Tradie quote template for Australia: what to include

A good quote is a shared understanding of the work. Use this structure as a starting point, then adapt the language and rates to your trade.

Make the scope specific

Avoid a single line that says “general works”. Name the rooms, assets, quantities, finish, service interval or other detail that defines what the customer is buying. If you are painting, say how many coats, which surfaces, and whether that includes prep like filling and sanding or just the topcoat. If you are running new circuits, list the number of points, the cable route and whether making good the wall is your job or the builder's. The more concrete you are, the fewer arguments you have on site.

A good test is to read the scope back as if you were the customer, then again as if you were the apprentice who has to do the work. If either of them could reasonably do something different to what you priced, the scope is too loose. Spell out the boundaries. Say what finish level you are quoting to, because "tidy up the yard" means one thing to you and something much bigger to the person paying.

Vague scopes are where most disputes start. The customer remembers the biggest version of the conversation and you remember the cheapest, and by then the job is half done. Write it down while it is fresh, ideally on the same visit you measured up. Photos attached to the quote help too. A picture of the cracked slab or the rusted-out gutter proves what the site looked like before you touched it.

Keep assumptions near the price

Customers should not need to search a separate document for access conditions, exclusions or what happens when hidden damage is found. Put those notes beside the relevant line or in a clearly labelled section. Assumptions are not you covering yourself with fine print. They are the honest list of things you cannot see from the front yard, and stating them protects the customer as much as you.

Common ones worth writing down every time: that the power is on and the water is connected, that you have clear access to the work area on the day, that walls and floors are sound behind what you can see, and that asbestos, rot or old non-compliant work found on opening up will be quoted separately. If parking is tight or the job is above the ground floor, say how that affects the price. If a price depends on a supplier holding their rate, note the date the quote is good until.

Exclusions matter just as much. Say plainly what you are not doing. Rubbish removal, painting after the plumbing, patching the driveway, connecting the appliance the customer supplied. When it is written down, nobody assumes it was included for free. This is where a fixed validity period earns its keep. Timber, copper and fuel prices move, so a quote that was fair in autumn can lose you money by spring. Thirty days is a fair default for most trades.

Make approval easy, then keep the record

Offer an online acceptance path and keep the accepted version connected to the scheduled job. That gives the team a shared brief and makes invoicing from completed work much simpler. The faster a customer can say yes, the more jobs you win. If accepting your quote means printing a PDF, signing it, scanning it and emailing it back, plenty of good customers just never get around to it and you lose the work to whoever made it a one-tap job.

Just as important is what happens after they say yes. Lock the accepted version so it cannot quietly change, and treat any later addition as a variation with its own price and its own approval. Variations agreed by a nod on site and never written down are the single biggest cause of an invoice being short-paid. If the customer asks for the extra power point or the second coat while you are there, quote it, get a yes in writing, then do it. Two lines in a message thread is enough. What matters is that there is a record.

Use a catalogue when the same work repeats

ServicePilot lets you keep services and rates in one catalogue. Its AI-assisted quoting can prepare a first draft from a job description or enquiry, while you remain in control of the final scope and price. If you find yourself typing out the same hot water changeover or the same service call every week, put it in the catalogue once with your standard wording and rate. Quoting then becomes picking items and adjusting quantities, which cuts a half-hour job down to a few minutes and keeps your pricing consistent across the whole team.

A catalogue also stops the slow drift where last year's rates are still going out this year. Update the price in one place and every new quote uses it. When you win the job, the accepted line items flow straight through to the invoice, so you are not rebuilding the same numbers at the end of the week when you are tired and more likely to leave money on the table.

Quote checklist before you send

Run through this list before anything leaves your phone. It takes a minute and saves the awkward follow-up call.

• Your ABN and a unique quote number are on it.
• The customer name, site address and access notes are correct.
• Every line item names real work, not "general works".
• Materials and labour are separated so the customer can see where the money goes.
• GST is shown clearly and the total is GST inclusive.
• Assumptions and exclusions sit right next to the price.
• There is a validity date so old prices cannot be held against you.
• Deposit or staged payment terms are spelled out.
• There is a clear, easy way for the customer to accept.

Common mistakes to avoid

The biggest one is quoting too fast to look keen. A same-day quote feels good to send, but if you skipped measuring up or guessed the material count, you have just locked yourself into a loss. Take the extra hour. A slightly slower, accurate quote beats a fast wrong one every time.

The other classic is forgetting GST or burying it. If you are registered, your prices must be GST inclusive and the GST amount has to be shown. Quoting a number and adding ten percent at invoice time reads as a sting to the customer, even when you are in the right. Decide up front whether your headline figure includes GST, then say so plainly. And never leave the payment terms off. A quote that wins the job but says nothing about a deposit or when the balance is due is how you end up chasing money for months.