Compare
Quote Desk against the notepad and the spreadsheet
Most trades quote one of two ways: by hand, which means a text message or an email typed on the phone, or with a general invoicing or document tool that was built for something else. Here is how each handles the parts of a quote that matter, honestly.
| Capability | By hand | A general tool | Quote Desk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Getting the price in front of the customer | A text, a phone call, or an email typed that night | A PDF you build in a template, attached to an email | An email with lines and a total, sent from the job in one press |
| Your standard rates | In your head, or on a sheet in the glovebox | A product list if the tool has one; often built for retail stock | A price list of items, prices and units, picked into each quote |
| How the customer says yes | A reply, a thumbs-up, a call. No record of what was agreed | They print it, sign it, scan it back, or just reply to the email | One button on their phone. The quote records the date of the yes |
| How the customer says no | Silence, mostly | Silence, mostly | A No thanks button with a box for the reason, saved on the quote |
| Chasing | You remember, or you do not | A reminder feature if it has one, usually built for overdue invoices | Three short emails at 2, 5 and 10 days, cancelled the moment they answer |
| Knowing what is outstanding | Scrolling your sent texts | A list of documents, with statuses if you keep them up to date | Quotes grouped as Drafts, Waiting on the customer, Won, Lost |
| The enquiry that started it | An email somewhere, a text somewhere else | Usually not part of the tool | A forwarding address, a paste-in form, and on Crew a form for your own site |
| Terms and conditions | Whatever was said | A footer in the template, often unread | A note on every quote, shown in the email and on the accept page |
| GST | You add it or forget it | Calculated, with settings to get right | Not calculated. You put GST-inclusive prices on the list and say so in the note |
| Invoicing and payments | Your invoice book or your accounting software | Often the main point of the tool | Not done. Quote Desk gets the yes; your invoicing stays where it is |
| Cost | Nothing in money. Hours of your evenings | Varies; often priced for offices with staff | Free for 5 quotes a month, $39 for 60, $99 unlimited. No GST added |
| What it will not do | Keep a record | Be simple | Edit a saved draft, attach a PDF, take a deposit, send a text message |
If you quote twice a month and your customers always say yes on the phone, a notepad is fine and you do not need this. If you quote most days, lose some to silence, and spend evenings typing up prices you already know, Quote Desk removes the typing and does the chasing. It does not replace your accounting software, your estimating package or your invoice book, and it is not trying to.
Start on Free, send five real quotes, and see whether the accept button changes how fast people say yes. If it does, Starter is $39 a month. If it does not, you have lost nothing but a tick in a box, which you can untick.
Send the next one from the ute.
Free is five quotes a month with no card. If you send more than that, Starter is $39 a month. Either way the set-up is typing in your price list.