An IT hardware dealer in Kochi has two quotes to send on the same Monday. A school in Kochi wants ten laptops for its computer lab, set up and covered for a year. A coaching centre in Madurai wants exactly the same. The items, the prices and the discount are identical. The two quotations aren't, because one customer is in Kerala and the other is in Tamil Nadu.
This post goes through how to make a quotation that's correct on GST and easy to say yes to, with both of the dealer's quotes worked to the paisa by the same code our free quotation generator uses.
How to make a quotation, step by step
- Your details at the top. Business name, address, phone and GSTIN. Your state comes from the first two digits of the GSTIN.
- The customer's details. Name, address, GSTIN if they have one, and their state, which is the place of supply.
- A number, a date and a validity. "QT-2026-0141, 27 April 2026, valid for 15 days."
- One line per item. Description, HSN code for goods or SAC code for services, quantity, rate and discount.
- GST on each line. Charged on the line's value after the discount, never before it.
- The right kind of GST. CGST and SGST, half each, when the customer is in your state. IGST at the full rate when they aren't.
- The total, in figures and in words. Rounded to the rupee, with the round-off shown as its own line.
- Your terms. Advance, balance, delivery time and warranty, then a signature.
The quotation format with GST, worked in rupees
The dealer's four lines, the same for both customers:
| Item | Qty × rate | Discount | Taxable value |
|---|
| Laptop, 14-inch, 16 GB | 10 × ₹42,500 | 5%, −₹21,250.00 | ₹4,03,750.00 |
|---|
| Keyboard and mouse set | 10 × ₹1,449 | None | ₹14,490.00 |
|---|
| Installation and setup | 1 × ₹6,000 | None | ₹6,000.00 |
|---|
| First-year maintenance | 1 × ₹18,000 | 10%, −₹1,800.00 | ₹16,200.00 |
|---|
Everything is at 18% GST. Where the two quotes part company is in how that 18% is written down:
| School in Kochi | Centre in Madurai |
|---|
| Taxable value | ₹4,40,440.00 | ₹4,40,440.00 |
|---|
| CGST at 9% | ₹39,639.60 | None |
|---|
| SGST at 9% | ₹39,639.60 | None |
|---|
| IGST at 18% | None | ₹79,279.20 |
|---|
| Round-off | −₹0.20 | −₹0.20 |
|---|
| Total | ₹5,19,719 | ₹5,19,719 |
|---|
₹5,19,719either quote, to the rupee
₹79,279.20GST, split or not
₹23,050.00discount given
The customer pays the same either way. What changes is who the tax goes to, and that matters to the buyer's accountant: a Kerala school claiming credit needs CGST and SGST on the paper, and a Tamil Nadu business needs IGST. Get it the wrong way round and the invoice that follows the quote will have to be redone.
A paisa-level detail: GST is worked out and rounded line by line, and the totals are added from the rounded lines, so the page never disagrees with itself. Each line's CGST is rounded and its SGST is the rest of that line's tax, so the two halves always add back to the full amount. The round-off to the nearest rupee is printed as its own line. A buyer who checks the arithmetic should find nothing to query.
Validity of quotation: pick a date and hold to it
A quotation is an offer, and the validity date is how long the offer stands. Fifteen days suits anything whose price moves, like laptops, steel or fuel-linked freight. Thirty days is normal for services and stable stock. Past the date, the price is no longer promised, and you're free to requote.
Do requote when it lapses, rather than honouring an old price by habit. A buyer who learns your quotes don't expire learns to wait, and the validity date is also your best excuse to call.
Set the terms of payment on the quote
Wages get paid out of collected invoices, not out of a full order book.Rohan Jain, Fixing Manufacturing Cash Flow and Receivables
I wrote that about factories waiting ninety days to be paid, and the dealer's problem is the same size relative to his business. Ten laptops are over ₹4,00,000 of stock bought before the school pays a rupee. When the money arrives is decided on the quote, before anybody has agreed to anything, and it's far harder to change later.
So put it in writing: 50% advance with the order and the balance on installation, or whatever suits your trade. A small discount for paying in advance often costs you less than a month of waiting.
Quotation follow up
A quote that goes quiet has usually been forgotten in an inbox while the buyer compares two others. A short routine keeps yours in front of them:
- Day two: a call to confirm it arrived and ask who else has to sign off.
- Day five: answer whatever questions came up, or offer a call with whoever raised them.
- Two days before it expires: a reminder that the price holds until then.
Each of those is a dated follow-up, and follow-ups get missed exactly the way lead calls do. A lead follow-up system for a small sales team covers the routine that stops it.
From quotation to sales order
Once the customer says yes, the accepted quote should become the order without anyone typing it again. Retyping is where the quantity changes from 10 to 12 and the discount disappears.
In Facto Lite's CRM quotations, the customer opens your quote from a link, with the PDF to download, and you send that link on WhatsApp or by email from your own phone. They reply to you, and you record the answer; accepting a quote moves its deal a stage. When the deal is won, the sales order is made from the latest accepted quote with every line and total as quoted. A sent quote past its validity date is marked expired overnight.
Two things it doesn't do, so you know before you rely on it. The customer can't accept or sign on the link itself. And the quote PDF prints one tax figure per line, without splitting CGST and SGST or printing HSN codes. If your buyer's accountant wants the split on the quote, the free generator prints it, as in the Kochi example above.
