Quote (tāme)
In Latvian: Tāme
A quote (tāme) is an estimate of the cost of work, goods or services that a contractor prepares before the contract, so that the client knows the price and can accept the offer. It is not an invoice and creates no obligation to pay on its own.
A quote is usually an offer to conclude a contract. Under the Civil Law an offeror who sets a deadline for the answer is bound until it passes, and a contract between parties who are not present together is concluded when the offeror receives the other party's unconditional acceptance. That is why a quote should state how long it is valid.
For a contract for work the Civil Law calls the quote a preliminary estimate: if the contractor's preliminary estimate turns out to be too low, the client may withdraw from the contract unilaterally.
Once the quote is accepted, the work is documented with an invoice and, where needed, an acceptance certificate. Quotes can run in their own number series, because Cabinet Regulation No. 877 allows numbering by document type.
Example
On 3 June the renovation firm SIA "Ozols" sends a private client a quote for tiling a bathroom: labour EUR 1,200, materials EUR 800, EUR 2,000 plus VAT in total, valid until 17 June. The client agrees on 10 June, the contract is concluded, and after the work SIA "Ozols" invoices EUR 2,420.
How Fakts handles it
Fakts sends the quote to the client, records whether it was accepted or declined, and converts an accepted quote into an invoice.
Legal basis
- Civil Law, Sections 1537 and 1538 likumi.lv
- Civil Law, Section 2229 likumi.lv
This explanation is for information and does not replace tax or legal advice. The law in its current consolidated text prevails.