← All posts
·5 min read·The FollowUpDesk Team

Quote tracking spreadsheet (free template + better alternative)

A free quote tracking spreadsheet template — columns, formulas, and when to graduate from sheets to a real follow-up system.

If you quote more than a handful of jobs a month, you need a quote tracking spreadsheet. Done right, it shows you exactly which open quotes need a nudge today and which leads have gone cold.

The 9 columns every quote tracker needs

  1. Date sent — when the quote went out.
  2. Customer name — first and last.
  3. Phone / email — at least one direct channel.
  4. Job description — one line, plain English.
  5. Quote amount — total, tax included.
  6. Status — Sent, Follow-up, Won, Lost.
  7. Expiry date — usually 14 or 30 days.
  8. Last contact — date of your most recent message.
  9. Next follow-up — the date you owe them a nudge.

The one formula that matters

In your Next follow-up column, use a simple IF: if Status is Sent, return Date Sent + 3 days; if Status is Follow-up, return Last Contact + 7 days; otherwise leave it blank. Sort the sheet by Next follow-up ascending and the top row is always the quote you should be touching today.

Where spreadsheets break

Spreadsheets work great until you hit ~30 open quotes. Then three things go wrong: nobody updates Last contact, the Next follow-up dates drift, and overdue quotes silently scroll off the top of the screen. You lose revenue without ever seeing it leave.

Graduate when sheets start lying

Using a spreadsheet? Upload it into FollowUpDesk and see overdue follow-ups automatically. Same columns, same data — but the dashboard does the sorting, the reminders, and the win/lost math for you. Try it at /auth for $29/month.