How do you make a quote for a job?

Work out your price from your own day rate and the days the job will take, then itemise it: survey, labour, materials, each on its own line. Add your business and client details, a quote number, the VAT treatment, a valid-until date and your deposit terms. Itemising is what makes later scope changes chargeable rather than awkward.

How do you quote a price for a job?

Start from what the work costs you, not from what you think the client will pay. Take your day rate, estimate the days honestly, add 10 to 20 per cent for the things that always go wrong, then add materials at cost plus a margin. Check the total against the value of the job to the client last, as a sense check rather than a starting point.

How do you provide a quote for services?

In writing, itemised, with a validity date and clear terms. A number in a text message is not a quote: it cannot be referred back to when the job grows, and it gives you nothing to point at when a client remembers the price differently.

What is the difference between a quote and an estimate?

A quote is a fixed price you are offering to be held to. An estimate is your best guess and can change. Saying which one you are giving prevents the most common argument in small business work.

How long should a quote be valid for?

Set an explicit valid-until date, commonly 14 or 30 days. Without one, a customer can accept months later at a price that no longer covers your costs.

Should a quote include VAT?

If you are VAT registered, show the net amount, the VAT and the total separately so the customer can see what they will actually pay. If you are not registered, do not show a VAT line at all.

4 min read

How to quote for a job (UK sole traders and small businesses)

A good quote does two jobs: wins the work, and protects you when the work grows. Most quotes do neither because they're a number in an email. Here's the structure that does both.

Quote, estimate, invoice, know which you're sending

A quote is a fixed offer: "this work for this price." If they accept, that's broadly what you're held to.
An estimate is an educated guess that may move. Say which one you're giving, in writing.
An invoice asks for payment after (some or all of) the work. Never blur it with the quote.

What belongs in a quote

Your business details and the client's.
A quote number (QUO-0087. Future-you will be grateful).
Itemised lines: not "garden work: £9,500" but survey, design, labour days, materials. Itemising builds trust and makes scope changes chargeable instead of awkward.
VAT treatment: if registered, show net / VAT / gross so nobody's surprised.
A validity date: "valid until 9 August". Prices move; open-ended quotes haunt you.
Terms: the big one being the deposit.

Deposits: normal, sensible, expected

For project work, asking for money up front is standard: 30–50% to confirm, balance on completion is common across UK trades and services. It filters out non-serious clients and funds your materials. Put it in the quote's terms, not in a later conversation.

Working out the number

This is the part most guides skip, and it is what half the people searching are actually asking.

Start from your costs, not from their budget. Take your day rate, estimate the days honestly, and resist the urge to shave them because the total looks big. A quote you regret is worse than a job you did not win.

Add contingency. Ten to twenty per cent for the things that always happen: access problems, a material that has gone up, the extra half day nobody planned for. If nothing goes wrong, you have earned it.

Materials at cost plus a margin. You are carrying the money and the risk of getting them there. Pricing them at cost means working for nothing on that part of the job.

Sense-check against value, last. What the job is worth to the client is useful for knowing whether your number is wildly off, not for setting it in the first place.

Do not discount to win. Reduce the scope instead. Dropping the price teaches the client that your first number was not real; removing a line teaches them what the money buys.

Make acceptance easy

End with one line: "To accept this quotation, reply confirming in writing." A quote that tells the client exactly what to do next gets answered faster.

The fast way

Vizivo's Quote Generator structures all of this. Itemised lines, VAT-aware totals, validity date (it won't let you set one before the issue date), deposit terms, acceptance line, and when the client says yes, one click turns the quote into the matching invoice with nothing retyped.

Common questions

How do you make a quote for a job?: Work out your price from your own day rate and the days the job will take, then itemise it: survey, labour, materials, each on its own line. Add your business and client details, a quote number, the VAT treatment, a valid-until date and your deposit terms. Itemising is what makes later scope changes chargeable rather than awkward.
How do you quote a price for a job?: Start from what the work costs you, not from what you think the client will pay. Take your day rate, estimate the days honestly, add 10 to 20 per cent for the things that always go wrong, then add materials at cost plus a margin. Check the total against the value of the job to the client last, as a sense check rather than a starting point.
How do you provide a quote for services?: In writing, itemised, with a validity date and clear terms. A number in a text message is not a quote: it cannot be referred back to when the job grows, and it gives you nothing to point at when a client remembers the price differently.
What is the difference between a quote and an estimate?: A quote is a fixed price you are offering to be held to. An estimate is your best guess and can change. Saying which one you are giving prevents the most common argument in small business work.
How long should a quote be valid for?: Set an explicit valid-until date, commonly 14 or 30 days. Without one, a customer can accept months later at a price that no longer covers your costs.
Should a quote include VAT?: If you are VAT registered, show the net amount, the VAT and the total separately so the customer can see what they will actually pay. If you are not registered, do not show a VAT line at all.

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