Free template
Your Google reviews, turned into videos. And a free quote template for tradesmen, with a worked example.
One 5 star review a day, made into a short video and posted on your YouTube. People check you out before they ring, so let them see what your customers say.
Every plan also comes with a simple CRM for your quotes, invoices and customers. Use it when you want it. Your data stays yours.
Make my free videoYour first video is free, with no card. After that you choose: the Free plan, the Reviews plan at £19.99 a month with the first 7 days free, or the Pro plan at £49 a month.
A good quote does two things. It wins the job, and it stops an argument at the end of it. Both come from the same place: saying clearly what the customer is paying for.
What a quote should show
- Both sets of details. Your business name, phone, email, address and any VAT number, then the customer's name and the job address.
- A quote number and a date. So you can both refer to the same version later.
- What you will do. The work in plain words, in the order you will do it.
- The price, line by line. Labour, materials and extras such as waste removal, each on its own line, with VAT added if you are registered.
- What is not included. Making good, decorating, or anything else a customer might assume you will do.
- How long the price stands. A date after which you may need to price it again.
- Payment terms. Any deposit, when the balance is due, and how to pay.
Quote or estimate?
A quote is a fixed price for the work described. If the customer accepts it, that is the price, even if the job takes you longer than you thought.
An estimate is your best guess at the cost. It is useful when nobody can know the full job until a floor is up or a wall is opened. Say on it that it is an estimate, and say what could move the price.
A worked example
| Labour, half a day | £110 |
| Sink, taps, waste kit and fittings | £245 |
| Removal and disposal of the old sink | £35 |
| Total before VAT | £390 |
| VAT at 20% | £78 |
| Total to pay | £468 |
|---|
Under the table it would say: not included, any tiling or decorating after the old sink comes out. Deposit of £100 to order the sink, balance on completion. This price stands for 30 days from the date of the quote.
A trader who is not VAT registered would stop at £390 and add one line: "Not VAT registered, no VAT is charged."
A layout to copy
[Your business name], [phone], [email], [address]. VAT number [number, or "not VAT registered"].
Quote [number], dated [date], for [customer name] at [job address].
The work: [what you will do, in plain words].
Price: labour [amount]. Materials [amount]. Extras [amount]. Total [amount], plus VAT [amount] if registered.
Not included: [anything the customer might assume].
Valid until: [date]. Payment: [deposit, when the balance is due, how to pay].
How long a quote stays valid
As long as you say it does. Without a date on it, a customer can come back months later and expect the old price. Thirty days suits most jobs. Go shorter for a job heavy in copper, timber or anything else that changes price from one month to the next.
If you agree the job in their home
When a householder agrees a contract with you away from your business premises, such as at their kitchen table, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give them 14 days to cancel. If you never told them about that right, regulation 31 makes the cancellation period end a full year after it would otherwise have ended, and regulation 19 can make it a criminal offence.
If they want you to start inside the 14 days, regulation 36 needs them to ask you to, in writing on a durable medium such as an email. If they then cancel, they pay for the part of the work already done, but only if you gave them the cancellation information. If you did not, they pay nothing for it.
One exception is worth knowing. Under regulation 28 the right to cancel does not apply when the customer asked you round for urgent repairs or maintenance, though it still covers extra work or goods you sell them on that visit.
So put the cancellation information on your quote, using the model wording in Schedule 3 of the regulations, and keep that email.
Sending it the quick way
A template still means typing every line and checking the sums each time. In DrSaaS your prices sit in a list, so a quote is built by picking lines, not by doing sums. You see the PDF before it goes, and you send it by email or WhatsApp. How that works is on the quote app for tradesmen page.
When the customer accepts, the quote becomes the job, and the price you quoted carries on to the bill. What a proper invoice needs is covered on the how to invoice as a sole trader page.
Questions
Is a quote legally binding?
Once the customer accepts it, a quote is the price you agreed to do the work for. That is why it should say exactly what is included, what is not, and how long the price stands.
Can I change the price after the customer says yes?
Not for the work you quoted. If the customer asks for extra work, or you find something the quote said was excluded, price that part separately and get a yes for it before you start.
What it costs
Quotes come with every plan, the Free plan included. Reviews is £19.99 a month and posts one review video a day on your YouTube. Pro is £49 a month and adds videos of your own jobs. See the three plans.
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