QUOTING SOFTWARE FOR TRADESMEN & SMALL BUSINESSES

A quote is a fixed price you're committing to, whereas an estimate is a rough figure that can still move once you've seen the full scope of the job. Most tradesmen use the word quote loosely to mean either, but if a customer accepts a proper quote, you're generally expected to honour that price even if the job turns out slightly more involved than planned. That's why it's worth being clear with the customer up front about which one you're actually giving them, especially on jobs where the scope could change once you get on site.

You can absolutely get by on email and a Word document when you're starting out, plenty of tradesmen have done exactly that for years. The problem tends to show up once you're sending more than a handful of quotes a week: retyping the same details, chasing customers who haven't replied, and not knowing whether they've even opened what you sent. Quoting software mostly earns its keep by removing that admin rather than doing anything you couldn't technically do by hand.

Pricing varies a lot depending on how many features you need. Some tools charge per user per month regardless of how much you actually use them, which can be poor value if you're a sole trader sending a handful of quotes a week. Others price based on how many quotes you send, so you're not paying for capacity you don't need. Make A Quote works this way, with plans geared around your actual monthly quote volume rather than a flat subscription.

Yes, and it's more common than you'd think, particularly on jobs mixing materials and labour with different VAT treatments. Good quoting software lets you set VAT at the individual item level rather than forcing one rate across the whole document, and should let you apply HMRC's special rates where they genuinely apply. If most of what you do is standard rated, you shouldn't have to touch this at all, it should just default sensibly.

With a plain PDF attached to an email, you genuinely don't know, you're relying on them to reply. Quoting software that sends a link instead of an attachment can usually tell you the moment the customer opens it, since the system logs the view rather than guessing. That's useful for deciding when to follow up, rather than chasing someone who hasn't even read it yet, or waiting too long after someone clearly has.

Generally, yes, once a customer accepts a clear, priced quote, you've formed a contract, even if nothing's been signed on paper. This isn't legal advice for your specific situation, but as a general rule it's worth treating an accepted quote as a firm commitment on both sides. That's part of why it's worth being precise about what's included and what isn't, so there's no ambiguity if the job doesn't go exactly to plan.

Most modern quoting tools are built mobile first for exactly this reason, tradesmen rarely want to go back to an office computer to write up a job they've just looked at. Being able to price it up on your phone or tablet while you're still stood there, and sometimes even send it before you've left, tends to win more work than promising to email something over later in the week.

There's no fixed rule, but 30 days is common for most trade work, and it's worth stating an expiry date clearly on the document itself rather than leaving it open ended. Material costs move, and a quote with no expiry can come back to bite you months later if prices have gone up in the meantime. Some quoting software will handle this automatically and flag old quotes that need refreshing before you send them again.

Clear item by item pricing rather than a single lump sum, your business details and logo, a defined scope of what is and isn't included, and a validity date all go a long way. Customers comparing quotes from a few different tradesmen tend to trust the one that reads clearly and looks consistent over one that feels thrown together, even if the actual price is similar.

Not currently - its on its way, Make A Quote is focused purely on quotes, from creating and sending through to tracking whether a customer has viewed and approved one. If you need invoicing too, you'll want to pair it with separate invoicing software or your accounting package. Keeping quoting focused rather than trying to do everything means the quote side of things stays simple and quick to use, which is the bit most tradesmen actually struggle with day to day.