Building and sending quotes

Sending a clear, well-structured quote is one of the most important things you can do on TruePro. Homeowners compare quotes side by side — a professional, detailed quote builds trust and explains your price. This article walks you through the quote builder and the rules around quoting.

The 48-hour quote window

When a job is posted, you have 48 hours to submit your quote. After 48 hours, the quoting window closes. Do not leave it to the last minute — homeowners often accept the first good quote they receive.

If your quote expires before the homeowner accepts it, you can submit a revised quote immediately — there is no waiting period. The job must still be open (not yet accepted or expired) and the five-quote cap must not have been reached by other traders.

Building your quote step by step

1. Open the lead. From your dashboard or the lead notification, open the job details. Review the customer's description carefully before quoting.
2. Add line items. Break your quote into individual line items — for example: Call-out fee, Labour (3 hours), Replacement geyser element, Fittings and sundries. Give each item a description and a price.
3. Add materials separately. Itemise parts and materials as their own line items. This makes it easy for the customer to see what they are paying for and reduces scope disagreements about what was included.
4. Apply VAT if applicable. If you are VAT-registered, toggle on "VAT-registered business". VAT at 15% will be calculated and shown separately on the quote. If you are not VAT-registered, leave this off.
5. Define the scope. Write a clear description of what the quote covers. For example: "Supply and fit 150L geyser element. Includes pressure test and system flush."
6. Add exclusions. List anything that is NOT covered. For example: "Ceiling access panel repair, repainting, or wall reinstatement not included." This protects you from scope disagreements.
7. Add terms if needed. Any specific conditions — for example, "Quote valid only if access is available from inside the roof space."
8. Use templates. If you do the same type of work frequently, save a quote as a template. Next time, load the template and adjust quantities — it saves significant time.
9. Review and send. Check the totals. Then click "Send quote". The homeowner is notified immediately.

Schedule of Rates (SOR) — for government and municipal work

If you work on government contracts, municipal buildings, or housing association properties, your client may require pricing based on a standardised rate library rather than a free-format quote. TruePro supports this through the built-in Schedule of Rates (SOR) panel in the quote builder — every trade category on TruePro has its own pre-loaded rate library (plumbing and electrical use CIDB rates, painting/plastering use MBSA rates, roofing uses SARF rates, solar uses SAPVIA rates, locksmith uses LASA rates, tiling and general maintenance use MBA rates, and appliance repair uses TruePro's own rate card).

The SOR panel is hidden by default to keep the quote builder simple for everyday residential work. To use it:

1. Open the quote builder for a job lead as normal.
2. Click "Advanced quoting — Schedule of Rates" to expand the panel. It's pre-loaded with the standard rate library for your registered trade(s) — if you're registered for more than one trade, rates for all of them appear.
3. Browse the rate library by category or use the description/code search at Settings > Schedule of Rates.
4. Click "Add" on any rate row. The item is instantly inserted as a line item with the standard description and unit rate pre-filled.
5. Adjust the quantity for the rate added. You can still edit the description and price if your contract allows deviations from the standard rate.
6. Mix SOR and manual line items freely in the same quote.

Line items added from the SOR library are tagged with a small "SOR" badge so you can identify them at a glance. The quote output format is identical to a standard quote — there is no visual difference for the customer unless you choose to reference the rate code in the description.

You can also view and search your full rate library without opening a quote by going to Quotes > Schedule of Rates (or navigating to /workspace/sor_rates). This is useful for preparing pricing before visiting a site.

After you've sent a quote — adding availability or withdrawing it

Once a quote has been sent, you can no longer change the price, scope, or line items — the homeowner is comparing what you actually sent. But you can still update your available appointment times, or pull the quote back entirely, from the job or lead page:

• Adding more availability. If none of your proposed times still work — for example, a job elsewhere on your calendar used up the slots you offered, or you've had to reschedule — you may get an "Action required: availability update needed" email. Click "Update available times" (or "Manage availability" on the job/lead page) to add new slots without touching the price. The homeowner can't book until you do this.
• Withdrawing a quote. If you can no longer take on the job, click "Manage availability" and then "Withdraw this quote". The homeowner will no longer be able to accept it, and your quote slot on that job opens up so another tradesperson can quote instead. This cannot be undone — if you change your mind, you'll need to submit a fresh quote (if the job is still accepting them).

Knowing what the customer has done with your quote

Once a quote has been sent, the job or lead page shows a Tracking panel — a simple four-stage timeline: Email sent → Opened → Link clicked → Paid. You'll see a warning if it's been open more than 24 hours without being opened, or opened more than 48 hours without the customer clicking through — so you know exactly when it's worth following up, instead of guessing.

From that panel you can, without leaving the page:

• Resend — re-sends the exact same quote email (and WhatsApp, if the customer hasn't opted out).
• Log a call note — if you'd rather chase it by phone, jot down a quick internal note without switching pages.

We record only that an email was opened or a link was clicked, and when — never anything about the customer beyond that. See our Privacy Policy for details.

Tips for winning quotes

• Respond fast — the first few quotes receive the most attention.
• Be specific in your scope — vague quotes lose to detailed ones.
• Do not lowball and then add extras on-site — this drives reported issues and poor reviews.
• If you cannot do the work without seeing the site first, say so in your quote and propose a free assessment visit.