How to make a quotation properly (with a free format you can copy)

A quotation is the only document most buyers ever see before they decide whether to give you the order. It is read in about forty seconds, usually next to two other quotations for the same items, and usually on a phone. Everything below is about making those forty seconds go your way.

This guide covers what belongs on a quotation, a format you can copy today, how to handle GST correctly, and the mistakes that quietly cost orders. If you only want the template, jump to the free quotation format.

What a quotation is, and what it is not

A quotation is a formal offer to supply specific goods at a specific price, held open for a specific period. It is not a bill, it creates no GST liability, and it binds you to the price you printed for as long as you said it would hold.

Three documents get confused with each other, and mixing them up creates real problems with buyers and with your own accounts:

The practical consequence: a quotation has to be complete enough that the buyer can raise a purchase order straight off it. If they have to email you to ask about freight, or the HSN code, or how long the price holds, you have added a day to your own sales cycle.

The 12 fields every quotation needs

Twelve fields, and a quotation missing any of the nine marked required is a quotation that will generate a follow-up question instead of a purchase order.

A free quotation format you can copy

Here is a complete worked quotation in the shape described above. Copy the structure, or download the same format as a spreadsheet or a printable template and fill in your own details.

How to write the line items

Every line needs a part number. A description alone is an invitation for the buyer to compare your price against a cheaper, different item and conclude you are expensive.

Most quotation disputes start in the line items, and almost all of them are the same three failures.

Describe the item the way the buyer will verify it

"MCB 16A" is not a description. "Roma Urban Mini Modular MCB, 16A, DP, C-Type, Silver" is, because every word in it is something the buyer can check against the datasheet. Rating, poles, curve, finish, standard — put in whatever the buyer would have to ask about.

Quote list price and discount separately, not just the net

Showing 805.50 less 20% = 644.40 tells the buyer two things a bare 644.40 does not: that you are quoting the genuine current list price, and exactly how much you moved. It also means that when the manufacturer revises the list, the conversation is about the revision rather than about your integrity.

Never invent a part number

When you cannot match an item in the enquiry, quote the rest and mark that line clearly:

Item 4 — "cable gland 25mm brass": please confirm the thread type (PG or metric) and whether single or double compression. Quoted on confirmation.

A specific question gets a same-day answer. A guessed part number becomes a wrong delivery, a return, a credit note, and a buyer who now checks everything you send.

GST on a quotation: IGST or CGST + SGST

No tax is payable on a quotation itself, but you must show the tax the invoice will carry. In India, supply rules decide CGST/SGST vs IGST; in the UAE, this is 5% VAT, and in Australia, 10% GST. In all markets, separating net taxable value from the tax amount is vital for buyers calculating landed cost.

The total is identical either way, so it rarely changes the buyer's decision — but it changes how they book it, and getting it wrong makes you look careless on the one document meant to prove you are not. Four working rules:

• Quote tax-exclusive. Show the taxable value and the tax as separate lines. A single GST-inclusive figure cannot be compared against a competitor who quoted exclusive, and B2B buyers reclaim the tax anyway.
• Show the rate per line when rates differ. A quotation mixing 18% and 28% items needs the rate against each line, or the buyer cannot reconcile your total.
• Put the HSN code on every line. Not legally required on a quotation, but the buyer needs it to confirm the rate, and your invoice will need it regardless. Check which digit-length your turnover band requires for invoicing and use that here too.
• Say what happens if the rate changes. "GST extra at the rate ruling on the date of dispatch" settles it in one line.

The terms that stop arguments later

Nine lines of terms. They take five minutes to write once, go on every quotation after that, and they are what any disagreement is settled against.

Seven mistakes that lose the order

Most lost quotations are not lost on price. They are lost on being slow, incomplete, or hard to read.

1. Replying in two days. The buyer sent the same enquiry to three or four suppliers. By day two the first quotation has already shaped what they consider reasonable.
2. No expiry date. You have now promised that price indefinitely.
3. Descriptions with no part number. The buyer cannot verify what you quoted, so they assume the cheapest interpretation and conclude you are expensive.
4. Quoting only the items you stock. A partial quotation against a 40-line enquiry usually loses all 40 lines, because the buyer wants one supplier and one delivery.
5. A single GST-inclusive number. Impossible to compare, and it hides the value the buyer will reclaim.
6. Sending an editable spreadsheet as the only copy. The document of record should be a PDF. Attach the spreadsheet in addition, never instead.
7. No follow-up. Quotations sit in inboxes. One call three days later, referencing the quotation number, closes orders that were never actually lost.

How fast the quotation has to go out

Same day, and preferably within a couple of hours. In distribution the supplier who replies first is usually the supplier who sets the benchmark every other quotation is then judged against.

The obstacle is almost never willingness — it is that building a correct 40-line quotation by hand means reading a PDF or a WhatsApp photo, finding each item in a price list, applying the right discount slab, working out the tax and typing all of it into a template. Two to three hours of work, for an enquiry that may not convert.

Two ways out. Either standardise hard — one template, one saved terms block, a searchable price list, and a rule that enquiries are quoted the same day — or stop doing the typing. Druvo reads the enquiry from email, PDF, Excel or a photo, matches every line against your catalog, applies your discount rules and tax, and puts a drafted quotation in front of your team to approve. Anything it cannot match with confidence is flagged rather than guessed.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between a quotation and a proforma invoice?

A quotation is an offer to sell at a stated price for a stated period. A proforma invoice is issued after the buyer has decided to buy, and is used to raise a purchase order or release an advance payment. Neither creates a GST liability. Only the tax invoice, raised at supply, does.

Is GST charged on a quotation?

No. GST becomes payable on the tax invoice, not on a quotation. But the quotation must show the GST that will be charged, because the buyer is comparing landed cost. Show the taxable value and the tax separately rather than quoting one inclusive figure.

How long should a quotation be valid?

Thirty days is the standard validity period across most B2B distribution. Shorten it to seven or fifteen days for items on volatile raw-material prices such as copper, aluminium or steel. Always print the expiry date: an undated offer is a price you have promised indefinitely.

Do I need an HSN code on a quotation?

It is not legally required on a quotation, but put it on anyway. The buyer needs it to confirm the tax rate and to set the item up in their own system, and you will need it on the invoice regardless. Getting it right at the quotation stage means it is right everywhere downstream.

Should a quotation be sent as PDF, Excel or in the body of an email?

Send a PDF as the document of record, because the figures cannot be altered in transit. Attach an Excel or CSV copy as well when the buyer has to load the lines into their own system. Put a short summary in the email body so the buyer sees the total without opening anything.

What should I do when I cannot match an item in the enquiry?

Quote the lines you are sure about and mark the unclear line as pending clarification, with a specific question. Do not guess a part number. A wrong part number that reaches a purchase order becomes a wrong delivery, a return and a lost customer.