A quotation letter is not the quotation. The quotation is the table: line items, quantities, rates, total. The quotation letter is the page that goes above it, addressed to a person, explaining what you are quoting for and on what terms.
Most Indian freelancers send the table alone and wonder why a procurement team keeps coming back with questions. The letter is what answers them in advance.
When you actually need one
Not every quote needs a covering letter. Send the table on its own when you are dealing with a founder, a marketing lead, or anyone who asked you informally. A letter in that context reads stiff.
You want the letter when:
- The client is a company with a procurement or accounts process, and your quote will be read by someone who never spoke to you
- You are responding to a formal request for quotation, a tender, or an email that used the word "quotation" rather than "price"
- The scope needs assumptions stated before the numbers make sense
- Several vendors are quoting, and yours needs to be readable next to theirs
The tell is simple: if the person who receives your quote is not the person you had the conversation with, write the letter.
The seven parts of a quotation letter format
1. Your details at the top. Name or studio name, address, phone, email, and your GSTIN if you are registered. On a letterhead if you have one.
2. Date and a reference number. Give the letter its own reference, and quote theirs if they sent an enquiry number. Procurement teams file by reference, and a quote with no reference is a quote that gets lost.
3. The recipient. A named person where possible, their designation, and the company. "To whomsoever it may concern" signals that you did not find out who is deciding.
4. Subject line. One line, specific: Quotation for brand identity design, as per your enquiry dated 12 September. This is the line that gets read when the letter is forwarded.
5. The opening paragraph. Thank them for the enquiry, state what you are quoting for in one sentence, and point to the attached quotation. Three sentences is enough.
6. Terms, in short. Terms earn the letter its place: validity date, payment terms, what the price includes, what it excludes. Put it in a short list, not a paragraph.
7. Close and signature. A line inviting questions, your name, and your designation.
What belongs in the letter and what belongs in the quote
A common mistake is writing the whole quote out in prose in the letter, then attaching a table that says the same thing. Split them properly:
| Goes in the letter | Goes in the quotation |
|---|---|
| Reference, date, recipient, subject | Line items, quantities, rates |
| One-sentence scope summary | Taxes and the total |
| Validity, payment terms, exclusions | Your bank or UPI details |
| Assumptions the price depends on | Quote number and validity date |
The assumptions line is the one worth writing carefully. A price is only true under conditions: that content arrives by a date, that two revision rounds are included, that a third-party licence is not yours to buy. Stating them in the letter means a later disagreement is about a written assumption rather than about your memory.
A sample quotation letter you can copy
Change the names, the dates and the scope. Everything else holds.
11pixels Design Studio Indiranagar, Bengaluru 560038 · hello@example.com · +91 98xxx xxxxx
Ref: 11P/QT/2026-114 Date: 21 September 2026
To Ms Anita Rao Marketing Manager, Example Foods Pvt Ltd Bengaluru
Subject: Quotation for brand identity design, as per your enquiry dated 12 September 2026
Dear Ms Rao,
Thank you for your enquiry. We are pleased to submit our quotation for the design of a brand identity for Example Foods, covering logo design, a colour and type system, and a one-page brand guideline document. The detailed quotation is attached.
Our terms for this quotation:
- This quotation is valid until 12 October 2026.
- Payment terms: 50% on confirmation, balance on delivery of final files.
- The price includes two rounds of revision at the concept stage.
- Printing, stock photography licences and packaging design are not included.
- The timeline assumes brand inputs and product photographs are received within five working days of confirmation.
We would be glad to walk you through the approach on a call if that would help. Please feel free to write or call with any questions.
Yours sincerely,
Aaqil Jamal Founder, 11pixels Design Studio
That is the whole thing. Seven parts, under 200 words, and the questions a procurement team would otherwise email you about are answered before they are asked.
Sending it in Word, or not
Most people searching for this want something they can open in Word, change and send. That works, and for a tender it is often what is asked for. Two things to watch: export to PDF before sending so your layout survives, and keep the quotation itself as a separate attachment, not pasted into the letter.
If you are sending to a founder or a small team, not into a procurement process, a link is usually better than an attachment. With Riffit the quote goes as a link your client opens and accepts in one tap, with no account and no signup, and you can see that it was viewed, so you are not guessing. The covering note becomes the message you send with it, which is the same seven parts in shorter form.
Send a quotation your client can accept in one tap, and turn it into an invoice without retyping.Try Riffit freeQuotations are unlimited on both plans, including the free one. The free plan holds five saved clients.
Three mistakes worth avoiding
No validity date. A quotation letter without one binds you to today's price forever. There is more on how long to make a quote valid, and the short version is about 30 days, written as a date rather than a duration.
Exclusions left unsaid. The letter is the natural home for them. Three lines here, and nobody can say later that they assumed something was included.
Quoting a big scope without mapping it first. For anything substantial, charge a small discovery fee and spend a day or two mapping the work with the client before the real quote. The quote that follows is far more accurate. It also tells you something: a client who will not pay for discovery is usually the client who argues about the final invoice.
For the quotation itself, the table that goes under this letter, see quotation format for freelancers. Once it is accepted, converting it to an invoice should not mean retyping any of it.
FAQ
It is the covering letter that accompanies a quotation. The quotation is the table of line items, rates and totals. The letter is the page above it: addressed to a named person, stating what you are quoting for, the validity, the payment terms and what the price excludes. It is what a procurement team reads when your quote is forwarded to someone who never spoke to you.