Guides · Invoicing
Quotation vs invoice
A quotation and an invoice sit at opposite ends of a sale. A quotation offers a price before the customer commits; an invoice records the supply and asks for payment once it is done.
Two ends of the same sale
A quotation is a pre-sale offer: here is what it would cost, valid for a period, no obligation. An invoice is a post-sale record: here is what was supplied, here is the tax, here is what is due. One opens the conversation, the other closes it.
Because a quotation is not a demand for payment and does not record a supply, it does not affect your books or your tax until a real invoice follows.
Why not to confuse them
Treating a quotation as an invoice overstates your sales and can pull tax and receivables forward for a deal that has not happened. Treating an invoice as a mere quote understates them. Each has to be recorded for what it is.
A clean flow is quotation, then confirmation, then a tax invoice on supply — with only the last one hitting the ledger as a sale.
How Lekha handles the flow
Lekha records what your documents say and tracks the money on both sides, recording the sale when the tax invoice is raised against the order — not at the quotation stage.
Lekha records what your documents say and tracks the money on both sides — what you owe and what you are owed. It records and tracks; it does not replace your accountant.
Questions
- What is the difference between a quotation and an invoice?
- A quotation offers a price before a sale and creates no obligation; an invoice records a completed supply, charges tax, and asks for payment.
- Does a quotation affect my accounts?
- No. A quotation is a pre-sale offer and does not record a sale or tax. Only the tax invoice, raised on supply, hits your books.
- What is the right order — quotation or invoice first?
- Quotation first, then confirmation, then the tax invoice when the supply is made. Only the invoice is recorded as a sale.