Guide · Client quotes
What to include in a client quote
A good quote answers the client’s questions before they ask them: what exactly am I getting, for how much, until when, and what happens if I want more? This checklist is about the document you send, and you can use it with any tool, including a word processor.
The checklist
- Who: your business name and contact details, and the client’s.
- Which quote: a unique reference, the date, and a version number if you revise it.
- Until when: a clear “valid until” date.
- What: deliverables the client can check, not vague activities. “Five-page website with a contact form” beats “web design”.
- How many rounds: the revisions included.
- What is not included, stated explicitly. Putting it in writing prevents many arguments later.
- What you need from the client: content, access and approvals, and by when.
- How much: the price, the currency, a named tax line if one applies, and the total. If you itemize, the lines should add up to the price.
- How and when it is paid: a deposit and balance, or milestones, and the payment method.
- Changes: how changes to the scope are priced and approved in writing before the extra work starts.
- Acceptance: a short acceptance line or block, or a clear “reply to accept”.
Vague scope vs. scope the client can check
Many disagreements start with the scope. Here is the same small project, a five-page website for a bakery, described two ways. The example is illustrative; the checkable version matches the real sample PDF further down.
Vague: “Website design. Revisions as needed. Delivery soon.”
Checkable:
- Deliverables: five-page website (home, menu, about, orders and contact), responsive design for phone and desktop, a contact form that sends messages to your email, and a one-hour training session to edit texts and photos.
- Revisions: two rounds of consolidated feedback within the agreed scope.
- Not included: photography, copywriting, online payments and hosting fees.
- Timing and client input: delivery four weeks after receiving texts and photos.
- Changes: additional scope is quoted and approved before starting.
At delivery, every line can be checked: the five pages exist or they don’t, the form sends or it doesn’t. “As needed” and “soon” cannot be checked, so they get argued about.
What stays in your internal calculation
In a fixed-price quote, the client needs the price and what it buys, not how you got there. Keep what an hour costs you, overhead, contingency, payment fees and your margin in your own calculation. The markup vs. margin guide explains why a 30% markup does not leave a 30% margin.
If you quote by the hour, showing the hours and the hourly rate you charge may be exactly what the client expects. What still stays internal is what an hour costs you and your margin.
Rules vary: this is not legal advice
What a quote or a contract must contain depends on the country, the region and sometimes the trade. This checklist is common commercial practice: it is not legal advice, and it does not make any quote or contract compliant with a law. If you are unsure what applies to your work, ask a local professional. MargenClaro does not issue invoices or tax documents.
See a real example
This PDF was exported by MargenClaro Pro with fictional data. It shows the client-facing layout: your details and the client’s, reference, date and validity, project, scope and deliverables, included revisions, exclusions, price and total, deposit and balance, terms, and an acceptance block with signature lines. A named tax line appears when you set one; this example has none.
Price it before you write it
This guide is about the document. For the price itself, the free calculator works it out from your hours, costs, overhead, contingency, payment fees and the margin you want to keep. No sign-up; your figures are not saved or sent. The fixed-price quoting guide walks through the method step by step.
Optional: MargenClaro Pro for Windows
If you send quotes often, Pro covers most of this list in four steps: your details and the client’s, a quote reference and date, validity, scope and deliverables, included revisions, exclusions, terms, the price with an optional named tax line and the total, an optional deposit and balance, and an optional acceptance block with signature lines. It exports the client PDF (Letter or A4) or Excel file without your internal numbers.
Pro puts one price on the quote rather than line items with quantities, and a deposit and balance rather than a milestone schedule. It does not do electronic signatures, payment collection or invoices.
- Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit (x64) only; no Mac, Linux or phone version.
- Portable folder of about 400 MB; not code-signed, so Windows may show a warning the first time.
- US$19 one-time, before tax, with the Quote Toolkit included.