Free quote template to fill in and print

Almost everywhere the answer has two halves. An accepted quote is a contract at the quoted price. What differs is the time before acceptance: whether you may still withdraw the quote, and how long your customer may take.

England and Wales: once your customer accepts a quotation you have a binding contract at that price, signed or not. Until then you may withdraw it; the Court of Appeal calls it “trite law that an offer may be withdrawn at any time before it is accepted” (Pickfords Ltd v Celestica Ltd [2003] EWCA Civ 1741). A “valid until” date sets the time in which your customer can accept; without one the offer lapses after a reasonable time (Business Companion). Scotland differs: an offer you have declared firm for a period cannot be withdrawn in that period (Scottish Law Commission, Report No 252).

Ireland: a contract needs no signature. It can come about through a quotation, an email or simply by letting the work begin (CCPC). What you state to a consumer about the service or the price, and the consumer relied on, is part of the contract (Consumer Rights Act 2022, ss. 80 and 82).

Germany: the default is the other way round. Whoever makes an offer is bound by it unless the offer says otherwise (section 145 BGB). With a deadline it can only be accepted until then (section 148 BGB), and a late or altered acceptance counts as a new offer (section 150 BGB).

For consumers throughout the UK, anything you say or write about the service, the quoted price included, becomes a term of the contract if the consumer took it into account (Consumer Rights Act 2015, s. 50).

A quotation is a fixed price, an estimate an educated guess: that is how official UK guidance draws the line (Business Companion; nibusinessinfo.co.uk for Northern Ireland). The switch above turns this quote into an estimate: the heading changes, and the sentence under the total says that the figure is an approximation. How far an estimate may be exceeded, what you owe your customer when the cost runs over and whether you may charge for it is on the page for the estimate template.

No law in the three countries lists what a document called a quote must contain. It has to be definite enough that a plain yes will do: who offers, to whom, which work or goods, in what quantity and at what price. A date, a quote number, the validity and payment terms are the customary rest. Official guidance for Northern Ireland adds what the price does not cover and how changes asked for later are priced (nibusinessinfo.co.uk).

Other rules put information on the paper around it. In the UK a consumer must have your identity, address, the main characteristics of the work, the total price and the arrangements for payment and performance before being bound (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, reg. 9 and Sch. 1); a company shows its registered name, number and registered office on business letters and order forms (SI 2015/17, regs 24 and 25). In Ireland the list for consumers is in the Consumer Rights Act 2022 (s. 101 and Sch. 2), and a company's letters carry its name, legal form, registration and directors (Companies Act 2014, s. 151). In Germany a registered merchant's business letters name the firm, legal form, seat, register court and number (section 37a HGB).

A quote is not a pro forma invoice: that is a request for payment before supply, and not what this page prints.

The question to ask in any country: does the reader see what they will finally pay? A price given to a consumer has to be the total including VAT in the UK (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, Sch. 1; Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, s. 230), in Ireland (Consumer Rights Act 2022, Sch. 2) and in Germany (section 3 PAngV). Between businesses, prices plus VAT are the custom. The template shows net, tax per rate and the total.

UK: you register for VAT once your taxable turnover of the last 12 months passes £90,000 (Value Added Tax Act 1994, Sch. 1 para. 1). Until you have a VAT registration number you cannot include VAT on your invoices (GOV.UK). There is no compulsory note for an unregistered business: leave the VAT line out. “Not VAT registered” is custom, not statute.

Ireland: registration is compulsory above €42,500 of turnover for services and €85,000 for goods (Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010, ss. 2 and 6; Revenue). A business that is not registered shows no VAT: whoever states VAT on an invoice without being registered must pay that amount to Revenue (s. 69).

Germany: small businesses with turnover up to 25,000 euros in the previous year and up to 100,000 euros in the current one are exempt (section 19 UStG). The note the law requires belongs on the invoice (section 34a UStDV); printing it on the quote as well is customary.

Tick “I do not charge VAT” and the rate fields and tax lines disappear. The total is then what your customer pays.

If your customer accepts the quote unchanged and in time, the contract is made. None of the three countries asks for a signature for an ordinary job. The lines for place, date and signature are still worth printing: they show later what was agreed, and official guidance recommends getting the customer's written confirmation before you start (nibusinessinfo.co.uk).

A quote accepted on the spot in a consumer's home is an off-premises contract in the UK: the consumer has 14 days to cancel, the information has to be on paper or another durable medium, and you must not start within the 14 days unless the consumer expressly asks (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regs 10, 30 and 36). The same quote left behind and accepted later is not (Business Companion). In Ireland an off-premises contract above €50 needs the information on paper or another durable medium, with the cancellation form (Consumer Rights Act 2022, ss. 98 and 103). Germany has its counterpart in sections 312b and 312g BGB.

Keep the accepted quote with your business records: it is the order your invoice will refer to.