Create my accountPhase 2 · The engagement
"The quote is a contract", you were told.But you treated it like a mere paper.
An accepted quote isn't a purchase order: it's the contract that binds you to the client. It fixes the price, the scope, the deadlines. The day one of you wants to depart from it, it's the quote that decides, provided it's clear and the acceptance is certain.
What you live
"Approved", and then what?
The client signs the quote, pays (or not) the deposit, and the job starts. You have an "approved" somewhere, in an email or on a paper. As long as all goes well, it's enough.
Then the client contests the price, swears they "never accepted that", or reopens the scope. You dig for the proof of their agreement, its date, its exact version. If it's weak, it's your word against theirs.
An accepted quote is a contract. Treat it as one.
In law, an accepted quote binds both parties: it is indeed a contract. The word shouldn't scare you, it plays for you: it's what obliges the client to pay the agreed price, and to respect the scope.
But you still have to be able to show, without argument, what was accepted and when. A "yes" by text or a quote re-signed from memory carry little weight. The strength of this phase rests on the clarity of the acceptance.
A clean, dated, incontestable acceptance.
The client accepts your quote online, in one gesture. The agreement is recorded at its date, with its exact content: neither you nor they can rewrite it after the fact. You no longer hunt for "the right version": it exists, just as it was accepted.
And a clean acceptance reassures the client too: signing online, properly, looks serious and removes their last hesitation. The quote becomes the first piece of a file that runs to the payment.
What we get asked
The quote as a contract, in plain terms.
Is a signed quote a contract?
Yes. A dated quote, accepted and signed by the client, is a contract: it binds both parties on the price, the scope and, if stated, the deadlines. The client commits to pay, you to carry out what's described. That's why a clear, complete quote protects you as much as it protects the client.
What legal value does an accepted quote have?
That of a service contract. From acceptance, each party is bound by what's written. In a dispute, it's the accepted quote that serves as reference, not the spoken exchanges. Its value therefore depends on two things: its clarity (price, scope, what's included or not) and the certainty of the acceptance (who, when, which version).
Can a signed quote be cancelled?
Hardly, once accepted, except by agreement of both parties or an applicable right of withdrawal (for example 14 days for a consumer approached at home, in certain cases). That's precisely the point: the client can't freely back out of a quote they accepted. Here again, it all rests on a clear, dated acceptance.
Does a deposit make the quote a contract?
No: the quote is a contract from its acceptance, with or without a deposit. The deposit is a cash-flow safeguard and a sign of commitment (often 30%), not a condition of validity. An accepted quote without a deposit remains a contract; simply, claiming the agreed deposit is easier when the agreement is clean.
Make your next "approved" a real commitment.
Create your PRO account and turn every accepted quote into a clear, dated, incontestable contract.
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