Interior quotation software built on your own rate cards

Start from the approved design and the site measurements. Go room by room and list every item with its unit, quantity and rate. Carpentry goes in square feet, ceiling and paint by area, and electrical by point. Add hardware, accessories and labour. Check quantities against the drawings, then total with GST. The BOQ format in the templates library gives you a structure.

Measure the running length of base and wall units. Then price the carcass, shutters, hardware, countertop, sink, appliances and accessories separately, and add installation and transport. Cost moves most with carcass material, shutter finish and hardware brand. Keep these as rate card items, so every kitchen is priced the same way.

Divide the total cost by the ceiling area in square feet. The total covers board and framing, profile or cove work, light cut-outs, labour, and paint if included. Measure the actual ceiling area, including drops and levels, not just the floor area. Price extras such as cove lighting separately, so the per square foot rate stays comparable.

Quote from a rate card instead of copying old files. Check quantities against the drawings, and have a second person review every quote above a set value. Write exclusions, validity and payment terms clearly. Save each revision as a new version. Most quote errors come from stale rates and missed items, not from arithmetic.

Show two or three clear options, such as standard, mid and premium finishes, with the price difference for each. Keep the scope the same across options, so the comparison is fair. Explain what changes, such as shutter finish or hardware brand. In the D&B Operating System, each option can be its own version, and the client approves one.

Reply fast, visit prepared and send the quote on the day you promised. Make it easy to read: room-wise scope, itemised lines, GST and payment terms. Follow up on a fixed date, and ask what is holding the client back. Show relevant past work. Firms often lose on slow follow-up rather than on price.

Common reasons are a price above budget, a scope the client doesn't understand, slow replies or more trust in another firm. Lump-sum quotes with no detail raise doubt. Ask the budget early, show what each line includes, and offer a lower-cost option instead of a blind discount. Ask clients who said no why, and use the answers.

Pick a period you can honour while material prices hold, such as 15 or 30 days. Use a shorter period when rates for hardware or laminates are moving. Write the validity date on the quote and say what happens after it, such as a rate review. Re-issue an expired quote as a new version rather than editing the old one.

An estimate is a guide; a quotation is an offer. Share an estimate early, often as a range or a per square foot rate, to check budget fit. Send a quotation after design and measurement, with an itemised BOQ, GST, validity and terms. Label each document clearly, so the client doesn't treat an estimate as a fixed price.

Quote by room and by trade, covering civil, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, ceiling, paint and installation. State what is excluded, such as appliances or loose furniture. Show design fees separately, or say they are included. Link payments to milestones. Turnkey quotes that combine material and labour may be works contracts under GST, so check the treatment with your CA.

Start from the tenant's brief, the building's rules and a measured layout. Quote partitions, ceilings, flooring, electrical and data, air-conditioning changes, furniture and signage as separate sections. Allow for after-hours work and landlord approvals where they apply. State the programme in weeks and tie payments to stages. Business clients may deduct TDS, so show it clearly.

A BOQ, or bill of quantities, lists every item in an interior job with its unit, quantity and rate. It covers things like carcass in square feet, shutters, hardware, ceiling area and electrical points. A clear BOQ lets the client compare quotes fairly and lets your site team order the right material.

An interior quotation should include the client and site details, scope by room, itemised BOQ lines with materials and finishes, quantities and rates, GST, total, payment terms, validity and exclusions. Add the design revision count and what counts as extra work. The D&B templates library has a quotation format you can adapt.

Build a rate card once and quote from it every time. Keep standard packages, such as a 2BHK wardrobe set or an L-shaped kitchen, as reference quantities. In D&B Operating System, quotes are built from your own rate cards, so the team picks items and enters quantities instead of retyping rates.

Show the taxable value, the GST rate and the GST amount separately, then the total. GST on most professional and design services in India is 18%. Works contracts and mixed supplies can be treated differently, so confirm the right treatment for your contracts with your CA. D&B Operating System shows GST-ready totals on each quote.

Never edit an approved quote in place. Save each change as a new version with a date and a short note, such as changed shutter finish. D&B Operating System keeps versions and records which one the client approved, so the agreement and invoices follow the right version.

Spreadsheets and free billing apps can produce basic quotes. They rarely keep rate cards, versions and approvals linked to the project. D&B Operating System does not publish a free plan; pricing is on request after a demo. If you want to start free, use the quotation and BOQ formats in the templates library.

Turn the approved quotation into an agreement with milestones, then raise an invoice at each milestone. In D&B Operating System, the approved quote, the agreement and the milestone invoices sit in one record, so amounts match. That avoids retyping, keeps GST consistent and stops clients questioning figures at each stage.