Variations for tradies, signed before the extra work
The customer wants a tree in as well, and the hedge done shorter. Quotebird writes the variation up as a numbered change order from your price book, GST included, and the customer signs it before you start. The final tax invoice adds the lot up.
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How do I do a variation in Quotebird?
With a change order, which is what Quotebird calls a variation and what your customer sees at the top. It’s its own document, numbered from CO-0001 by our server when you send it, and it sets out the work added or taken off, the amount, the effect on the payments and the completion date.
The quote your customer accepted stays exactly as signed. Variations line up under it in the app, each with its status.
How do I write one on site?
Open the accepted quote and tap New change order under Change orders. Add items from your price book and mark each Adds work or Takes work off. If the job will finish later, set New completion date; leave it blank and the original date stands.
GST, the customer and the site address come across from the quote. Tap Sign and send, then choose Customer signs on this phone if they’re in the yard with you, or send them the link.
A tree in, five metres of hedge out
Jess Taylor is the NSW landscaper in this site’s screenshots, a demo business we built for them. Her quote for Liam Nguyen, signed on site, covers 25 metres of hedge trimming and a new garden bed with ten shrubs. Say Liam changes the job on the day:
“Can you put a tree in the corner? And leave the last five metres of hedge, the neighbour does that side.”
The variation
- Tree plantingIn the corner of the new bed
- Tree (standard)
- Hedge trimmingRemoved, the last 5 metres
The numbers
- $154 added for the tree and its planting, GST included.
- $60 taken off for five metres of hedge at $12 a metre.
- $94 more in all, on the payment due on completion. The deposit doesn’t move.
Liam signs on Jess’s phone before she digs the hole. At the end, the final tax invoice lists the quote’s lines, the tree and its planting, and the hedge as a minus line, each change marked with its number.
How does the customer sign a variation?
Just like the quote: on their link, or on your phone. They enter their name and email, sign with a finger or let their typed name stand, and tap Accept and sign. Your saved signature goes on for the business when you send it, you both get the signed copy by email, and Quotebird keeps an unchangeable copy of every version that went out.
What happens to the deposit and progress payments?
They stay as agreed. A variation changes only the payment due on completion, up or down, and the change order prints it before and after next to the contract price: the quote, each signed variation and the new total. A deposit lowered to your state’s cap stays where it was.
Can a variation take money off?
Yes, down to what’s left on the payment due on completion. Past that, Quotebird says to give the money back with a credit note instead, which for a GST-registered business is also the adjustment note the GST law asks for.
Can I send a second variation straight away?
Not until the first is signed: one waits for the customer at a time. The final invoice waits too while one is unsigned, and once it’s sent the job takes no more variations.
Questions
Why does the document say change order?
That’s Quotebird’s name for it in every country. It covers what a variation does: the work, the price difference, the payments and the completion date, signed by both of you.
Can I fix a variation once it’s sent?
Until the customer signs, revise it and it keeps its number. After that it’s locked, and more changes go on a new one.
Does the final invoice include the variations?
Yes. The final tax invoice starts with the quote’s lines, then each signed variation’s, oldest first, with GST worked out on the lot. Adjust them to what you did on the day.
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Questions? Write to us at support@quotebird.app.