Quote template with VAT per line

This quote template is a free Excel and Word file that adds up your lines, splits VAT per rate and carries the reverse charge note for services across EU borders. It follows Belgian rules, so it works two ways: as a template if you sell from Belgium, and as a checklist if you buy from a Belgian supplier. A Belgian quote that misses the items below is incomplete; ask for a new one before you sign. To check a single amount, the Belgian VAT calculator adds or removes VAT at each rate.

The filled-in example is a fictional translation agency in Ghent quoting a software company in Berlin. Below it you find what a quote means under Belgian law, what it must show, how VAT works when buyer and seller sit in two countries, and how long a Belgian supplier can make you wait for an invoice to be due.

What a quote means under Belgian law

In Belgium a quote is an offer in the legal sense: a proposal with every essential term of the deal, made by someone willing to be bound once the other side accepts (Civil Code, book 5, article 5.19). For a buyer abroad, three consequences matter.

• The price holds until the stated dateA supplier cannot withdraw a quote within the term it states. Without a term, a reasonable term applies, which is a discussion you do not want.
• Accepting with changes is a counter-offerIf you strike a line or ask for a discount, that counts as rejecting the quote and making a new offer (article 5.20). The supplier decides again.
• Silence is not acceptanceSign, or confirm in writing.

Many Belgian suppliers add their general terms, often with Belgian law and a local court. Read that line before you sign, and ask for English terms if the quote is in English.

What a Belgian quote has to show

There is no mandatory form, but every document a Belgian company sends has to carry a set of details. A quote is such a document.

A Belgian company number and its VAT number usually share the same digits. Check your supplier in the public company register before a large deposit; it costs nothing.

VAT on a quote between two countries

The template lets you pick the VAT rate per line (21, 12, 6 or 0 percent) and adds the VAT up per rate. The rate depends on who buys and where.

Most services between businesses in two EU member states carry no VAT on the invoice: the customer accounts for it at its own national rate. There are exceptions, for example for some services tied to a place, so check new kinds of work with an accountant. Selling to a business elsewhere in the EU, ask for its VAT number before you quote and put it on the quote.

The example: a translation quote across a border

The filled-in quote comes from a fictional translation agency in Ghent. Its customer, a software company in Berlin, wants its website translated from English into Dutch and French, plus a term list and a review by a second translator.

The quote is numbered Q-2026-041, dated 22 October 2026 and valid until 21 November 2026, with delivery within 15 working days of approval. One line under the totals says VAT is reverse charged. Prices per word and per hour make the quote easy to adjust: if the customer drops French, both sides see at once what remains. Check that your own rates leave a margin with the margin calculator.

Payment terms a Belgian supplier can set

Where Belgian law governs the deal, the Belgian late payment act applies between businesses. Without an agreed term, payment is due 30 calendar days after the invoice arrives. Parties may agree a longer term, but never more than 60 calendar days: a longer clause is treated as if it was never written. Late payment triggers interest at the reference rate plus eight percentage points and a fixed EUR 40 recovery fee, without a payment reminder first.

Invoices between Belgian VAT-registered businesses go as structured e-invoices through Peppol since 1 January 2026. A quote does not; a PDF is fine. If you run a business in Belgium, read e-invoicing in Belgium and check whether Peppol is mandatory for you; the Peppol check tells you whether your company can receive, and the penalties for missing e-invoices explain why it is worth doing now. Paying a Belgian invoice, the payment reference is often a structured communication with a check digit: copy it exactly.

When a quote template is enough, and when it is not

• Choose this quote template ifyou send a handful of quotes a week and the lines differ every time.
• Choose AI quoting ifyou build quotes from emails, site visits or photos and type the same kind of lines every day. See AI automation.
• Choose custom software ifquote, job and invoice must flow into each other: an accepted quote becomes a job, then an invoice through Peppol invoicing software. See custom software.
• Choose a package ifyour process is standard: compare Teamleader alternatives and Odoo pricing first.
• Choose the requirements template ifyou are the buyer of software: the software requirements specification template says what you want, so three quotes price the same thing.
• Choose the website brief ifyou are buying a site: the website brief template does the same for agencies.

Mistakes that cost money

• No validity dateA customer who signs four months later can hold you to the old price.
• Booking a changed acceptance as a deal"Yes, without the review" is a new offer. Send a new version with a new number.
• Charging VAT to an EU business customerFor most services the customer accounts for it; charging it anyway means a credit note and a new invoice.
• No VAT number of the customerWithout it, the reverse charge note on the invoice has nothing to stand on.
• Extra work not coveredState that extra work happens only after written approval, at the same rate.

Your next quote on this template

1. Download the template, add your logo and fill in your company details.
2. Set your terms once: deposit, a payment term of at most 60 days for Belgian deals, extra work.
3. Ask every business customer for its VAT number before you quote.
4. Number your quotes in sequence and keep every version, in a folder or in your CRM.
5. Selling from Belgium? Get your Peppol registration done before the first accepted quote turns into an invoice. Buying from Belgium? Check the details in the table above.