What to put on an electrical quote

A quote is the document the customer says yes to. An estimate is the number you are still working out. If you send one page and call it both, say which it is. A firm quote names the work, the price, and what would change the price. An estimate that looks finished is how you end up doing work you never priced.

Start with who is quoting and who it is for. Your business name, a phone number, and the customer's name. Add the job address when you have it. A quote with no address is easy to mix up with the other kitchen you looked at this week.

Then write the work in the words you would use in the driveway. “Install six recessed lights in the kitchen, including wiring, fixtures, and testing” is a scope. “Electrical work” is not. The customer has to be able to read it at the kitchen table and know what the money covers.

Price it in lines, not one lump. Each line needs a description, a quantity, and your price. Split labor and materials when you can. A panel swap, a permit, and a trip are different lines, because they fail in different ways. If the fixture is customer-supplied, say so on that line so you are not buying it later out of the labor.

Tax depends on the state and on whether the job is a repair or an improvement. Do not copy a rate from another city. If you charge tax, show it. If you do not, say the price is the price.

The edges are part of the price

Write what is not included. Concealed damage, drywall, a mast that has rusted through, a ground that was legal when the house was built, a second trip for an inspection. Those are not a surprise you eat. They are the next quote, if the customer wants them.

Say how long the price holds. Thirty days is a common habit. It is not a rule. If copper or a panel moves, a short validity is how you avoid doing tomorrow's job at last month's cost.

Use your own numbers. A template does not know your hourly rate, your supplier, or what the last job like this actually took. If a line is a guess, mark it as a guess or leave it off until you have looked. A blank price is safer than a confident one you cannot defend.

Checklist before you send it

• Your business name and a way to reach you.
• Customer name, and the job address if you have it.
• The work, written so they can tell what is included.
• A line for each task, with quantity and your price.
• Labor and materials separated when they are not the same thing.
• Permit and inspection, if this job needs them.
• What is not included, in plain language.
• Tax, or a note that the price does not add it.
• How long the price is good for.
• A place for them to accept, if this is a quote and not a guess.

Read it once as if you were the customer. If a line could mean two different jobs, rewrite it. If a price is a placeholder, do not send it. The template only prints what you typed.

This page builds the document. It does not save it, and it does not tell you when they open it. When you want that, the same lines go out as a link from QuotePace, on your phone, with your prices.