.5% monthly charge applies to balances past due.

Bank Details

Pacific Commerce Bank Routing 121000358 · Account 5540192837

What each part is doing

Labelled a quotation, not an invoice: This is an offer, not a request for payment. Sending an invoice for work that has not started confuses the client about whether money is owed.
A validity date: The field most quotations forget. Without it your price stays open indefinitely, and can be accepted months later at a rate that no longer works.
Its own number series: QUO-089 rather than reusing invoice numbering. When the quote is accepted, the invoice references it and both records reconcile.
Scope written as line items: Each deliverable priced separately makes it possible to remove one and requote, instead of renegotiating a single opaque total.
What is excluded: The notes are where you say what the price does not cover. Scope disputes almost always start with something the client assumed was included.
The terms that will apply: State the payment terms now, at the point they are still negotiable, rather than introducing them for the first time on the invoice.

The validity date

A quotation without an expiry is an open offer. Costs move, your availability moves, and a client who accepts in November at a price you set in March has every reason to hold you to it.

Fourteen to thirty days is normal. Put it on the document rather than in the covering email, because the document is what gets forwarded internally and stored.

Saying what is excluded

Almost every scope dispute starts with something the client assumed was included. Listing exclusions feels negative when you are trying to win work, and it is the single most useful paragraph on the document.

Keep it concrete. "Print production and media buying are not included" prevents an argument. "Additional work may be chargeable" prevents nothing, because it does not tell anyone what counts as additional.

What happens after acceptance

The quotation is the moment to state the payment terms, because it is the last point at which they are still being negotiated. Introducing Net 14 for the first time on the invoice, after the work is done, is a conversation you will lose.

Once accepted, issue an invoice with its own number that references the quotation number. Do not convert the quotation itself into a payment request by editing it — the two documents do different jobs and both need to exist in your records.

Quotation examples: common questions

What does a quotation look like?

Your details and the client's, a quotation number, the issue date and a validity date, the scope priced as itemised lines, the total, what is excluded, and the payment terms that will apply once the quote is accepted.

Where does the validity date belong on a quotation?

On the document itself, near the quotation number and issue date, not in the covering email. The document is what gets forwarded internally and filed; the email it arrived in usually is not.

Should a quotation include payment terms?

Yes. It is the last moment the terms are genuinely negotiable. Terms introduced for the first time on the invoice, once the work is finished, are much harder to hold, and a client is within their rights to query them.

What should a quotation say about exclusions?

Name the specific things a reasonable client might assume are included but are not — print production, third-party licences, travel, revisions beyond a stated number. Vague wording about additional work being chargeable prevents nothing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should quotations use their own number series?

Yes. QUO-089 rather than borrowing the invoice sequence, so the eventual invoice can reference the quote and the two sets of records stay separate.

Does the example show a fixed price or an estimate?

A fixed price. If your scope is genuinely uncertain, label the document an estimate instead and say what could move the final figure.

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