Free Quotation Maker

Every quotation needs eight elements: your business name and contact info, the client's name and contact info, a unique quote number, the issue date, the **valid-until date**, a scope/description of what you're quoting, the price breakdown, and terms of acceptance. Miss any of these and the quote loses its professional weight — and potentially its legal enforceability if accepted.

The valid-until date is what separates a quote from an invoice in the client's mind. It creates urgency ("if we want this price, we need to accept by May 23") and protects you from being held to a price months later when your costs have changed.

Line items matter more than a single total. A client who sees "$8,100 total" has no idea whether you're overcharging. A client who sees "$4,800 brand identity + $5,200 website + $1,800 CMS integration + $900 launch support" can compare each line to other quotes and see the logic. Clarity wins deals.

Use a **Quote** for fixed-price work where the scope is clearly defined. The price is what the client pays, full stop. Common for design projects, web development, painting jobs, and anything with a specific deliverable.

Use an **Estimate** for time-and-materials work where the final price depends on actual hours or materials used. The estimate is a reasonable prediction, not a commitment. Common for repairs, ongoing consulting, emergency services, and any scope that might grow mid-job.

Use a **Proposal** when you need to sell the project — not just the price. Proposals include scope, deliverables, timeline, methodology, team, references, and terms. Common for agency responses to RFPs, larger consulting engagements, and enterprise sales.

Our tool uses the same underlying form for all three. The difference is primarily the document title and how you fill it in. Pick the one that matches how the client is thinking about the engagement.

Thirty days is the industry default and works for most B2C and small B2B work. Long enough for the client to compare quotes, discuss internally, and decide. Short enough that you're not stuck with a price that no longer reflects your costs.

Shorter windows (7–14 days) work for time-sensitive services (events during peak season, construction during material shortages, any service where your availability is a constraint). Use a short window when saying yes fast benefits the client too.

Longer windows (60–90 days) are sometimes required for enterprise B2B and government contracts where decision cycles are slow. If you offer a 90-day quote, build a price cushion in for inflation and material cost changes.

After the valid-until date passes, you're not obligated to honor the price. Most professionals will still honor it for established clients if costs haven't changed significantly — but they'll issue a revised quote if anything major has shifted.

Creative / design / development: 50% deposit is standard. Protects you against clients who accept then ghost, funds initial research and discovery, signals commitment. For new clients, consider 50/25/25 (deposit, midpoint, completion) for longer projects.

Home services (plumbing, electrical, painting, handyman): 25–40% is common for material-heavy jobs. Less than that leaves you exposed if the client cancels after you've bought materials. Some states regulate deposit amounts — check local rules.

Construction / GC work: Deposits vary by state law. California caps home improvement contractor deposits at $1,000 or 10% of the job, whichever is less. Other states allow higher. Always check regulations before setting deposit rules.

Consulting / coaching: 25–50% deposit, or full retainer for ongoing engagements. Consulting relationships often work on monthly retainers rather than per-project deposits.

Events / weddings / photography: 25–50% deposit to hold the date is standard. For high-season dates (May–October weddings in the US), clients expect to pay to reserve.

Digital products / software: 100% upfront for off-the-shelf products; milestones for custom builds.

The "valid until" date should be explicit in terms, not just in the metadata. Example: "This quotation is valid for 30 days from the issue date. Prices are subject to change after [2026-05-23]." Clear dates > vague windows.

Spell out what acceptance means. Email confirmation? Signed document? Payment of deposit? Ambiguity creates disputes. Example: "This quotation becomes a binding contract upon receipt of signed acceptance and initial deposit."

Define scope changes. Almost every project has mid-course adjustments. Example: "Scope changes will be documented in a change order and may require a revised quote. Additional work outside this scope is billed at $150/hour."

Specify payment terms post-deposit. Example: "Remaining 50% due upon completion, payable within 14 days of final delivery. Late payments subject to 1.5% monthly interest."

Clarify cancellation. What happens if the client cancels mid-project? Most professionals keep the deposit and bill for work completed up to cancellation. Example: "In the event of cancellation after acceptance, deposit is non-refundable and work completed to date will be billed at the quoted rates."

Our default terms cover these bases but read them carefully and adjust for your specific business model and jurisdiction.

More line items help the client understand value and trust your pricing. Fewer line items protect your margins from being negotiated to death on individual pieces.

The general rule: itemize when the client wants to see the breakdown (agencies, design work, clear deliverables), lump when the work is interconnected (repairs, complex services where individual line items don't make sense in isolation).

For higher-priced quotes ($10,000+), always itemize. Clients writing large checks want to see what they're paying for. Lumping reads as trying to hide something.

For smaller quotes (under $2,000), lumping is often fine. "Basic website: $1,500" is clearer than a 10-line breakdown of copywriting, design, development, testing, etc. Pick the level of granularity that matches the price point and the client's sophistication.

Most quotes that go unanswered aren't rejected — they're forgotten. The client got busy, the decision-maker went on vacation, the initial excitement faded. A follow-up email often converts silent quotes into accepted ones.

First follow-up: 3–5 days after sending. Short and helpful: "Wanted to check in on the quote I sent. Happy to answer any questions or adjust anything that isn't quite right."

Second follow-up: 5–7 days later. Slightly more direct: "The quote I sent is valid through [date]. Let me know if you want to move forward, or if the scope has changed and we should revise."

Third follow-up: at the valid-until date. Firm but not rude: "Today's the last day for the quoted pricing. Happy to extend if you're close to deciding — or to revise if the project has changed."

After valid-until passes, don't chase. Move on. Some quotes come back 3–6 months later when the project gets prioritized again. If that happens, issue a fresh quote with current pricing.

HelloSign and DocuSign are signature platforms, not quote builders. If you're sending 20+ quotes a month and need signature tracking, they're the right tool — but they don't help you build the quote document. Use ours to design the quote, then upload to HelloSign for signature workflow if needed.

QuickBooks Estimates is tightly integrated with QuickBooks accounting — if you're already using QB for bookkeeping, their estimate feature syncs everything. Downside: you need a paid QuickBooks subscription ($35+/month) and the design flexibility is limited. For freelancers and small businesses not on QB, our tool covers the quote-creation step for free.

FreshBooks, Xero, Wave all have similar estimate-to-invoice workflows within their accounting products. Same tradeoff: paid subscriptions, limited design, integrated bookkeeping.

Our tool is the right choice when you need a polished quote fast, don't want monthly subscription overhead, and handle accounting separately. Export the PNG, email the client, done.

When the client accepts, the typical flow is: collect deposit → do the work → invoice the remaining balance. The invoice should reference the original quote number ("Invoice for work quoted under QT-2026-0042") to tie the documents together in both parties' records.

The line items on the invoice can mirror the quote exactly, or you can collapse them into fewer lines for simplicity. Either approach is fine as long as the total matches the quoted amount (minus deposit paid).

If the scope changed during the project (almost always happens), issue the invoice with the additional scope as separate line items referencing change orders or revised quotes. Don't hide scope additions in existing line items — it looks like bait-and-switch.

Our invoice generator takes the same fields — copy over the client name, address, and line items, swap "valid until" for "due date", change "QT-" prefix to "INV-", and you have an invoice ready to send.