ServiceM8 quote template, with every field code it uses

What every ServiceM8 quote template needs, before you specialise it

Whatever trade you are in, a ServiceM8 quote is one Word document built from three things: fields that pull data from the job, a bookmarked table row that repeats once per material, and a couple of fields with special behaviour. Get this base version working first, because a trade specific quote such as an aircon sizing quote or an electrical points and circuits quote is this same structure with extra sections added, not a different mechanism.

Start from Settings > Document Templates > Quote and download one of ServiceM8's own designs rather than building from a blank page, since it already has the header layout and the material row bookmarked correctly. Save your own copy before changing anything, because uploading a custom template makes it your live one immediately.

The fields, section by section

Header and client. job.generated_job_id for the quote or job number, job.invoice_date for the date (ServiceM8 uses the same date fields across quote and invoice templates), job.billing_contact_first and job.billing_contact_last, job.billing_address and job.job_address if the site differs from the billing address.

Scope. job.work_done_description holds the free text description of the work, which is what most trades put under a Scope of works heading.

Line items. A table row containing jobMaterial.name, jobMaterial.description, jobMaterial.quantity and jobMaterial.total_price (or jobMaterial.total_price_ex_tax if you show GST separately), sitting between bookmarks named exactly blockStart_jobMaterial and blockEnd_jobMaterial. Bookmark names are case sensitive, and this is the single most common reason a custom quote template uploads without error but never repeats its line items.

Totals and terms. job.subtotal_price, job.total_price, and static text for payment terms, exclusions and how long the quote is valid, since ServiceM8 has no dedicated quote expiry field.

Acceptance. The {document} merge field, placed in your email and SMS templates as well as the quote itself, becomes a unique link to view the quote online. Add image_customer_signature and customer_signature_date to capture a signed acceptance rather than only a click.

Options, versions and where the trade templates take over

Every time you produce this template on a job, ServiceM8 saves a Quote Version, a snapshot of the price, materials and work description at that moment. Producing it more than once with different billable items, and naming each version, is how you offer the customer Quote Options: they view and accept one online, and ServiceM8 moves the job to a work order and restores that version's items automatically.

From here, a trade specific quote adds its own block above or below this base structure: a room by room sizing table for an aircon quote, a points and circuits count for an electrical quote, a spec sheet for a solar quote. The fields above do not change. What changes is what gets added around them, which is why this page exists separately from the trade specific ones rather than repeating the field list on every one of them.