Creating a quote in Switzerland: structure, process and example

1. Start with clear enquiry and customer details

Before costing, clearly identify the customer, contact person, project and enquiry. This makes it clear later which scope and version the quote was prepared for.

For larger enquiries, keep documents, emails and parts lists with the job instead of leaving them only in personal inboxes.

2. Structure line items clearly

Describe services so that quantities, units, unit prices and scope are easy to understand. Recurring services can be prepared as presets or item groups.

Mark optional items separately. Customers can then see alternatives without those items automatically changing the main total.

3. Separate internal costing from the customer view

Purchase prices, internal costs and margins belong in internal costing. Customer documents should only contain information intended for the recipient.

A central company catalogue helps avoid recalculating the same items and services for every quote.

4. Validity, terms and open points

Depending on the job, validity periods, execution conditions, payment terms, assumptions or exclusions may matter. Legal and tax requirements depend on the specific transaction and should be professionally reviewed where necessary.

5. Treat changes as revisions

If a customer changes quantities, prices or scope, avoid simply overwriting an old file. Revisions show which version is current and what has changed.

CELVENO brings these steps together in one quoting workflow.