How to Write a Quotation: Quotation Template and Checklist for Suppliers

When a buyer asks several suppliers for prices, the quotation is often the only thing they compare. A clear quotation template makes your quote faster to approve and easier to choose, and it saves you time on every request. Below you will find the ten parts every B2B quote needs, an example layout and the mistakes that most often cost suppliers the order.

What is a quotation, and why use a quotation template?

A quotation is a price offer for a defined specification, valid for a stated period. In everyday use an estimate is a rough figure, while a quotation is meant to be firm enough for the buyer to approve. A purchasing department will often put your quotation next to two or three others and compare them line by line.

A fixed quotation template helps in two ways. Buyers find the same information in the same place every time, and your sales team does not forget one-off costs, freight or validity when it is busy.

Quotation, estimate or pro forma invoice?

• Estimate: an approximate price when the specification is not final.
• Quotation: a price offer for a defined specification, with terms and a validity date.
• Pro forma invoice: a preliminary invoice, often used for prepayment or customs, sent after the order is agreed.

Quotation template: the ten parts of a good quote

1. Header: your legal company name, address, VAT number, contact person, quote number and date.
2. Customer and reference: the buyer's company and their request reference.
3. What is quoted: the specification in the buyer's own words, line by line.
4. Price: unit price and total per quantity, excluding VAT, with the currency.
5. One-off costs: plates, dies, tooling, proofs and setup, listed separately.
6. Delivery: delivery term and place, freight cost and lead time from approval.
7. Terms: payment terms and how long the quote is valid.
8. Assumptions: what you assumed, for example print-ready files from the customer.
9. Options: alternatives, clearly separated from the requested specification.
10. Documents: certificates or data sheets the buyer asked for.

Header and legal details

Use the same legal details that will later appear on the invoice. For cross-border sales within the EU, the invoice must show both your VAT number and the customer's VAT number in many cases, so it makes sense to collect and check the buyer's number at the quotation stage. VIES lets you check whether a business is registered to trade cross-border within the EU.

Price, one-off costs and currency

Show unit price and total for every quantity the buyer asked for, and list one-off costs on their own lines. A buyer who sees a die cost hidden in the unit price of the first order may assume the repeat order will cost the same. State the currency and that prices exclude VAT.

Delivery terms and lead time

Name the delivery term and place, for example DAP with the buyer's address. The ICC Incoterms rules are eleven three-letter terms that clarify who handles which tasks, costs and risks between seller and buyer, so a recognised term avoids arguments about freight and insurance. Give the lead time from order or artwork approval, not from today. You can read more in our guide Incoterms 2020 explained.

Payment terms and validity

State the payment term in days and the date until which the price is valid. In the EU, the Late Payment Directive sets that the payment period between businesses should not exceed 60 calendar days unless expressly agreed and not grossly unfair, and gives a creditor a fixed sum of 40 euros as compensation for recovery costs when payment is late, although national rules can be stricter.

Quotation template example layout

The table shows how the parts of the quotation template can be laid out, and you can replace the example content with your own.

If the buyer asked for certified material, put the certificate code in the quote. FSC, for example, requires the certificate code to appear on sales documents for an FSC claim to pass down the supply chain.

Adapting the quotation template to your products

One quotation template rarely fits every product line. Keep the ten parts fixed, but add product-specific fields underneath. A printer may add paper, colours, finishing and file requirements. A packaging supplier may add board grade, flute, inner dimensions and pallet quantities. A stand builder may add build-up and dismantling days, transport and storage.

Save each version as its own quote template in your quoting or ERP system, so the right fields appear automatically. Review the quotation template once a year, or whenever buyers keep asking the same follow-up question: that question usually points to a field that is missing.

How to make your quote easy to compare

Quote exactly what was asked first, and if you have a better or cheaper alternative, add it as an option next to it, with the difference explained. A buyer who has to rework your quote to compare it with others is less likely to choose it. Our guide on how buyers compare supplier quotes shows what they look at.

Speed matters too, since a precise answer within a day or two signals how the order will be handled. If something is unclear, ask a short, specific question rather than quoting on guesswork.

Mistakes that lose quotes

• Changing the specification without saying so.
• Leaving out freight, one-off costs or surcharges that appear later.
• No validity date, so the buyer cannot tell whether the price still holds.
• Lead time given as "short" or "as soon as possible" instead of days.
• A different company name on the quote than on the VAT registration.
• Missing certificates the buyer asked for in the request.

Free quotation template checklist

Our Quote Checklist covers every point above and is free as a PDF and Word file. On Flobid, quotes follow the same structure, so buyers see price, lead time and terms side by side, and the quote form uses DAP as the default Incoterm. Read how Flobid works for suppliers on the supplier page.

Sources

1. Council Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax, Article 226, legislation.gov.uk
2. Check a VAT number (VIES), Your Europe, European Union
3. Incoterms rules, International Chamber of Commerce
4. Directive 2011/7/EU on combating late payment in commercial transactions, EUR-Lex (2011)
5. FSC Claim, Labels, and Logo, Forest Stewardship Council