Custom Order Quote Sheet

Who this is for

A written quote for a one-off piece. Itemise materials, making time and extras, and the sheet adds your markup and works out the price and deposit.

Makers who take commissions and bespoke orders and want each quote built the same way, with nothing forgotten and a clear total the customer can sign.

What this helps you track

• Materials itemised with quantity and unit cost
• Making time at the hourly rate you charge
• Extras such as design time, packaging and postage
• Markup or contingency, total price and deposit at your own percentages
• A signed acceptance from the customer

How to use it

1. Give the quote a number and fill in the date, the customer and how long the price holds.
2. List every material with the quantity you will use and what it costs you per unit.
3. Estimate the hours for each stage of the work and write the hourly rate you charge.
4. Add the extras, then enter your own markup or contingency percentage and the deposit percentage you ask for.
5. The totals, price and deposit fill in by themselves in the browser and the workbook; on paper, add up each section and apply the percentages.
6. Send the quote and ask the customer to sign and return it with the deposit.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Markup or contingency: which should I use?

Either, in the same box. Markup is the margin you add on top of cost; contingency covers the unknowns in a piece you have not made before. The percentage is yours; the sheet applies it to the subtotal.

How much deposit should I ask for?

That is your own policy. Many makers want materials covered before they start, but the sheet only applies the percentage you enter and does not suggest one.

Should I charge for design time?

If a piece needs sketches, samples or rounds of changes, that is work. List it as an extra with the hours and cost so the customer can see what it is for.

How long should a quote stay valid?

Long enough for the customer to decide, short enough that your material costs will not have moved. Write the date in the Valid until box so there is no argument later.