Quotes - what goes in one and how long it binds you
A quote is the only document your business writes before there is a deal, which makes it the only one that gets read closely. The customer compares it against competitors, files it, and pulls it out again the moment something does not match what they expected. Anything you left out of it works against you at exactly that moment.
- Exactly what is included, at a level of detail someone who missed the call would follow
- What is not included, stated plainly, especially on work that tends to expand
- The price, and on the same line whether it includes VAT
- Validity, as a date rather than a vague number of days
- Payment terms and a delivery schedule
- What happens if the scope changes after approval
A quote with no expiry stays open
This is the expensive mistake. A quote with no expiry date is an open offer, and the customer can accept whenever they like. Quote a price in January, receive the acceptance in October, and you find that your costs moved and the quote did not.
The fix is one line: "This quote is valid until 30 September 2026". A date, not "valid for 14 days", because 14 days has to be counted from something and that is an argument you do not want.
When it turns into a contract
A quote is an offer in the contract-law sense. The customer's acceptance, in writing or by conduct, completes it, and from that point a contract exists on the terms in the document. No separate signature page is needed, and an email approval is enough.
It cuts both ways. On one side you hold a document showing what was agreed when the customer remembers it differently. On the other, what you wrote binds you even if you meant something else, and a mistake in the price or the scope does not correct itself after acceptance.
Quote, transaction invoice, and the actual difference
The two get confused because both go out before payment and neither is a fiscal document. The difference is the stage.
- The deal is not agreed yet
- The customer can decline with nothing lost
- Carries an expiry
- The price is still negotiable
- The deal is already agreed
- The document requests payment
- Carries payment terms, not an expiry
- The price is settled
A business reporting VAT on a cash basis can use a transaction invoice as its payment request and issue the tax invoice only when the money lands. A quote does not fill that role: it does not request payment, it proposes.
Orders: the same document, after approval
Once the customer approves, an order document locks in what was agreed. It has no standing under tax law and never reaches the books, but it solves a practical problem: the quote says "proposed" and the order says "ordered". When delivery lands two months after approval, the order is what both sides go back to.
Larger customers will ask for one. An organisation working with purchase-order numbers will not release payment until there is an order it can match. In a small business the order matters less, and on one-off work you can skip it entirely.
How this works in Slate
The quote is built on the same screen as every other document, from the same customers and the same catalogue. When the customer approves, one button converts it into an invoice or an order and the lines travel with it. You can see a sample quote before opening an account.
- Build itLines, price, validity and payment terms. A quote never reaches the books, so edit it as often as needed
- Send and waitIt goes out from the same screen and is kept on your side with its number and date
- The customer approvesAn email approval is enough. From here the terms in the quote bind both sides
- ConvertInto an order, a transaction invoice or straight into a tax invoice, whichever the business needs
Three lines worth the time
"Prices exclude VAT", or the opposite. Without it the argument arrives exactly when you ask for money.
"A change in scope will be quoted separately". Protects anyone selling a service, and leaves a legitimate opening to discuss more money without looking like you are padding.
"Valid until [date]". Closes the document in time, so no customer returns with an old price.
Common questions
Does a quote bind me?
Not until the customer accepts it. Once they accept, in writing or by conduct, a contract exists on the terms written in the document, so anything you left out will not bind them and everything you wrote will bind you.
How long is a quote valid?
As long as you say it is. No period is set in law, so a quote with no expiry stays open and the customer can come back six months later and hold you to the price.
Should a quote show VAT?
It must say explicitly whether the price includes VAT. This is the single most common cause of an argument at invoicing time: the customer read a final price, the business meant a price before VAT.
How does a quote differ from a transaction invoice?
A quote offers a deal that has not been agreed yet; a transaction invoice requests payment on a deal already agreed. Neither is a fiscal document and neither grants an input-VAT deduction.
Does a quote need a number?
Not under the law, since it is not a fiscal document. In practice give it one: without a number there is no way to point at a specific version once the customer asks for changes and the price moves.
What happens when the customer approves?
Convert it into the billing document rather than retyping the lines. In Slate the conversion keeps the link back to the quote, so you can always see what was agreed.