Free Australian quote generator

How to write a quote in Australia

A quote is the last thing a customer reads before deciding to hire you, and the document you argue from if the job goes sideways. General information for sole traders below — not tax, accounting or legal advice — with a source for each fact.

Quote or estimate — the difference and why it matters

Tradies use the words loosely: a quote is the firm number, an estimate is the ballpark. We could not find any Commonwealth law defining "estimate" or giving the word legal effect, so typing it at the top does not by itself buy you the right to charge more later.

What matters is what happens when the customer says yes. business.gov.au puts it plainly: "If a customer accepts your quote, it becomes a legally binding contract." (business.gov.au) The ACCC's personal services guide describes a removalist who tried to add A$1,100 after loading the truck, and notes "the consumer was only obliged to pay the amount that was originally agreed". The same guide warns that not explaining your terms up front "may be considered misleading or deceptive conduct or unconscionable conduct". (ACCC, 2013)

So if you want the price to be able to move later, the quote has to say so and the customer has to agree before you start. Nothing we found requires a quote to be in writing at all — business.gov.au just recommends it. Some states and territories add rules for particular trades, notably residential building work, so check your state or territory fair trading body before you rely on a handshake.

*That ACCC guide carries a 2013 imprint. The examples and the contract principle in it are still instructive, but consumer law has moved since — check the current ACCC guidance before relying on any of it for a live dispute.*

What to put in a quote so it holds up

There is no legislated content list for a quote the way there is for a tax invoice. business.gov.au recommends a written quote include at least:

• your business name, ABN and contact details
• the customer's name and contact details
• a clear description of the work or service
• itemised and total costs, including GST if applicable
• any variations and revisions discussed
• payment terms and conditions, such as due date and late payment penalties
• preferred payment method
• work start and finish dates
• a quote expiry date
• space for the customer's acceptance (signature and date)

Add one more, which is not on that list: exclusions. What you are *not* doing is where disputes live, so give it its own block — "Excludes making good plasterwork, painting, after-hours access." The expiry date does the other half of the job, protecting you when material prices move.

Put your ABN on it too. We found no law making an ABN a condition of quoting or invoicing, but the ATO frames the consequence on the customer's side: where a business supplies goods or services without quoting an ABN, the payer generally withholds the top rate of tax from payments of more than A$75 excluding GST. The ATO's statement-by-supplier guidance puts that rate at 47% (from 1 July 2017), and says a supplier "must quote their ABN by the time the payment is made". Quotes are on the ATO's own list of documents an ABN can be quoted on, so putting it on the quote counts from the start. (ATO)

Docketlane's product boundary is deliberately stricter: a valid seller ABN is required before any Australian quote can be downloaded or shared as client-ready. That does not turn the safeguard into a universal legal requirement, and no-ABN exceptions can apply; draft preview remains available while the details are incomplete.

Pricing is a separate problem: the job quote calculator turns labour, materials and margin into a total, the hourly rate calculator works out what your time has to earn, and the call-out fee calculator covers travel.

How to show GST on a quote

It comes down to one thing: are you registered for GST? You must register once your GST turnover is A$75,000 or more — turnover being "your total business income (not your profit)" — and the ATO says to register "within 21 days of your GST turnover exceeding the relevant threshold". Taxi, limousine and ride-sourcing drivers must register regardless of turnover. If you had one big year and expect a quieter one, note the ATO's carve-out: "Even if your current GST turnover is at or above the threshold, you don't have to register for GST if your projected GST turnover will be less than the threshold." Borderline cases are worth a call to a registered tax agent rather than a guess. (ATO)

Registered? GST is "a broad-based tax of 10% on most goods, services and other items sold or consumed in Australia". (ATO) Show a GST-exclusive subtotal, the GST amount, then the total. Where a price already includes GST, the GST portion is one-eleventh — the ATO's wording is "dividing the price by 11". The GST calculator works it both ways.

Not registered? Do not include GST at all. Quote one number and add a line saying so — "No GST: not registered for GST." business.gov.au is direct about the invoice that follows: "If your GST turnover is under $75,000 and you haven't chosen to register for GST, you don't include GST in your prices. Any invoices you provide need to show that GST was not included." (business.gov.au) That later invoice must not be called a tax invoice either.

Either way, say whether your prices include GST. A customer who reads A$1,000 and pays A$1,100 remembers it.

A worked example

Switchboard upgrade, GST-registered sparkie:

Check it the ATO's way: A$1,100 ÷ 11 = A$100. The two methods agreeing is the fastest sanity check there is.

Underneath, in plain sentences: *Includes* — removal and disposal of the old board, testing, compliance certificate. *Excludes* — repairs to circuits found faulty on testing, plaster, paint. *Valid until* — 30 days from today. *Deposit* — A$300 on acceptance, balance 7 days from invoice.

Not registered for GST? Identical, minus the tax lines. Afterwards, price recurring work with the repeat service pricing calculator, or tag the job in Docketlane and let job profit compare what came in against what it cost.

Deposits and progress payments

Taking a deposit before you order materials is normal practice. We found no Commonwealth rule capping deposits for services, so anyone quoting you a hard percentage is stating a custom, not a law.

What is law: if you use standard form contracts to supply services to consumers, the ACCC says "you must ensure these comply with national unfair contract terms laws. These laws are part of the ACL." Its list of terms that may be unfair includes one that lets a business "forfeit a security bond for any breach of the contract, that is, even if there is no causal link between the breach and the forfeiture". So say what the deposit covers and what happens if the job is cancelled, rather than a blanket "non-refundable". On longer jobs, stage payments against milestones the customer can see. (ACCC, 2013)

If you are on a job where the customer holds back money until completion or the end of a defects period, note how that lands on the eventual invoice: GSTR 2013/1 says "the price of what is supplied is the total consideration payable including the retention amount", though the document "can also show the net amount payable". (GSTR 2013/1)

What happens when the job changes

You open the wall and the wiring is worse than anyone thought. That is a variation, and the moment to deal with it is now, not on the final invoice. Send it in writing before you do the work — what changed, what it adds, what it does to the finish date — and get a reply. A text saying "go ahead" is a record, and it is the practical answer to the ACCC's point that the customer is only obliged to pay what was agreed.

Consumer guarantees run underneath a lot of this. For services, the ACCC sets out three: the work must be carried out with due care and skill, it must be fit for any purpose the customer made known, and where no time frame is agreed it must be supplied within a reasonable time. And "the basic rights covered by consumer guarantees can't be taken away by anything a business says or does" — so no clause in your quote gets you out of doing the work properly. (ACCC)

Two limits worth knowing rather than assuming. Where the customer is a business buying for business use, the ACCC says consumer guarantees apply when the service "costs less than $100,000 including GST", or is "a product or service commonly bought for personal, domestic or household use" — so a large commercial job may sit outside them. And the fit-for-purpose guarantee "doesn't apply to professional services provided by a qualified architect or engineer". If a specific job's cover matters to you, that is a question for a lawyer or your state fair trading body, not a web page.

Turning an accepted quote into an invoice

The invoice should say what the quote said — same line items, same totals, same scope, plus anything agreed as a variation.

If you are registered for GST it becomes a tax invoice, and the ATO's rules apply. For taxable sales of less than A$1,000 the document must let the reader clearly determine seven things: that it is intended to be a tax invoice, your identity, your ABN, the date the invoice was issued, a description of what was sold with quantity and price, the GST payable, and the extent to which each sale is taxable. Sales of A$1,000 or more also need the buyer's identity or ABN. (ATO)

That threshold runs on the GST-inclusive total — GSTR 2013/1 ties it to "the total price of the supply or supplies", and under the GST Act the price is the amount payable "without any discount for the amount of GST". The A$1,100 job above is over the line, so put the customer's name on it. Easiest habit: put the customer's name on everything.

On "your identity", GSTR 2013/1 is more specific than most templates: your legal name or your registered business name will do, and "a builder's registration number or licence number is insufficient in itself to identify the supplier". A PDF counts — the ATO says a tax invoice "doesn't need to be issued in paper form". Keep it at least five years, as with most business records. (ATO)

Docketlane closes that loop. Share the quote as a secure link, the customer opens it on their phone and accepts or declines online, and the acceptance is recorded against the quote — no chasing a signed PDF through email. Then convert it into an invoice in the invoice generator, line items and totals already carried across.

Sources

General information only, current as at the source dates listed — not tax, accounting or legal advice. Rules and thresholds change, and how they apply depends on your circumstances. For advice on your own situation, speak to a registered tax agent or BAS agent. Docketlane is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, approved by, certified by or endorsed by the ATO, the ACCC or any government agency.

• business.gov.au, *Prepare quotes* — business.gov.au
• business.gov.au, *How to invoice* — business.gov.au
• business.gov.au, *Register for GST* — business.gov.au
• ATO, *Registering for GST* — ato.gov.au
• ATO, *How GST works* — ato.gov.au
• ATO, *Tax invoices* (last updated 25 August 2025) — ato.gov.au
• ATO, *Overview of record-keeping rules for business* — ato.gov.au
• ATO, *Statement by a supplier not quoting an ABN* — ato.gov.au
• ATO, *GSTR 2013/1 Goods and services tax: tax invoices* — ato.gov.au
• ABR, *ABN entitlement* — abr.gov.au
• ACCC, *Consumer guarantees* — accc.gov.au
• ACCC, *Personal services — an industry guide to the Australian Consumer Law* (2013) — accc.gov.au

Common questions

Is a quote legally binding in Australia?

Not on its own — it is an offer. business.gov.au states that once a customer accepts your quote, it becomes a legally binding contract. That is why scope, exclusions and the expiry date matter more than the word at the top of the page.

Does a quote have to be in writing?

No Commonwealth law we found requires it. business.gov.au recommends it, because "a written quote helps avoid mix-ups and protects your business from disputes or unpaid work". Some states and territories add written-contract rules for particular trades, especially residential building — check your state or territory fair trading body.

Should a quote include GST?

If you are registered for GST, yes: show the subtotal, the GST and the total. If you are not registered, do not add GST at all, and say so on the quote so nobody is surprised at invoice time.

Can I charge more than I quoted?

Not on your own say-so. The ACCC guidance describes a consumer who "was only obliged to pay the amount that was originally agreed". Extra work needs to be agreed as a variation, in writing, before you do it.

How long should a quote stay valid?

We found no legally prescribed period. Pick one and put it on the document — 30 days is common, shorter if your material prices swing. business.gov.au lists a quote expiry date among what a written quote should include.

Do I need an ABN to send a quote?

We found no law making an ABN a condition of quoting or invoicing. But without one quoted by the time you are paid, a business customer generally has to withhold the top rate of tax from payments of more than A$75 excluding GST — the ATO's statement-by-supplier guidance gives that rate as 47% (from 1 July 2017). Docketlane requires a valid seller ABN for an Australian client-ready quote as a stricter product safeguard, while still allowing draft preview. Issuing quotes also counts as a commencement activity for ABN entitlement, so you can apply before your first job. Note the ABR's flip side: not everyone is entitled to one, and you are "not entitled to an ABN for work that you carry out as an employee … even if you or your employer calls it contracting". (ABR)

How big a deposit can I ask for?

We found no Commonwealth cap for services. Ask for what genuinely covers materials and mobilisation, spell out what it covers, and avoid blanket non-refundable wording in standard contracts — the ACCC flags forfeiture terms with no causal link to the breach as potentially unfair.

What is the difference between the quote and the tax invoice?

The quote is the offer; the tax invoice is the request for payment once the work is done, and it carries ATO content requirements the quote does not. If a customer asks for a tax invoice, the ATO says you must provide one within 28 days, unless the sale is A$82.50 including GST or less.