Fill in your quote
Everything stays in this browser. The example is a deck repair, change it or start blank.
Start from your trade
The same template, filled in with the usual lines and rates for each trade.
Your state's deposit and contract rules for this job
The deposit and contract check runs on the same rules the Yamate app uses for home building jobs, each one read at the state regulator on the date it shows. Checked 25 October 2026.
On this page (7 sections)
What should a quote show?
The NT Government puts it plainly. A quote should always be in writing and should include
"exact details of the work or service to be done"
"cost of labour"
"parts and materials to be used"
"how long the quote is valid for."
Source: NT Government, Quotes and estimates, read 25 October 2026.
NSW Fair Trading's advice to homeowners is the same list from the other side of the counter. It tells them a quote should "include all work to be done", "list all materials to be used" and "reflect your specifications". That's what your customer's been told to check for, so put it there before they have to ask.
Source: NSW Government, Getting quotes for contractors, read 24 October 2026.
Add your ABN and your licence number on top of that. In NSW, once a home job goes over $5,000 the written contract has to carry "the contractor licence number", and your quote usually becomes that contract, so it's easier to have it on there from the start. The checker above lists what your own state wants in the contract for the price you've entered.
Source: NSW Government, Contracts for residential building work, read 25 October 2026.
Working on your own? Then it's a sole trader quote template as it stands. Put your own name or your trading name where the business name goes, with your ABN under it.
How you set your price is its own job. How to quote a job walks through costs, markup and the terms worth adding.
Are you giving a quote or an estimate?
They're not the same thing, and customers get burnt when they think they've got one and they've got the other. The NT Government says "A quote becomes a contract when the trader offers work for a fixed price and the consumer accepts the offer". An estimate is different, it "is often just an educated guess of the cost of work or repairs", and "There is no fixed-price agreement on an estimate as there is on a quote."
Source: NT Government, Quotes and estimates, read 25 October 2026.
So if you can't see behind the wall yet, say it's an estimate. The toggle at the top of the template changes the heading and the closing lines to match, so the paper says what you mean. Once you've opened it up and know the job, send a quote.
The other line to remember is this one, from the same page. "You can't be charged for extra work not included in the quote unless you have approved it." If the job grows, write the extra up and get a yes before you do it.
Source: NT Government, Quotes and estimates, read 25 October 2026.
How much deposit can you put on the quote?
On home building work most states cap it, and in several the cap changes with the price. Here are four of them, word for word.
NSW. "Under NSW home building law, the maximum deposit you can be asked to pay is 10 percent."
Source: NSW Government, Contracts for residential building work, read 25 October 2026.
Victoria. "By law, a deposit can be no more than 10 per cent, if the total contract price is less than $20,000" and "five per cent, if the total contract price is $20,000 or more."
Source: Consumer Affairs Victoria, Deposits and payments for domestic building, read 25 October 2026.
Queensland. "The maximum deposit for works valued at $3,300 or less is 20%." From $3,301 to $19,999, "The maximum deposit for these contracts (level 1) is 10% of the contract price." Above $20,000, "The maximum deposit for these contracts (level 2) is 5% of the contract price." The exception is "A deposit of up to 20%" where custom work made off site "represents more than 50% of the total contract price (including labour, materials and GST)", things like "kitchen modules/cabinetry" and "windows".
Source: QBCC, Deposits and progress payments, read 25 October 2026.
Western Australia. "The maximum deposit that your builder or tradesperson can require before they start work is 6.5 per cent of the contract price." That's under the Home Building Contracts Act, and "The Act does not apply to contracts that are valued below $7,500 or over $500,000". For off-site cabinetry worth "more than 50 per cent of the contract value", "a deposit of up to 20 per cent can be requested by the builder".
Source: Government of Western Australia, Building or renovating your home, read 25 October 2026.
For SA, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT, pick the state in the checker, or read how much deposit a tradie can ask for, which has every state side by side.
Two things catch people out. The cap is on the whole contract price including GST, so check the total, not the subtotal. And in Queensland, a homeowner who pays more than the lawful deposit "will not be entitled to recover the excess" from the home warranty scheme if the job goes bad. Your over-ask becomes their loss.
Source: QBCC, Deposits and progress payments, read 25 October 2026.
What a deposit over the cap cost one builder
In September 2021 NSW Fair Trading published the sentencing of Mitchell James Cole, a Sydney man who took $125,820 for home renovation work across four jobs. He was fined $26,000, ordered to pay $31,200 in compensation, given a two-year Community Corrections Order and 200 hours of community service. Among his 16 offences under the Home Building Act was "demanding deposits exceeding 10% of the contract price", next to working without a licence and without the home warranty insurance the jobs needed.
Source: NSW Fair Trading, Unlicensed building works costs Mitchell James Cole $57,100, read 25 October 2026.
Cole's was the far end of it, unlicensed, uninsured and his third prosecution. But the deposit charge is the one an honest tradie can trip on by accident, with a 20% habit carried over from another state or from commercial work. The deposit line on your quote is a legal line. That's why the checker sits right under it.
When does a quote need to become a written contract?
Above a price set by each state, a home building job needs a proper written contract, not only an accepted quote. In NSW it's when the price is "over $5,000 (including GST)". Jobs from $5,000 to $20,000 need a small job contract, and above $20,000 a large job contract.
Source: NSW Government, Contracts for residential building work, read 25 October 2026.
Victoria's line is $10,000 today, and it's changing. The Victorian Government says it has "deferred the commencement of the Domestic Building Contracts Amendment Act 2025 and regulations to 31 March 2027". Its draft regulations would lift the major domestic building contract threshold "from $10,000 to $20,000". Until then the current law stands, and the checker uses it.
Source: Engage Victoria, Clearer and fairer domestic building contracts, read 25 October 2026.
The checker shows your state's line for the total you've entered and lists what the contract has to include. If your total crosses it, the quote is the start of the paperwork, not the end.
Turning the quote into an invoice
A quote isn't a tax invoice, and you don't need one until the work's done and you're billing for it. When you are, the ATO says "If a customer asks for a tax invoice, you must provide one within 28 days", unless the sale is $82.50 including GST or less. Under $1,000 it needs 7 details, among them that it's a tax invoice, your identity and your ABN. At $1,000 or more, tax invoices "also need to show the buyer's identity or ABN".
Source: Australian Taxation Office, Tax invoices, read 25 October 2026.
A PDF is fine. The ATO says "you can issue a tax invoice to a customer by emailing an invoice in portable document format (PDF)".
Source: Australian Taxation Office, Tax invoices, read 25 October 2026.
Yamate sells software to tradies. The template on this page is free and asks for nothing. In the app a quote becomes the job and then the invoice without typing it twice.
Related
General information, not tax advice and not legal advice. The checker reads each state's published deposit and written-contract rules for home building work, and each answer shows its source and the day it was read. Your job may have rules this page doesn't cover, so check with your state regulator before relying on a figure.