Price Quote Templates
For many industries, the price quote is a necessary part of doing business between a company and a client. Industries such as construction cannot offer fixed prices for customers for jobs as each job is unique. This is the reason for the price quote. It’s the price quote that alerts both parties of the conditions and costs of a particular job. As such, they are designed to be easy to understand and simple documents. However, depending on the task at hand, price quote documents can become quite complex. This is the reason many businesses employ a price quote template.
What is a Price Quote?
A price quote is an amount that a client is given before the project begins. It details the projected cost of the job. These costs are not guesses; they are based on actual numbers or fixed prices and include items such as the cost of labor, material, taxes, fees, and totals. When both parties agree and accept the price quote, the business is required to adhere to the price quote and finish everything in the quote which was agreed to by both parties. If the business decides to do more, then they still must stick to the originally agreed-upon price quote.
What Is a Price Quote Template?
As previously stated, price quote documents can range from simple to complex. Since this is the case, many businesses use price quote templates. By doing so, they don’t have to start each price quote from scratch. Each price quote template contains all of the information the company needs to create its price quote documents. As you can guess, the price quote template removes quite a bit of the drudgery from the process, allowing for a more streamlined document without the fear of forgetting an important piece of information.
The Purpose of a Price Quote
A price quote and an estimate are not the same things. An estimate is a guess. However, the price quote is based on actual numbers. The price quote is given to the client once a representative of the business has either visited the job site or conversed with the client. The client tells the representative of the company just what they need. After which, the representative of the company provides accurate numbers to the client, such as pricing, materials, labor taxes, fees, and discounts. The price quote helps to protect the business owner from any alteration in costs, such as materials. This is also the reason that price quotes have an expiration date, meaning they are only good for a set period of time.
However, the price quote is not yet a legally binding contract. In order for the price quote to be a legally binding contract, the following steps must occur:
- The company representative provides the client with the price quote
- The client agrees to the price quote for the job
- The company then accepts the job
To illustrate, say that you contacted a company to build a garage on your property. The company rep visits and supplies you with a price quote in writing on company stationery. The price quote is still not a legal contract. To make the price quote a legal contract, the client who wants the garage built must then contact the company and issue an order for the garage to be built by them. The final step involves the company formally accepting the order to build the garage in writing.
In other words, if the company builds the garage, but the price quote was never approved by the client, there is no legally binding contract. Only if all the above steps are completed can the price quote be considered a legally binding document. If you are unsure regarding our standing with price quotes, contact your lawyer, who will be able to clarify and answer questions.
When you use a price quote template, you also appear more professional. This is because the template is printed on company stationery which includes the company logo and contact information. Not only that, a template makes a neat appearance, with everything being where it should be.
Essential Elements of a Price Quote Template
No two price quote templates will be the same, and they are utilized by different businesses. However, they all contain the same essential information. This essential information includes:
- Customer and business contact information
- Fields for the itemization of costs involved
- Fields for fees, taxes, and discounts
- Field for signatures
- Total amounts
- Date issued
- Price quote number
- Lists of items to be supplied and/or completed
- Important milestone dates
- Any issues which could affect project completion
- Price quote expiration date
- Project title
What is the Difference Between a Price Quote, Invoice, and Estimate?
The price quote is not to be confused with an invoice or estimate. A price quote is an accurate tally of the costs involved in completing a project from start to finish. An invoice is the final cost of the project and is provided after the work is completed. The estimate is not an accurate tally like a price quote is. Instead, an estimate is a guess of what the project may cost. If you are a business owner and the client wishes for an extremely detailed price quote, check first, as they might really be seeking a bid or proposal.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, a price quote is not an offer. A price quote is just that, a tally of the costs involved in a project. An offer, on the other hand, is made by the party who needs a good or service from the company. Think of it this way; a client makes a construction company an offer so they can build a garage on their property in exchange for payment. In other words, the client makes the builder an offer to build a garage, and the builder then writes up a price quote.
Requesting price quotes from companies is a common practice as it’s an excellent way to do comparison shopping. For instance, when you request a price quote from a company in writing, you’ll receive an accurate tally of the costs involved, after which you can compare various companies and select the one that best serves your purpose.
To request a price quote, you must write a letter to the company. This letter can be sent via traditional mail or email. The request should contain all the necessary details needed for the company to complete your request. These details could include the price of labor, lumber, fees, and discounts
No. The price quote is usually valid for a certain time period and can’t be altered once it is accepted. Until then, it can be canceled or changed. Once accepted, then it becomes the final price.
In general, no. If the business wishes to charge you, they can. Always check to see if quotes or estimates are free.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, a price quote is an integral part of many business enterprises. Depending on the size of the project, a price quote can be either simple or complex. This is why the price quote template is so crucial to the success of many business deals. When you have a pre-made template, you are able to include all the essential fields necessary in the document in order to create a cohesive and consistent document. In other words, there is no chance that an important element is left out. These templates also give your business a clean, organized, and professional appearance. These templates are also easy to alter in case you decide to make changes. Just bring up the price quote template in MS Word, make your changes, and save. These price quote templates are free for you to design, meaning you can add your very own business logo to them.