difference between quote and estimate
Estimate vs Quote: What's the Difference?
People chuck these two words about like they mean the same thing - and getting them mixed up can cost you real money or land you in a row. Here's the difference in one line: a quote is a fixed, binding price; an estimate is your best honest guess that can change. The word you put at the top of that bit of paper matters as much as the number underneath it.
Fixed price vs best guess
A quote is a fixed price. Once the customer accepts it, that's the figure you've agreed to do the work for, full stop. Underprice it and that's on you, not them. A quote is a promise.
An estimate is your best honest steer at what the job will likely cost. The final bill can come in higher or lower depending on what you find once you're cracking on. An estimate is a steer, not a promise.
The legal side, briefly
This one has legal teeth. When a customer accepts a quote, you've effectively formed a contract at that price. Try to charge a load more without good reason and they're well within their rights to push back. An estimate gives you flexibility - but you can't pluck a low number out of the air and then triple it. If a genuine estimate is going to run well over, you tell the customer before you carry on, not after.
When to use each
Use a quote when you can see the full scope and price it with confidence - a consumer unit swap, a known socket count, a room you've had a proper look at. If you can measure it and you know what's behind the walls, quote it. Use an estimate when there are real unknowns: old properties, customers still deciding on fittings, or work that depends on another trade finishing first.
- Quote: scope is clear, you can stand behind the number
- Estimate: genuine unknowns you can't price yet
- Either way, state whether VAT is included or excluded
- Either way, keep a written paper trail - it beats a vague phone chat every time
A checklist to label and word it right
Most disputes come from a number on a scrap of paper that nobody labelled. Don't do that. Run through this before anything goes out:
- ✓ Mark the document clearly as a QUOTE or an ESTIMATE at the top
- ✓ On a quote, add how long the price holds (e.g. valid 30 days - material prices move)
- ✓ On an estimate, say plainly it's approximate and list what could change it
- ✓ State whether VAT is included or excluded, and your VAT number if registered
- ✓ Note that work outside the agreed scope is priced separately as a variation
- ✓ If you take a deposit, say how much and when the balance is due
Where new tradies get this wrong
- Calling everything a 'quote'. If there are real unknowns, you've just bound yourself to a fixed price on a job you can't see the bottom of. Use an estimate and say so.
- Labelling nothing at all. A bare number invites the argument 'but you said...'. The single word at the top settles it.
- Surprising the customer mid-job. On an estimate, the bill should stay reasonably close. If it's running over, flag it before you carry on - spring it after and you'll deserve the earache.
Turn an estimate into a fixed quote in one click
Plenty of jobs start as an estimate - you price it rough while the customer's deciding, then they confirm the fittings and you can lock it in. That's where the back-and-forth usually gets messy. Quotato lets you convert an estimate into a fixed quote in one click - same line items, properly relabelled, with the validity period and terms updated for you. No rebuilding it from scratch.
Whether you do it by hand or by app, just be clear about which one you're giving. Get the label right and you save yourself no end of grief.
Start with an estimate, then turn it into a fixed quote in one click when they're ready.
Try Quotato free →