Many of you will come across this issue at least once in your lifetime either as a business providing a quotation, or as a consumer receiving one.  For the last 17 years, we have had GST in Australia and unfortunately, there are people are still not quoting their services correctly, and getting into trouble.

Consumers:

In 2008-2009, Parliament passed new legislation that ensured pricing from Business to Consumer (B2C) was ‘all inclusive” and thereby included GST.  Businesses can no longer quote prices such as “$295.00 plus GST’. Too often we are finding businesses are quoting the price and then invoicing the price quoted plus GST.  This is illegal.  If a business is displaying prices to consumers, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) requires the quoted price to be clear, accurate and not misleading to consumers.

As a consumer, we recommend you check the invoice against the price quoted.  It’s important you address this and not just go ahead and pay. Bring it up with the business owner and only pay the quoted price.  If the business owner objects and gets nasty, you can report them to the ACCC.

The other thing to be aware off is that people often accept their quotations via verbal agreement.  If this is you, remember you don’t have a leg to stand on should there be a query or irregularity that you find yourself on the wrong side of.  For those written quotes, please make sure that the quote clearly states the price which is inclusive of GST.

Businesses:

The ACCC requirement for a clear, accurate and not misleading quote is apparent and applies for Business to Business (B2B) transactions.  However, the ruling requiring GST-inclusive prices does not apply if the quotation is made exclusively to businesses.  There is no requirement for GST to be specified in the quote.  This is because most businesses are eligible to claim GST back, so the quotation amount reverts to a net cost.

Quotations do play an important role in the business.  They can serve more than the purpose of letting the customer know how much a job is going to cost.  Using products like Quotientapp, Qwilr, simPRo software, business owners can quickly see how their business is performing.  Presenting your business in the best light, your customers can receive, review and accept your quotes, any time on any device. The ability to have one place where you can organise and search all your quotes, know when it’s time to follow up will most certainly improve your efficiency and ultimately your bottom line.

Streamline your workflow even further by connecting these apps to accounting software like Xero and Quickbooks online where the invoice can be automatically created.

If this is of interest to you, or if we can assist in setting up your quotation process, please feel free to contact us.

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