Free Quote Generator
for Contractors

How to use the quote generator

1. 1

   Name the job and add lines

   Give the quote a title, then add a line per material, service or labor block: a short title the customer reads, and an optional description of what's included.

2. 2

   Add what it costs you

   Open “Costs & Notes” on a line and enter labor, materials and fees. The Internal Workshop panel shows profit and margin as you go. None of it prints.

3. 3

   Set tax and download

   Tax, a discount or deposit if there is one, your terms, then Download PDF. The draft stays in your browser so you can come back and edit it.

What goes in a contractor quote

A quote that wins the job and protects you later has the same handful of parts whether you're a plumber, an electrician, a roofer or a general contractor:

• Who and when. Your business details, the customer's name and the job address, a quote number you can refer to, the date, and a valid-until date so the price doesn't stand forever while material costs move.
• Scope, line by line. Break the work into lines the customer can read: “Tear-off and disposal”, “Architectural shingles, 40 sq”, “Labor, 3 crew × 2 days”. Lines you can explain are lines a customer doesn't argue about.
• Quantities and unit prices. Even for a lump-sum job, showing quantities makes a change order simple later: the customer already knows what one extra square or one extra hour costs.
• Tax, shown separately. Name the tax (sales tax, HST, GST, VAT) and show it as its own line so the total is never a surprise.
• Terms. Deposit, payment schedule, what's excluded (permits, disposal, unforeseen conditions), and how long the price holds.

Price the job, not just the parts

Most underpriced jobs aren't underpriced because the contractor forgot a line; they're underpriced because the markup on each line was a guess. That's what the Internal Workshop is for. Enter what each line actually costs you, split into labor, materials and fees, and the panel shows your profit and margin on the whole quote as you type. The customer never sees any of it, only your prices.

As a rule of thumb, trades businesses need a gross margin of 30–50% on quoted work to cover overhead (truck, insurance, tools, the hours you don't bill) and still make a profit. If the panel shows 18%, the job will feel busy and pay badly. Fix it before you send it, not after.

Quote, estimate or invoice?

A quote is a fixed price the customer can accept. An estimate is a best guess that can change. An invoice is the bill once work is done (or a deposit is due). Many customers use the words loosely, so label the document clearly and add a valid-until date. When the customer says yes, open the free invoice generator: your line items are already there.

When you'll want an account

The generator is the QuoTrak editor without the parts that need somewhere to live. A free account saves every quote, links line items to a products catalog so prices fill themselves in, and converts an accepted quote to an invoice in one click. Pro adds email sending, online payment links, templates, job costing and sending invoices to QuickBooks or Xero. Every signup starts with 7 days of Pro. See pricing.

Questions

• Is the quote generator really free?
  Yes. Build the quote, add as many line items as you need and download the PDF without creating an account. The PDF carries a small “Made with QuoTrak” line in the footer. A free QuoTrak account saves your quotes, and Pro replaces that line with your own logo and footer.
• Where is my quote stored?
  In your browser only. The draft is kept in your browser's local storage so you can come back to it on the same device, and nothing is sent to our servers unless you choose to save it to a QuoTrak account.
• What is the difference between a quote and an estimate?
  A quote is a fixed price the customer can accept; an estimate is an approximation that may change. Most trades use the words interchangeably, but if you write “quote” and the customer accepts it, you are generally expected to hold that price. Use the valid-until date to limit how long the price stands.
• Does the customer see my costs or margin?
  No. Costs, private notes and the Internal Workshop panel are only for you and are never printed on the PDF. The customer sees descriptions, quantities, unit prices and totals.
• Can I turn this quote into an invoice?
  Yes. Switch to the invoice generator and the same line items carry over; change the number and due date and download. With a QuoTrak account an accepted quote converts to an invoice in one click and the invoice can carry an online payment link.