How to Write a Quote: Template, Must-Have Fields and Excel's Limits

How to write a quote looks like a simple question: open a spreadsheet, list the products, add prices, export a PDF and send it. Reality is messier. The customer calls to ask whether the price includes VAT, the exchange rate moves so you cannot honour the same price two weeks later, a sales rep quotes from an old price list, and once the quote is sent nobody follows up.

In this article we go through every field an accepted quote must contain and share a price quote example you can use for furniture and manufacturing businesses. Then we look at where Excel and Word start to break down, how AI can help with the wording of a quote and how online quote approval works.

By the end you will also have a clear answer to one question: when should you move your quoting process into a system built for your business?

How to write a quote: a 6-step workflow

Whatever your sector, a solid quote is put together in this order:

1. Pin down the requirement. Get in writing what the customer wants, in what size, what quantity and by what date. Details agreed on the phone that never make it into the quote cause problems later.
2. Work from the current price list. Take cost, discounts and margin from one reliable source.
3. Break out the line items. Show products, shipping, assembly, installation and training on separate lines.
4. Clarify tax and currency. VAT rate, inclusive or exclusive, currency and exchange rate basis.
5. Write the terms. Validity period, delivery time, payment plan, warranty.
6. Send it and follow up. Record when the quote was opened, what the customer said and what the next step is.

Most companies manage the first five steps reasonably well and lose the deal at step six. A quote nobody follows up is as good as a quote never sent.

Must-have fields in a quote that gets accepted

Company and customer details

At the top, show your registered company name, tax office and tax number (or the equivalent registration details in your country), address and contact information. On the customer side, include their company name, the contact person and their details. Give every quote a unique quote number, and add suffixes such as "-R1" and "-R2" for revisions.

Product and service line items

Each line should contain a product code, description, size or variant, quantity, unit, unit price, discount and line total. Instead of writing "bedroom set", use a precise description such as "6-door wardrobe, 240 cm, walnut finish". Adding images, especially for furniture, greatly reduces misunderstandings.

VAT information

State clearly, on each line or in the table header, whether prices include or exclude VAT. In the totals section, show subtotal, discount, VAT base, VAT amount and grand total on separate lines. If some items are subject to different rates, group them separately.

Currency and exchange rate note

For companies whose raw materials are priced in foreign currency, this is the most critical field. If your price is based on euros or dollars, state the currency, which date's rate will be used for invoicing and which source the rate comes from. A Türkiye-based example: "Prices are in EUR and will be invoiced in TL at the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye selling rate on the invoice date." That one sentence prevents a lot of arguments later.

Validity period

Instead of "This quote is valid for 15 days", write a specific date: "This quote is valid until 30 June." If prices in your sector are volatile, keep the period short. The validity date also works as a natural reminder for the customer to make a decision.

Delivery terms

State the delivery time (how many working days from order confirmation), delivery location, who pays for shipping, whether assembly is included and, for exports, the Incoterm (EXW, FOB, CIF and so on).

Payment terms

Include the deposit percentage, when the balance is due, accepted payment methods (bank transfer, credit card, cheque) and any terms for deferred payment surcharges. A clear structure such as "50% on order confirmation, 50% before delivery" makes both your cash flow and the customer's planning easier.

Warranty, notes and approval section

Add the warranty period, exclusions, return conditions for made-to-order items and, at the bottom, a customer approval section (full name, date, company stamp/signature or digital approval).

Price quote example: a template for furniture and manufacturing firms

The quotation template below represents a quote that a furniture manufacturer in İnegöl, Türkiye's furniture production hub, might send to a dealer or a project customer. The figures are for illustration only and are not real prices.

Below the table comes this block:

• Subtotal: 9,145 EUR
• VAT (rate to be stated): calculated separately
• Exchange rate note: The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye selling rate on the invoice date applies.
• Validity: From the quote date until the stated date.
• Delivery: 25 working days after order confirmation and deposit, assembly not included.
• Payment: 40% in advance with the order, 60% before delivery.
• Warranty: 2 years on the frame, excluding user damage and fabric wear.

For manufacturers of metal, glass or foam, the structure is the same; the difference is that technical fields such as dimensions, tonnage, thickness or quality grade take centre stage on each line. If you are curious how sales processes are going digital in the furniture sector, take a look at our work with furniture companies.

How to write a sales quote: details beyond the price

Complete fields make a quote correct, but they do not make it accepted. When writing a sales quote, these small touches make a difference:

• A short opening paragraph: a sentence that restates the customer's need, such as "Furniture for 120 rooms for the hotel project you described in our meeting", shows the quote was prepared specifically for them.
• Offer options: two or three alternatives, such as economy, standard and premium, shift the customer's question from "should I buy?" to "which one should I buy?".
• State what is not included: do not leave items like assembly, shipping or installation vague.
• Give one point of contact: a customer with a question should know exactly whom to call.
• Send it fast: when several companies quote for the same job, the first well-prepared quote often starts with an advantage.

The limits of an Excel quote template: where does it break?

An Excel quote template or Word document works at small scale. For a company sending a few quotes a month with a price list that rarely changes, it may be enough. Problems appear as you grow.

Version chaos

"quote_final.xlsx", "quote_final_revised.xlsx", "quote_final_revised_REAL.xlsx". If these file names look familiar, you are not alone. It becomes unclear which version went to the customer and which price was approved.

Wrong prices and broken formulas

A formula shifts when a row is copied, a figure from an old price list stays in, a discount gets applied twice. A single cell error can turn a profitable job into a loss, and you often only notice once the order is already in production.

Quotes nobody can track

Which quotes are pending, which were rejected, which need revising? In Excel this information either does not exist or sits in a separate list maintained by hand. When a sales rep leaves, the quote history leaves with them.

Entering the same data again and again

When an approved quote becomes an order, the same items are retyped into the order form, then the production plan, then the invoice. Every retyping is another chance for an error.

Using AI to write quote text

AI tools are useful for speeding up the text of a quote, not the price table. They save real time on the opening paragraph, product descriptions, turning technical specifications into customer-friendly language and translating quotes into other languages.

A practical workflow looks like this: you provide your meeting notes, the AI produces an opening paragraph summarising the customer's need and short descriptions explaining how each product meets that need. You then review and edit.

In a custom-built system, AI can be connected directly to the quote screen: line items come from the system, text suggestions come from the AI, and the sales rep gives final approval. With this balance you gain writing speed without the risk of number errors.

How does online quote approval work?

With online quote approval, the customer receives a link instead of (or alongside) a PDF. They click it, view the quote in their browser and choose one of these actions:

• Approve: their name and the date are recorded and you get an instant notification.
• Request a revision: the customer adds a note about which item they disagree with.
• Reject: an optional reason is selected; this information is valuable for your future pricing decisions.

This setup has two big benefits. First, you can see whether the quote has been opened; calling about a quote that was opened but not answered is a very different conversation from calling about one that was never opened. Second, the approval record is stored in the system with the date and person, which cuts down on "we never approved that" disputes.

A good quoting process makes it easy for the customer to say "yes" and lets you answer the question "where did this yes come from?".

The legal validity of online approval can vary depending on the type and value of the contract, the parties involved and the country. For high-value deals, it is sensible to have a separate contract signed after approval or to consult a lawyer.

When should you move to a custom quoting system?

Not everyone needs a custom system. But if three or more of the points below sound familiar, you have reached the limits of Excel:

• Several sales reps are preparing quotes at the same time.
• Your price list changes frequently because of exchange rates or raw material costs.
• You work with different price lists for dealers, project customers and end consumers.
• You cannot see at a glance which quote is at which stage.
• Approved quotes are transferred manually to orders, production and invoicing.
• You cannot report from your quote history which products or reps bring in the most business.

In a custom system, the quote does not stand alone. The customer record lives in the CRM, an approved quote becomes an order with one click, the order moves through production and shipping, and finally the invoice is issued through e-invoice integration. If you have a dealer network, dealers can create their own quotes and orders through a B2B dealer portal. That way the same information is entered once and carried through the whole process.

Off-the-shelf quoting software is also an option; if your workflow is standard, it gives you a quick start. If your pricing logic is complex (products with variants, dealer-specific discounts, mixed foreign currency and TL price lists), ready-made tools usually stop bending at some point. We cover the pros and cons of both routes, with features and cost items, in our article on quoting software: off-the-shelf vs custom.

At Fietto Creative we build systems that bring quoting, ordering and dealer processes together for furniture and manufacturing companies. If you would like to discuss a setup that fits your own process, have a look at our custom business software page. But the starting point is always the same: fill in the missing fields in the quote template you use today. A quote without an exchange rate note, a clear expiry date and explicit payment terms will cause problems no matter which software it was made in.

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