A quotation (also called an estimate) is the price you promise a customer before they buy — not a bill. Making one is simple: list the items and rates, hand it over, and when the customer agrees you turn it into a proper GST invoice. This guide shows how to make a quotation or estimate for your shop, what it must (and must not) contain, and how to convert an accepted quote into a tax invoice without retyping a thing.
Quotation vs invoice: the one thing to get right
A quotation is a price offer. It is not a tax invoice, so on its own it does not charge GST, does not reduce your stock, and does not use up an invoice number. A tax invoice is the legal bill you raise at the time of the sale — that is the document that carries GST and lets a registered buyer claim input tax credit (see the rules on cbic.gov.in).
So the natural flow in most shops is:
- Customer asks for a price → you send a quotation / estimate.
- Customer agrees → you deliver the goods.
- You raise the tax invoice and take payment.
Under the CGST Act, a tax invoice for goods must be issued at or before the time of delivery, and for services within 30 days of providing them (confirm the current rule on cbic.gov.in or with your CA). A quotation carries none of that timing pressure — it is just a promise of price that the customer can accept or walk away from.
What a good quotation should show
A quotation has no legally mandated format, but a clear one wins trust and avoids arguments later. Include:
| Field | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Your shop name and contact | So the customer knows who quoted. |
| A quotation number and date | Easy to refer back to (e.g. EST2026-27/0007). |
| Customer name | Who the quote is for. |
| Item, quantity and rate | The heart of the quote. |
| Estimated GST (if you show it) | So the customer sees the final all-in figure. |
| A validity date | ”This price holds until 10/09/2026.” Prices and rates change. |
Two habits keep quotations clean: give each quote its own number series (separate from your invoices, so a quote never eats an invoice number), and add a validity date so an old quote at last month’s rate cannot be held against you.
A worked example
Meena runs a steel and furniture shop in Nagpur, Maharashtra. A customer walks in and asks what a steel almirah and a study table would cost before deciding. Meena makes a quotation:
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MEENA STEEL & FURNITURE Nagpur, Maharashtra (27)
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Quotation / Estimate No: EST2026-27/0007 Date: 26/08/2026
Valid till: 10/09/2026 For: Walk-in customer
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Item Qty Rate Taxable
Steel almirah 1 8,000 8,000.00
Study table 1 4,000 4,000.00
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Taxable value: 12,000.00
CGST (9%): 1,080.00
SGST (9%): 1,080.00
Estimated total: ₹ 14,160.00
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This is a price estimate, not a tax invoice.
Nagpur is an intra-state sale, so the GST (18% here — verify the current rate on cbic.gov.in, rates changed under the 2025 reform) splits into CGST ₹1,080 + SGST ₹1,080 on a taxable value of ₹12,000, for an estimated total of ₹14,160. If the customer were in Telangana, it would be an inter-state sale: a single IGST of ₹2,160, and the all-in figure would still be ₹14,160 — just shown as one IGST line instead of two.
Note what has not happened yet: no stock has moved, no invoice number is used, and no GST is payable. It is only a quote.
When the customer says yes, Meena converts the quotation into a real tax invoice — say
INV2026-27/0043 — with the same two items and the same ₹14,160 total. Now the sale
posts to her stock and GST records, with a fresh, consecutive invoice number.
Quotation, proforma invoice or sale order?
Shops use a few pre-sale documents, and it helps to know which is which:
- Quotation / estimate — a price offer. The lightest of the three.
- Proforma invoice — a fuller preview that looks like an invoice, often sent when a customer needs a document to release an advance or get internal approval. It is still not a tax invoice and creates no GST liability.
- Sale order — a record of a confirmed order, usually with an expected delivery date and sometimes an advance noted. You convert it to an invoice when you deliver.
All three share the same rule: none of them is a tax invoice, so none of them charges GST or moves your stock until you raise the actual bill.
Doing this without retyping
The slow part of quoting by hand is the second half — re-entering every line onto an invoice once the customer agrees, and getting the CGST/SGST (or IGST) split right again.
Yojika handles the whole flow. It is offline-first GST billing software for Indian small shops, and its documents feature covers estimates and quotations, proforma invoices, delivery challans, sale orders and purchase orders — each with its own numbering, so a quote never touches your invoice series. Give a quote a validity date, print it to A4, A5 or a thermal receipt (in any of the 22 official Indian languages), and when the customer agrees, tap Convert to invoice: Yojika raises a proper tax invoice with a fresh number and the same items, and only then does it post to your stock and GST. Nothing about the quote goes into your books until you convert it — and your data stays on your own PC.
- See everything included on the features page.
- Check simple, transparent pricing on the pricing page.
- Or download Yojika and try it free for 14 days.
Once a quote becomes an order, the next step is the bill itself — see how to make a GST bill, and if you are still choosing a tool, our honest guide to the best GST billing software in India.
This article is general information, not tax advice. GST rules, rates and thresholds change — confirm the current position on gst.gov.in, cbic.gov.in, or with your CA.