How to Write a Quote in France: Steps, 20% VAT, and Signature

Key Takeaway: a French quote is written in six moves. Check whether it is mandatory for your trade, fill in both identities (SIRET, address, client), itemise every line excl. VAT, apply the right VAT rate (20% by default, 10% or 5.5% for some works, or the 293 B mention if you are not VAT-registered), date the validity, send it and get it signed. Once signed, the quote binds you as much as the client.

Writing a quote in France is not "putting a price on a PDF". It is offering a contract: both parties' identity, an itemised breakdown, VAT, a validity period, then a client signature. Without that, you have an estimate, and the client has a memory.

This is the step-by-step. The full mentions list for a French micro-entrepreneur is in Freelancer quotes: the mandatory details. If you invoice in Belgium, the regime is different: How to write a professional quote in Belgium.

1. When is a quote mandatory in France?

Not always. More often than people think, though.

For building and home-equipment works and call-outs (plumbing, electrical, painting, joinery, locksmithing, roofing, and so on), a prior quote is mandatory. Service-Public lists the trades concerned and the information the document must carry: date, identities, place of work, itemised breakdown, labour rate incl. VAT, travel costs, totals excl. and incl. VAT, validity period, and whether the quote itself is free or charged.

If you fail to issue one when it is required, the administrative fine can reach €3,000 for a sole trader and €15,000 for a company. That is not a forum rumour.

Even outside those trades, I issue one whenever there is a private client, a non-trivial amount, or a deadline. An email saying "it'll be around €800" will not protect you the day the client "understood €500".

The quote only binds the client once they sign it (with "bon pour accord" or "bon pour travaux"). You are already bound once you have offered it and they accept. If money is paid before signature, state whether it is a deposit or earnest money (arrhes): if nothing is specified, the sum is treated as earnest money.

2. The 6 steps to write a quote

Forget the Canva template for five minutes. The order that avoids rewriting quotes is this one.

1. Identify both parties. Your name or company name, address, SIRET, legal status (sole trader, SASU, SARL…). Client name and address. Place of work if it is different. A quote with no SIRET still shows up too often: it holds until the first dispute.

2. Give it a number and a date. A unique identifier (DEV-2026-014, whatever you like, as long as it never repeats) and today's date. Without a number, you will not find it in six months.

3. Itemise every line. Service, unit, quantity, unit price excl. VAT. "Bathroom renovation, €4,200" is an invitation to argue on invoice day. "Remove tiling 8 m²", "supply 60×60 tiles", "labour 12 h" closes the argument.

4. Calculate excl. VAT, VAT, incl. VAT. One line, one rate. If two rates sit on the same job (supply at 20%, fitting at 10%), split them. The incl. VAT total is what the client signs.

5. Set validity and terms. 30 days is the default reflex. Shorten it if your materials move. Add the deposit you are asking for, the start window, and a signature block.

6. Send, follow up, get a signature. PDF by email, online link, the channel barely matters. What matters is a dated trail and a signature (handwritten or electronic) before you start.

A quote that looks too pretty and stays too vague signs worse than a slightly austere, readable one. Clients compare line items, not your gradient. To build and download a fully compliant document without registration, try our free quote generator.

3. Which VAT rate belongs on the quote?

The standard rate in mainland France is 20%. That is the default for most services. Start there, then drop only if a text allows it.

For works in a dwelling completed more than 2 years ago, reduced rates exist under conditions: 10% for many improvement, conversion, fitting-out or maintenance works; 5.5% for some energy-renovation works (insulation, certain equipment). Premises that are not dwellings (offices, farm buildings) stay at 20%. The client must certify on the quote or invoice that the reduced-rate conditions are met. Without that certificate, apply 20% and sleep.

If you are a micro-entrepreneur not VAT-registered, do not invent a 0% rate. The correct wording is "VAT not applicable, article 293 B of the CGI". Regime by regime, that is in the freelancer mentions guide.

A wrong rate on the quote, copied onto the invoice, gets paid twice: to the client, and to the tax authority.

4. Send the quote, get it signed, collect a deposit

A PDF attached to an email still works. It has two flaws: you do not know if it was opened, and the signature comes back as an unreadable scan three days later.

A unique link the client opens on a phone, reads, signs, and (if you ask) pays the deposit in the same sitting, shortens all of that. An eIDAS electronic signature is not weaker than a paper initial, as long as you keep the proof (timestamp, identity, signed document).

Asking for a deposit at signature is not "aggressive". It is what separates quotes that start from quotes that rot in an inbox. Usual percentages and the accounting frame are in Deposit at signature.

Tip: Systematically request a 30% deposit upon signature to secure client commitment and cover upfront costs before committing time or materials.

Quick checklist before sending your quote

• Clear mention of "Devis" or "Price Proposal"
• Unique sequential quote number and issue date
• Complete business details (SIRET, address, "EI" mention)
• Full client name and address
• Itemised breakdown with quantities and unit prices excl. VAT
• Applicable VAT breakdown and total incl. VAT
• Offer validity period (e.g. 30 days) and payment terms
• Deposit and start window, if any
• Signature block ("Bon pour accord")
• For a building tradesperson: place of work, labour rate incl. VAT, whether the quote is free or charged

Rather use a template file than a dedicated tool? Download our compliant templates directly:

Download the free Word quote template, France

Download the Excel quote template with auto-calculation, France

How HeyDevis speeds these steps up

HeyDevis pre-fills SIRET, address and legal mentions from your profile, numbers the quote, calculates excl. VAT / VAT / incl. VAT (including the 20% default and reduced rates), sends an eIDAS signature link and can offer the deposit (card or transfer) right after.

It will not write the description for you. "Fit tiling, 12 m²" is still yours. The rest is paperwork the software can carry.