Quotation format PDF that comes back signed

What the PDF quote template shows

A quotation format in PDF is the version your customer actually reads. Ours is a two page US Letter file with selectable text, numbered lines, group subtotals, an optional extra kept out of the total, a 20% deposit and signature lines. Here you will find when a PDF quote template beats Word or Excel, three ways to fill one in, and how to print it at the right size.

The sample is a front yard makeover for a landscaping business, set in the Forest design. It runs in the order a customer makes a decision: who is quoting and for whom, the job in one sentence, priced lines in groups, then the totals, the deposit and a place to sign.

Paper

US Letter, 8.5 x 11 in, two pages

Text

Selectable and searchable, not a scanned image

Lines

Numbered 1 to 7, grouped as Materials, Labor and Optional extras

Optional item

Garden lighting at $720, in brackets and marked optional, not included

Totals

Subtotal $5,840.00, Deposit to book (20%) $1,168.00, Balance on completion $4,672.00

Acceptance

A valid until reminder, then Signature, Name and Date lines

Because the words are real text, a customer can copy your quote number into a reply and a screen reader can read the lines aloud. A photographed or scanned quote can do neither.

When a PDF quote template is the better choice

Use a PDF for anything that leaves your hands. It looks identical on a phone, a laptop and paper, it cannot be edited by accident, and it opens without Word, Excel or any account. Keep an editable file for yourself and send the PDF as the copy both sides rely on if a question comes up later.

Three ways to fill in a PDF quote

A PDF is a finished page, so the cleanest way to get one with your own details is to build the quote first and export it. If you already hold a PDF and only need to add a few words, a free reader can type on top of it. And a printed blank still works perfectly well with a pen.

1. Build it, then downloadOpen the free quote maker, enter your business, customer and lines, and download the PDF. Totals, deposit and the valid until date are worked out for you, and you choose A4 or US Letter.
2. Type on top of an existing PDFIn Adobe Acrobat Reader, the Fill and Sign tool lets you click anywhere and type. On a Mac, the text tool in Preview’s Markup toolbar does the same. Line the text up with the rows and check the sums yourself, because nothing recalculates.
3. Print and write by handUse the blank quote template, which has empty rows, and fill it in on site.

Printing a PDF quotation at the right size

Print at actual size on the paper the file was made for. The sample is US Letter, so on A4 paper choose Fit or Shrink oversized pages in the print dialog, or the right edge and the signature lines may be clipped. Grayscale is fine: totals and labels stay readable without color, and it saves ink on long runs.

Two pages print neatly double sided, flipped on the long edge. Print one copy for the customer and one for your own file, and staple each set before you hand it over.

Filling a printable PDF quotation by hand

Handwritten quotes are still common on site visits, and they hold up well when the arithmetic is shown and nothing is left vague. Write each line in full, with quantity, unit, rate and amount, then total the page in front of the customer so any question comes up before you drive away.

• Write money with cents ($1,710.00) and strike through unused rows with a single line, so nothing can be squeezed in later.
• If the customer adds the optional lighting, the subtotal becomes $6,560, the 20% deposit $1,312 and the balance $5,248. Write the new figures and both initial the change.
• Photograph the signed page before you leave, so a copy survives even if the paper goes missing.

An estimate template PDF for jobs you cannot price exactly

If hidden conditions could change the price, send an estimate instead of a quote. The layout stays the same, but the heading says Estimate and the total appears as a range with a short reason it might move. The customer reads it as a guide rather than a fixed promise, which protects both of you.

The estimate maker produces that PDF directly, with a low to high range under the total. For help deciding which document fits a job, see quote vs estimate.

Sending the PDF quote to a customer

Attach the PDF to a short email or message that states the total, the valid until date and how to accept. Put the total in the message itself, so the customer knows the headline figure before opening anything, and name the file so either of you can find it in a search months later.

• Use the quote number, customer and job in the file name, such as Q-1042 Ali front yard.pdf.
• The quote maker can email the PDF to you, so you can forward it from your usual inbox and replies come back to you.
• The quote email template has wording you can paste and adjust.
• Once the customer accepts, the same lines become the invoice; turning a quote into an invoice shows how.