A line item is a single row on a quote or invoice. It names one piece of work or one material, says how many, gives the price for each, and shows the total for that row. Add the rows together and you have the total for the whole quote. Itemising a quote, rather than giving one figure, shows the customer where the money goes, lets them check the finished job against what they agreed to, and gives both sides something specific to point at if a question comes up later.
A good line reads the way you would explain it standing in the customer's kitchen. It names the thing, says whether it is supply and install or labour only, and uses a unit the customer can picture: each, metre, square metre, hour, day. "Materials, $640" is a line nobody can check. "Copper pipe and fittings, 1 lot, $640" is barely better. "15 millimetre copper pipe, 18 metres at $22" is a line the customer can see on the wall.
In practice
A plumber quotes a hot water replacement as four lines:
- Remove and dispose of existing unit, 1 at $150, $150
- 315 litre electric storage unit supply, 1 at $2,180, $2,180
- Tempering valve supply and fit, 1 at $165, $165
- Labour, 3 hours at $110, $330
Total: $2,825. A customer comparing this with a single-figure quote of $2,700 from someone else can see what the extra $125 buys, and can ask the other plumber whether their price takes the old unit away and fits a tempering valve. That question often wins the job.
Lines also help with things that cost nothing. A line priced at zero, such as "Second coat to ceilings, included", tells the customer they are getting something without discounting anything else. And when lines are written the same way every time, your accepted quotes become a record of what you actually charge for each kind of work, which is the start of a better schedule of rates.
In Quote Desk
A quote holds up to twenty lines, each a description, a whole-number quantity and a unit price, picked from your price list or typed in. Line totals and the overall total add themselves. A line can be priced at zero, but a negative line is not accepted. See building a quote.