Creating a quote or estimate

TIP: We call them 'quotes' in YourTradebase, but you can choose to create and send Quotes, Quotations, Estimates, Proposals… or anything else you like!

Starting a new quote

Create a new quote from your home screen by selecting New > Quote. You can also visit any job (or customer) and create a quote from there.

Every quote is linked to a customer and to a job, so we'll ask "Who's it's for?" and "What's the job?" when you create a new quote.

Select the customer and job – or add them if you're quoting for new work – and you'll see your quote template:

Types of quote

Select the Quote title to choose the type of quote you're creating, like this:

We give you a selection of titles to choose from, but if you'd rather use a different title, you can set your own in Settings > Quotes > Default quote title.

Quote reference and date

We'll assign a reference number to your quote, and set the date to today, but you're free to change either.

Customer and job address

If you've added an address for your customer, we'll fill that in for you.

If the work is happening at a different site address, select " Add a job address" and enter the details of where the work is happening. If you do add a job address here, we'll save that to the linked job for you.

Introduction to your quote

We've provided a template introduction text to give a warm thanks to your customer, and introduce them to their quote. You can personalise this introduction as needed.

If you'd like every quote you create to feature the same introduction, you can change the default via Settings > Quotes > Default introduction text. We set the customer's friendly name for you in the introduction, but you can use email tags to change this to their full name if you prefer.

Quoting for work with work items

Work items allow you to break down the work you're quoting for.

You can add as much or as little detail to each work item as you need, and cost various aspects, too. Here's what you can add:

Title – give the work you're quoting here a title.
Description – add as much description as you need to outline the work you're going to complete.
Material costs – cost materials, add quantities and your markup for this work.
Labour costs – cost your labour, add quantities and any markup for this work.
Price – add any additional pricing to your item.
VAT/TAX % – select the rate of tax – if any – to apply to your item total. Your tax rates can be changed in Settings > Company.
Optional flag – if this item is for optional work, select the 'optional' button and we'll ask your client which work they want to go ahead with if they accept your quote.

Use work items to break down the work you're quoting in any way you choose. For example, you might choose to break down work room-by-room, or by each phase of the work.

Here's an example of some completed work items:

You can add more work items by selecting 'Add another work item', and you're free to add as many work items as you need.

If you'd like to re-order your work items, select and drag the arrow icons to move each work item around. And if you need to remove a work item, just select the trash can.

Using your price list

Work items can be saved to and re-used from your price list. The title, description and any costs for the item are saved for you to quickly re-use in the future.

Using your price list really speeds up quoting new work, by letting you pull in saved work items to adjust for each particular job.

Totals and taxes

The quote totals and any taxes are automatically calculated from each work item as you quote.

Notes and terms

Is your quote only valid for a certain amount of time? Require a deposit to get started? You can add these details in your notes and terms.

All done?

Hit 'Save quote' and your quote will be saved as a draft, ready to customise and send.

Happy quoting!