How to write a quote for a trade job that protects you

A quote that protects you says four things a bare price never does: exactly what is included, what is explicitly not included, what happens when the job changes, and how long the price stands. Add your licence details and the payment schedule and you have a document that answers the argument before it starts, which is the only kind of quote worth writing twice.

None of this makes the quote longer to produce once you have a template. It makes it harder to misread, which is a different thing, and it is where the money is.

General information, not tax advice. The ATO is the authority - see ato.gov.au or ask a registered tax or BAS agent.

What a vague quote costs

The classic trade dispute is not about quality. It is about a line the customer read one way and you meant another way: whether the price included removing the old unit, whether “make good” meant patching or painting, whether the second coat was in there. By the time it surfaces, the work is done and the argument is about money you have already spent.

The second cost is unpaid variations. Nearly every job changes once it starts, and the changes are usually small enough that stopping to price them feels petty. Six unpriced small changes is a day of work you have donated, and the customer genuinely does not know they received it, because nobody wrote it down.

Both problems are solved in the same place, and it is not on site at the time. It is in the document the customer accepted.

Scope, exclusions and variations

The test for a scope description: could someone who was not at the site walk in and tell whether the job is finished? That person may well exist, in the form of the customer’s partner, a property manager, or a tribunal member years later.

Write the work as a sequence of what will physically happen, with quantities. Not “bathroom renovation” but “remove existing bath, vanity and floor tiles; waterproof floor and shower walls to 1800mm; supply and lay 600x600 floor tiles (allowance below); install customer-supplied vanity and tapware; two coats to walls and ceiling.”

Then write what is not included. Exclusions feel negative and they are the single highest-value paragraph in the document:

• Work not visible until demolition (rot, termite damage, non-compliant wiring).
• Removing or reinstating anything not listed (fixtures, appliances, furniture).
• Making good beyond the immediate work area.
• Permits, approvals, engineering, asbestos testing or removal.
• Site access, parking, power and water assumptions, and what changes if they do not hold.
• Anything the customer is supplying, and what happens if it arrives late or wrong.

business.gov.au’s prepare quotes page lists the fields a written quote should contain at a minimum: your business name, ABN and contact details, the customer’s details, a clear description of the work, itemised and total costs including GST if applicable, any variations and revisions discussed, payment terms and conditions, preferred payment method, start and finish dates, a quote expiry date, and space for the customer’s acceptance. Scope and exclusions are what turns that skeleton into a document that holds up.

A variations clause is two sentences that convert every future change from a negotiation into a process:

Any change to the scope above will be priced in writing and does not proceed until approved in writing by the customer. Approved variations are added to the contract price and invoiced with the balance.

Written approval can be an email or a photo of a signed slip. What matters is that it exists, that it carries a price, and that it happens before the work does. In NSW, for residential building work, the home building contract rules require the contract to carry a clause stating that any agreement to vary it must be in writing and signed by both the homeowner and the contractor, which is the same discipline made compulsory. Check the rules in your own state or territory.

The habit that makes this work on site is boring: price the variation the same day it comes up, send it, and do not start it until it comes back. A variation priced next week is a variation you will argue about.

Materials, labour, allowances and PC items

Itemising materials separately from labour does two useful things. It lets a customer compare your quote to another one honestly, and it makes a materials price rise something you can point at rather than absorb.

Where a selection has not been made, price it as an allowance and say so in the number: “Floor tiles: allowance of $45/m2 supply. Selections above or below this rate adjust the contract price.” The building industry calls these prime cost items (an allowance for goods not yet chosen) and provisional sums (an allowance for work that cannot be measured yet, such as re-wiring behind a wall nobody has opened). The words matter less than the mechanism: the customer sees a number, knows it is an estimate, and knows the direction it moves if they choose the imported tile.

Prices quoted to household customers need to be the total the customer will pay. The ACCC’s setting prices guidance says businesses must not mislead consumers about what they will be charged or why, and where you advertise or display a price to consumers its price display rules require a total price including taxes, duties and all unavoidable or pre-selected extra fees. Prices shown only to other businesses do not have to include GST. GST added at the end as a surprise to a householder is not a rounding issue.

Deposit, progress payments and how long the price stands

State law can cap what you take up front. In NSW, under home building law, the maximum deposit for residential building work is 10 per cent, for both small jobs and large ones, per the NSW Government’s guide to providing home building contracts. Other states and territories set their own limits, so check yours before you write a figure in a template.

On anything running more than a couple of weeks, a progress payment schedule keeps you from financing the job. NSW’s contract rules permit three forms: fixed payments tied to completed stages described in clear and plain language, payments as work is performed and costs are incurred supported by invoices and receipts, or a combination of the two. Your own state’s rules may differ, but the underlying habit travels: name the stage, name the amount, avoid “progress payments as agreed”.

Finally, put an expiry on the price. “Valid for 30 days from the date above” is the sentence that stops a customer accepting a February price in November on materials that have moved twice since. When a quote does lapse, requoting is a normal conversation, not a backdown.

Licence, insurance and your state’s contract rules

Above a certain job value, a quote is not enough on its own and a written contract is compulsory. In NSW that threshold is a contract price over $5,000 including GST, or work whose price is not known but whose reasonable market cost of labour and materials exceeds $5,000, per the NSW Government’s guide to providing home building contracts. Between $5,000 and $20,000 a small works contract applies, and the page gives it the shorter list of required contents: the parties’ names including the name of the contractor licence holder as shown on the licence, the licence number, a description of the work, any plans or specifications, the contract price if known, a quality of construction clause, and a clause about the limits on the contractor’s liability where a compliance failure traces back to the owner’s own design. Above $20,000 the job counts as large and the contract carries the longer list, which adds the date and signatures of both parties, warranties required under the Home Building Act 1989, the contract price prominently displayed on the first page, the cost of Home Building Compensation cover where insurance is required, a clause making written variations part of the contract, and a progress payment schedule. Every state and territory has its own thresholds and its own building authority, so check what applies where you work.

Carrying the licence number, insurer and policy details on the quote itself costs you one line and does two jobs: it is reassurance for the customer comparing three quotes, and it is one less document to dig up when the contract has to be signed.

Sending it from site, and the one follow-up

Speed wins work. The quote sent from the driveway before you leave beats the polished one that arrives on Thursday, because the customer is still thinking about the job. Then follow up once, about three days later, asking a question rather than repeating yourself: “Is there anything in that quote you would like priced differently?” That single email does more than any amount of formatting, and how to write a quote that wins work goes further into why.

How Apsis helps

Apsis is built for that sequence: draft the quote on your phone with your client’s default rate already filled in, send it before you leave, and see at a glance which quotes are open, accepted or expired. When one is accepted it converts into an invoice carrying the same line items and its own invoice number, so the job you priced is the job you bill, which is the handover quote vs invoice covers in detail. Quotes and invoices are both on the free plan, which covers 5 clients and 20 invoices a month.