Quotation Format for Business — Free Word, Excel & PDF

Every professional quotation follows the same fixed structure: a header with the "Quotation" label, quotation number, issue date and valid-until date; the seller's details (with GSTIN in India); the buyer's details; itemized line items with quantity, unit rate and amount; subtotal, tax and grand total; terms covering validity, payment and exclusions; and an acceptance signature line. A quotation format is a structured document layout that presents prices, quantities, taxes and terms to a potential buyer before a sale is confirmed — the offer that comes before the invoice. Below is the full quotation format for business use: copy it, download it as a Word, Excel or PDF file, or build one in the free quote builder in about a minute.

Standard Quotation Format: The Complete Field List

The format of a quotation barely changes between industries; what changes is how deep each section goes. A business quotation format used between two companies adds fields a consumer quote skips: tax registration numbers, place of supply, a reference to the buyer's enquiry, and an authorized signatory with name and designation. Here is every field, section by section:

Two layouts carry these fields. A table format suits traders, manufacturers and distributors quoting multiple line items with varying tax rates side by side. A letter format suits consultants, contractors and agencies that describe a scope of work in prose and close with a cost summary. Indian law mandates neither — pick whichever your client can approve fastest.

Quotation Format in Word, Excel or PDF: Which Should You Send?

Use a quotation format in Word when the quote is prose-heavy, a quotation format in Excel when it is calculation-heavy, and convert either to PDF before sending so nobody can quietly edit your prices — that split covers almost every situation, because Word handles letter-style service quotes well, Excel formulas handle totals and GST automatically, and a PDF renders identically on every device your client opens it on.

Download the same layout in all three files: quotation format in Word (.docx), the quotation format in Excel free download (.xlsx) with GST formulas pre-built, or the print-ready quotation format PDF. If you'd rather make a quotation format in Excel yourself, keep every calculation in a formula cell — the most common quote error we see is not bad pricing but a broken total, because someone typed a last-minute discount over the =SUM() cell and the grand total silently froze. Canva-style design tools have the opposite problem: beautiful quote, phone-calculator tax math. More printable quote template layouts are available too; converting in MS Word is File, Save As, PDF (in Google Docs: File, Download, PDF).

Simple Quotation Format

A simple quotation format strips the document to six essentials: your details, the client's details, quotation number and date, itemized prices, tax and total, and a validity line. Freelancers and one-person businesses quoting a single service rarely need more. Some clients call this a quotation bill format — a quote laid out like the final bill, so they can see what the invoice will look like before saying yes.

Quotation Letter Format

A quotation letter format follows formal letter structure: sender's address at top left, date, a one-line subject stating the purpose ("Quotation for Printing Services"), a salutation such as "Dear Sir/Madam", a body that itemizes products or services with quantities, unit prices and taxes, then a complimentary closing — "Sincerely" or "Yours faithfully" — with signature, name in block letters and designation. Service businesses use it because scope reads better in sentences; the numbers still sit in a short list inside the body.

A short sample you can adapt:

Subject: Quotation for Housekeeping Services — ref. your enquiry dated 18 July 2026

Dear Sir/Madam, thank you for your interest in our facility services. We are pleased to quote for daily housekeeping of your 8,000 sq ft office: three trained staff, six days a week, consumables included — ₹58,000 per month plus GST at 18% (₹10,440), total ₹68,440 per month. This quotation is valid for 21 days from the date above. Payment: monthly, within 7 days of invoice. We look forward to working with you.

Yours faithfully, R. Sharma, Operations Manager

For a request letter (asking a supplier to quote), keep the same structure but list what you need with quantities and specifications — a subject line like "Request for quotation for bulk purchase" and a clear reply-by date get faster responses. There is a full walkthrough in our request for quotation sample guide, and the quotation format letter template in Word is part of the download pack.

GST Quotation Format for India

A GST quotation format adds four things to the standard layout: the GSTIN of both parties, an HSN code for goods or SAC code for services on every line, the taxable value shown separately from tax, and the correct GST breakup — CGST plus SGST for an intra-state sale, IGST for an inter-state one, decided by the place of supply. A quotation is not a tax document, but every error on it carries straight over to the GST invoice you raise after acceptance, and an incorrect GSTIN or wrong code can block your buyer's input tax credit (ITC) claim.

• Verify the buyer's GSTIN on the GST portal (gst.gov.in) before quoting — their registered state decides CGST+SGST vs IGST.
• Use the right code depth. Under CBIC Notification 78/2020, businesses with turnover up to ₹5 crore may use 4-digit HSN/SAC codes; above that, 6 digits.
• Composition scheme sellers cannot charge GST separately — state this on the quote so the buyer knows no ITC is available.
• Show tax as its own line. Taxable value, then tax rate and amount, then grand total — rate rules and law texts are on the CBIC GST portal.

Worked Example: Interior Quotation Format in ₹

An interior quotation format groups work room by room and keeps the design fee separate from execution. In the item table below, a Bengaluru studio quotes a Bengaluru client — same state, so GST 18% splits into CGST 9% + SGST 9%:

Subtotal ₹4,00,000 · CGST @ 9% ₹36,000 · SGST @ 9% ₹36,000 · Total amount payable ₹4,72,000 (Rupees four lakh seventy-two thousand only). Quotation no. QT/2026-27/0142, valid 21 days, 50% advance to begin, balance on handover, site cleaning included, civil work excluded. Had the client been in Chennai, the tax line would read IGST @ 18% ₹72,000 — same total, different split.

Quotation Number Format

A quotation number format is a fixed pattern of prefix, period and sequence that gives each quote a unique, traceable identifier. Pick one pattern and never restart the sequence mid-period:

• QT-0042 — plain sequential; fine for very low volume
• QT-2026-0033 — calendar-year based; the most common globally
• QT/2026-27/0142 — Indian financial-year style (April–March), matching how your GST records are organized
• QT-ACME-2026-007 — client-coded, useful for agencies quoting the same accounts repeatedly

When you revise a quote before acceptance, keep the number, add a revision suffix (QT-2026-0033-R1), and tell the buyer it replaces the earlier version — buyers running ISO 9001 quality systems expect that version control. The same discipline applies if a buyer wants to negotiate after accepting: you are not obliged to agree, and any change you do accept should ship as a fresh revision, never a silent edit. Inconsistent numbering quietly breaks follow-up and tracking three months later.

Validity and Payment Terms That Protect You

Most Indian businesses keep quotation validity between 7 and 30 days; 15 to 30 is the SME norm, and construction or large projects stretch to 60. No law prescribes a period — under the Indian Contract Act 1872 an offer simply lapses after the stated time — but a blank validity line, with no expiration date, creates real ambiguity if the buyer accepts four months later, after material costs or GST rates have moved. Shorter is usually better: clients decide within days, and a 14-day window creates gentle urgency while protecting you from price swings.

Alongside validity, spell out payment terms (advance percentage, milestones, or credit period), delivery timeline and what counts as delay, whether freight, packaging and installation are included, whether the price is fixed or revisable if scope changes, and a short terms and conditions block covering cancellation, dispute resolution and jurisdiction. Listing exclusions feels pessimistic; it is the cheapest way to prevent a scope argument, and that transparency is what builds buyer trust and heads off misunderstandings before they stall an approval.

Quotation vs Estimate vs Proforma Invoice

• Quotation — a fixed price, open for acceptance for a defined validity period; binding once the buyer accepts in writing (email or WhatsApp counts) within that window
• Estimate — best-guess pricing, subject to change once scope is confirmed
• Proforma invoice — looks like an invoice but is non-binding; used for advance payments, financing approvals and import documentation

An RFQ sits upstream of all three: the buyer sends it to multiple suppliers asking for their best price, and your quotation — the sales quote — is the reply. Once accepted, the quote converts into a purchase order from their side and an invoice from yours.

One Format, Different Line Items: Industry Variants

One India-specific use worth knowing: banks ask loan applicants for a vendor quotation before sanctioning an equipment or machinery loan. A business loan quotation format is just a standard GST quotation addressed to the applicant — the bank wants the exact landed cost, taxes included. Government buyers are different again: their purchases follow the General Financial Rules 2017 and the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal's own formats.

How to Send a Quotation (and What Happens After)

Send the PDF, not the editable file. The business quotation mail format that gets read is short: a subject line carrying the quote number, scope and validity — "Quotation QT/2026-27/0142 — Modular Kitchen and Interiors — valid till 14 Aug 2026" — a two-line body with the total, the PDF attached, and one clear next step. In India, sharing the same PDF on WhatsApp alongside email is normal and visibly speeds up approvals.

1. Save the final quote as PDF and check the totals one last time
2. Email it with the quote number in the subject; share on WhatsApp if that is where the client talks
3. Follow up once, 2–3 working days later, while the price is fresh
4. If anything changes, revise with a new revision number rather than editing silently
5. On acceptance, raise the invoice against the quote number with the free invoice generator so line items match exactly

Skip the Formatting Entirely

The free quotation generator produces this exact format in about 60 seconds: it auto-numbers each quote, applies the right tax, sets the valid-until date, and outputs a clean PDF for email or WhatsApp — no sign-up. Templates work at low volume, but past a handful of quotes a week, manual data entry, repeated client details and untracked quotes cost real hours; an online quotation maker with saved clients and quotation-to-invoice conversion removes all three, which is the point where billing software starts paying for itself.

This guide is informational only, not tax or legal advice. GST rules summarized from the CBIC GST portal (cbic-gst.gov.in), last verified July 2026 — confirm current rates and code requirements for your registration before quoting.

Related Reading

• Free Estimate Template for Contractors
• Invoice vs Quotation — What's the Difference?
• VAT Invoice Format for Businesses