Writing a quote for an installation or repair: what it must contain, with an example

Where a quote goes wrong

• Too vague. “Installation of boiler, everything included” leaves the customer guessing what “everything” is.
• Too much jargon. A list of item codes tells the customer nothing about what they are getting.
• Forgotten items. Removing the old appliance, an extra pipe, the travel, an adjustment to the electrics.
• No validity. The customer signs after three months, while the price of the appliance has gone up in the meantime.
• No next steps. When does the technician come, what must the customer arrange, when do they pay?

What must a quote contain? A checklist

Decide with your accountant which VAT rate applies to a line. Put the rate on each line of the quote, so the customer sees what applies.

What do the Belgian rules say?

For quotes to consumers, the FPS Economy (FOD Economie / SPF Economie) sets out the rules in its guidelines for renovation work on homes (version of 22 April 2024, based on the royal decree of 30 June 1996 and the Code of Economic Law):

• You are required to draw up a quote if the consumer asks for one and you are willing to carry out the work. If you charge for the quote, you say so in advance; otherwise it is free.
• The quote states at least your name or company name, your address and your company number, the description and nature of the services and of any supplies, the fixed price or a price determined by clear criteria, the date and the period of validity, and an estimate of how long the work will take.
• As soon as the consumer accepts the quote, the contract is concluded.
• If the consumer pays a deposit, you always draw up an order form (bestelbon / bon de commande), with its own compulsory items. A quote can serve as an order form if it contains all those items.
• If the contract is concluded at the customer’s home, additional information requirements apply, including on the right of withdrawal.

See the FPS Economy guidelines and its news item of 8 October 2024 (both in French). They concern consumers. Ask your legal adviser what applies to a quote to a business, and whether your template and terms are right. The checklist above is good practice in any case.

Describing the work, the parts and the labour

• Write what the customer gets. “Supply and installation of a condensing boiler [brand, type, output], connection to the existing pipes, commissioning and explanation to the occupant.” An item code may be added, not used instead.
• Separate materials and labour. The customer sees what they are paying for, and after the work you see where your price was right.
• Choose fixed price or time and materials, and say which. With a fixed price, you state what is included. For time and materials, you state the hourly rate and an estimate of the number of hours.
• Say what is not included. “Not included: breaking out and making good walls, adjustments to the electrical installation.”
• State your assumptions. “The price assumes a freely accessible boiler room and a chimney in good condition.” If it turns out otherwise, it is clear why the price changes.
• Set down how you handle additional work. You only carry out additional work after the customer’s written agreement, with the price stated.

Options, validity and terms

• Options go separately below the totals, each with its own price: a smart thermostat, a maintenance contract. If the customer chooses an option, you adjust the quote before they sign. Two variants of the same work are best made into two quotes.
• Validity: choose a period that matches how long your suppliers hold their prices, for example thirty days. After the expiry date, you review the price before you confirm.
• Payment: the payment term and, for large installations, the deposit and the instalments, with when they fall due. What that means for your cash is explained in cash flow tracking.
• General terms and conditions: include them with the quote. According to the FPS Economy, a reference to your website is not enough towards a consumer: they must be able to read them at the latest when the contract is concluded, and must have accepted them.

After acceptance

1. Keep the agreement: a signed quote, or an email in which the customer agrees.
2. Confirm what happens next: when you will call to schedule, what the customer must arrange, when the deposit is due.
3. Prepare the work: order the materials, create the intervention or the project and schedule it. See installation project tracking.
4. Invoice according to the quote, with the additional work the customer approved in writing. See from work order to invoice.

If the quote has gone out but has not yet been accepted, follow it up with a fixed method: see following up a quote.

An example: replacing a boiler in a terraced house

At a fictitious installation company, a customer calls: their gas boiler is twenty years old and regularly breaks down. A technician visits, photographs the boiler room and the chimney and notes the type of the old boiler. At the office, the quote is drawn up in three sections:

• Boiler and materials: the new condensing boiler, the flue and the connection materials.
• Installation, at a fixed price: dismantling and removal of the old boiler, installation, connection, commissioning and explanation to the occupant.
• Options, outside the total: a smart thermostat and a maintenance contract.

Below the lines it says: “Not included: adjustments to the electrical installation. The price assumes a chimney suitable for the new flue.” The quote is valid for thirty days and states the estimated duration of the work and when it can start.

The customer adds the thermostat. The office adjusts the quote and sends it again, and the customer signs. The same day, the office confirms the quote, orders the boiler and schedules the installation.

How it works in Digitalnatie Service Suite

You create a quote from the quotes screen, or from the customer file, an opportunity in the service CRM, a project or an intervention (one quote per intervention).

• The data: the customer (required), the site, the installation project, the customer reference (the title in the list), the validity date, the payment term and the terms. Left empty, the validity takes the default period and the terms take your general terms and conditions.
• The lines: a product or service with its quantity and unit, a section title or a note. An empty description takes over the product’s sales description. For the unit price, you keep the price from the customer’s price list or set your own price.
• VAT and totals: Service Suite calculates the VAT and shows the subtotal excluding VAT, the VAT and the total. In the invoicing rules, the administrator sets the default sales VAT, the validity of a quote in days and your general terms and conditions.
• Layout and language: your quotes carry your company’s details, logo and colours, with the layout template and the footer you choose. A settings screen shows the languages in which your customers receive their documents.
• Sending: the PDF opens the quote, which you send to the customer yourself. Then you mark the quote as sent.
• After the agreement: confirming turns the quote into a sales order. Depending on the products, Service Suite creates the interventions straight away. Otherwise you create the intervention, the project or the maintenance contract from the sales order, and invoicing creates a draft invoice with the agreed lines, prices and discounts.

Good to know:

• Sending a quote by email or requesting a signature is not possible from the application: you send the PDF yourself. There are no quote templates.
• A confirmed sales order can no longer be changed in the application. For a correction, and to activate discounts per line, ask Digitalnatie.
• Whether your general terms and conditions can appear on the documents depends on your environment.
• In Service Suite, the sales order is the confirmed quote. If you ask a consumer for a deposit, check that your document contains all the legal items of an order form.
• Check that your company number is on the PDF, and otherwise put it in the footer.

How to follow up requests before there is a quote is explained in following up leads.

Frequently asked questions

What must a quote contain by law in Belgium?

For a quote to a consumer, for example for renovation work on a home, the FPS Economy lists at least: your name or company name, address and company number, the description and nature of the work and the supplies, the fixed or determinable price, the date and the period of validity, and an estimate of how long the work will take. Have your template checked by your legal adviser.

How long is a quote valid?

As long as you state on it. Choose a period that matches how long your suppliers hold their prices, for example thirty days, and state the date. After that date, you review the price before you confirm the work.

Can I charge for a quote?

Towards a consumer you can, according to the FPS Economy, if you tell them in advance. Without that notice, the quote is free. Whether you later deduct the cost of the quote from the invoice is a commercial choice.

Can I write a quote in Excel?

Yes, if all the items are on it and the totals are right. A spreadsheet just does not keep track of which quotes are open, which are expiring and which have been accepted. In Service Suite, the prices come from your price lists and the application calculates the VAT and the totals.

What happens in Service Suite when the customer accepts the quote?

You confirm the quote and it becomes a sales order, which you can no longer change. Depending on the products, Service Suite creates the interventions straight away; otherwise you create the intervention, the project, the maintenance contract or the draft invoice from the sales order. The customer does not receive an email at that point.