How to Send Professional Quotes from Your Phone

The fastest way to lose a job you've already driven out to see is to say "I'll email you a price tonight" and then do it three days later. By then the homeowner has two other quotes, and one of them showed up while they were still standing in the driveway.

The good news: with the right app and a little setup, you can send a clean, itemized, professional quote from your phone in a few minutes. This guide walks through what to put in a quote, how to build one quickly on your phone, and which apps do it best at each price point.

What makes a quote look professional

Homeowners can't easily judge your workmanship before you start, so they judge your paperwork. A professional quote includes:

1. Your business details: name, logo, phone, email, and license or insurance info if your trade or state requires it.
2. Client and job address, plus a quote number and date.
3. A clear scope: what you'll do, in plain words. "Pressure wash 1,200 sq ft concrete driveway and front walk, pre-treat oil stains" beats "Driveway cleaning."
4. Itemized line items with quantities and unit prices, so the client can see where the money goes.
5. Options or add-ons the client can choose, such as "Seal driveway after cleaning" or "Add back patio."
6. Exclusions: what's not included. This one line prevents most arguments later.
7. An expiry date. Something like "Valid for 30 days" protects you from material price changes and gives the client a reason to decide.
8. Terms and next step: deposit amount if any, payment methods, and exactly how to approve, such as "Tap Approve" or "Reply YES to book."

Step by step: quoting from your phone in the driveway

1. Set up once (30 to 60 minutes, one time)

• Add your logo, business details and default terms (payment methods, deposit policy, expiry period).
• Create saved line items for your 10 to 20 most common services with your standard prices. Every app below supports some version of this, and it's the single biggest time-saver.
• Write a standard exclusions line for your trade, for example: "Does not include haul-away of existing materials unless listed."

2. On site (while you walk the job)

• Take photos and measurements. Use a notes app or the quote app's notes field.
• Ask the two questions that decide most jobs: "When are you hoping to get this done?" and "Is there anything you'd add if the price was right?" The second one tells you which options to offer.

3. In the truck (5 minutes)

• Start a new quote, pick the client, and add saved line items. Adjust quantities.
• Add one optional upgrade line. Offering a "good / better" choice gives the client a way to say yes to you rather than choosing between you and a competitor.
• Attach a photo, check the total, and send by text and email. Text gets read; email gets saved.

4. Follow up

If you haven't heard back in two to three days, send a short, friendly nudge. Jobber's Connect plan and above can automate quote follow-ups by text or email. With a simpler app, set a phone reminder when you hit send.

The best apps for phone quotes, by budget

Free: Wave

Wave's Starter plan is $0 and lets you "create unlimited estimates, invoices, bills, and bookkeeping records," with a mobile app for invoicing on the go. If you turn on online payments, card transactions are 2.9% + $0.60 (3.4% + $0.60 for Amex) on the free plan. Wave's Pro plan ($19/mo, or $190/yr) removes the $0.60 fixed fee for your first 10 card transactions each month and adds automated late-payment reminders. Wave is a good fit if you also want free bookkeeping in the same place. See Wave's plans.

Cheap and simple: Joist or Invoice Simple

Joist is built for contractors and focuses on getting from estimate to payment. The Basics plan is capped at 5 documents a month. That's fine while you're starting out, but most full-time operators will want Pro ($17/mo, or $14.17/mo billed annually) for unlimited documents, your logo, line items and document photos. Joist offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card. Try Joist.

Invoice Simple starts at $6.99/mo, but plans are capped by invoices per month (3 on Essentials, 10 on Plus, unlimited on Premium at $21.99/mo). Photos and your signature come on Plus. Client signatures and deposits come on Premium. Its pricing page doesn't state separate estimate limits, so check during the free trial if you send many quotes that don't convert. See Invoice Simple plans.

Weighing Invoice Simple against a free option? We ran the fee math in Square Invoices vs Invoice Simple for contractors, and compared the $0 plans in the best free invoicing apps for handymen.

All-in-one: Jobber or Housecall Pro

If you're also juggling scheduling, reminders and payments, an all-in-one app saves re-typing. An approved quote becomes a scheduled job and then an invoice in the same app.

• Jobber includes professional quotes on every plan, including Core ($29/mo billed annually). Clients can approve quotes in Jobber's online client hub. Connect adds automated quote follow-ups. Grow adds optional line items for upsells and rich quotes with images. Try Jobber free.
• Housecall Pro Basic ($59/mo billed annually) includes quotes and proposals you can send by text or email, plus a price book for consistent pricing. The MAX plan adds a sales proposal tool for visual proposals with side-by-side option comparisons. Try Housecall Pro free.

For a deeper look at those two, see Jobber vs Housecall Pro.

Common quoting mistakes (and quick fixes)

• One big lump-sum number. Break it into 3 to 6 line items. Clients trust prices they can understand.
• No exclusions. Add a standard "not included" line to every quote.
• No expiry date. Add "Valid for 30 days" (or whatever suits your trade) to your default terms.
• Only one option. Add one optional upgrade. Some clients will take it, and none will be offended.
• Unclear next step. End with exactly what to do: "Tap Approve" or "Reply YES." Mention the deposit if there is one.
• Not following up. A polite check-in after a few days is normal, and many jobs are won on the follow-up.

Once the job is done, you'll need an invoice. If you're not ready to pay for software, grab our free printable invoice template. It's written for landscapers but works for any trade.