Drawing up a quotation involves dealing with a number of legislative prerequisites that will determine the document's validity. Among other things, certain essential information must appear on the document, otherwise its validity will be called into question.
While many quotation and invoice software programs now make it easy and intuitive to fill in quotations, it's important to clearly identify the legislative requirements for this type of document.
Specifications: definition and legal information
In the strict sense of the term, the definition of a quotation corresponds to a written document justifying a supplier's willingness to supply. supplier to sell a service or good to a buyer. The role of a quotation is to ensure that the supplier undertakes not to modify the price of the good or service until the buyer explicitly waives his right to request it.
To get the most out of your quotation, you need to specify certain information. Mandatory information includes :
- Contact details: customer and company
- Date of quotation
- The date on which the service becomes effective, and its approximate duration.
- Details of services included in the quote
- The price of the service, labour and all related costs
- Terms of payment and warranty
For professionals subject to compulsory insurance, you'll also need to know: the insurance covering the activity, the insurer's contact details, and the insurance's geographical coverage capacity.
So it's important to check that your invoicing softwarecomplies with all these points.
Who is affected by mandatory quotes?
Not all professionals are subject to the obligation to provide a quotation : some may well issue invoices without a quotation, and so on.
For example, it is compulsory to draw up an estimate for work and repairs: if the cost of the service exceeds 150 euros, an estimate must be drawn up; for removals: in this case, an estimate must be drawn up, regardless of the amount; for fee overruns in the healthcare sector: for healthcare professionals, any fee overrun in excess of 70 euros must be covered by an estimate.
While there are thousands of examples of quotations on the Internet, it's essential to first identify your personal situation. The best invoicing software should therefore also take your professional situation into account: in this way, it will be able to automate the drawing up of quotations according to your profession, the amount of the service, and so on.