Line items, discounts and tax

The quote builder runs the same maths for line items, discounts and tax that the invoice builder does. This article is the reference for what each field does to the total.

Line items

Every line in a quote has three numbers:

• Quantity — how many units.
• Unit price — price per unit.
• Line total — quantity × unit price, computed automatically.

The unit price is always entered in the quote's currency. You can mix labour and materials on the same quote — just add separate line items.

Subtotal

The subtotal is the sum of every line total. It's the number every other calculation is built from.

Discount: fixed vs percentage

The discount picker lets you choose between two modes:

• Fixed — subtracts a literal amount from the subtotal. Discount: 100 EUR takes 100 off, regardless of subtotal.
• Percentage — subtracts a percentage of the subtotal. Discount: 10% takes 10% off whatever the subtotal happens to be.

The two modes can't be combined on a single quote. If you need a more complex discount structure, use a negative-priced line item to encode it.

Tax

Tax applies to subtotal minus discount, not the raw subtotal. The picker has four presets and a custom field:

• 0% — no tax
• 10%
• 18%
• 20%
• Custom — type any percentage between 0 and 100

Tax is calculated as a single rate over the entire post-discount subtotal. The quote builder does not support multiple tax rates on different line items in the same quote.

Total

Total = (Subtotal − Discount) × (1 + Tax%)

The total is what the client owes and what shows on the PDF.

A worked example

A quote with three line items:

Subtotal: 6,500 EUR.

Apply a 10% discount: 6,500 − 650 = 5,850 EUR.

Apply 20% VAT: 5,850 × 1.20 = 7,020 EUR total.

Currency notes

The line items, discount, tax and total are all in the same currency — the quote's currency, inherited from the project, inherited from the client, defaulting to your base currency from Settings → Defaults. You can override at any point during creation, but once saved the currency is locked. If you need to re-issue in a different currency, create a new quote.

Troubleshooting

• Tax doesn't apply correctly. Check whether you're using the Fixed or Percentage discount mode — Tax always applies to subtotal minus the actual discount amount, so the discount mode matters.
• Decimal handling. The quote builder stores values to two decimals; rounding happens at display time. Tiny rounding differences (e.g. ±0.01) are normal.
• Need multiple tax rates. Not supported in V1. Workaround: split into two quotes, or split into two invoices after acceptance.