Quote
Also known as: estimate, proposal
A proposed price for a job, given to the customer before work starts, that they accept or reject.
A quote — sometimes called an estimate or proposal — is the price a service business gives a customer for a job before the work happens. It typically lists scope items, line-item pricing, applicable taxes, a total, expiration terms, and any conditions (access requirements, surcharges, what's not included). Customers accept the quote in writing or electronically, and accepted quotes typically convert into a scheduled work order.
In most FSM platforms, quote and estimate are used interchangeably; some draw a distinction where an estimate is a non-binding ballpark and a quote is a firm price. The fields and downstream flow are the same. A separate concept, a bid, refers specifically to a competitive submission against other vendors — common in commercial work, less common in residential.
Related terms
Work order
The structured record of a job to be performed — what's needed, when, where, by whom, and at what price.
Service request
An inbound ask from a customer that hasn't yet been scheduled or quoted.
Field service management
Software for coordinating work that happens at customer sites — scheduling, dispatch, quotes, invoicing, and crew tracking.