EG Quote & Invoice turns Excel into a complete quoting and invoicing system for trades and contractors. This guide covers setting it up, sending your first quote, tracking what you’re owed, and managing your license.
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Getting started
- Save the workbook somewhere permanent — your Documents folder, or anywhere you back up. Don’t work from the Downloads folder.
- Open it in Excel for Windows and enable macros. This is a one-time step per file.
- You’ll land on the Home page. Everything else is reached from there.
Setting up
Your company details
Go to Home → Settings and fill in your company name, address, phone, and email — these appear on every document. Add your logo using the pencil icon on the document itself. While you’re there, set your currency symbol and whether it sits before or after the amount, your date format, your default tax rate, and your payment terms (which drive invoice due dates).
Clients
Home → Clients holds your customer list. Enter a client once and their details fill in automatically on every future document.
- Add client creates a record; Edit opens an existing one.
- Terms (in days) sets the due date on that client’s invoices.
- Archive hides a client you no longer work with, without deleting their history.
- Import clients brings in a list from a spreadsheet — use Download template first so the columns line up.
Products & pricing
Home → Products is your price list: materials, labour rates, service fees, equipment. Give each item a cost and a pricing rule and the selling price is worked out for you.
| Pricing mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Price | You enter the selling price directly. |
| Markup % | Cost plus a percentage of cost. $42 cost at 55% = $65.10. |
| Margin % | Priced so the margin is that share of the sale. $58 cost at 40% = $96.67. |
| Markup $ | Cost plus a fixed amount. $9.50 cost plus $12 = $21.50. |
Mark each item Taxable or not — labour and service fees often aren’t taxed while materials are, and the totals handle the mix correctly.
Quotes & invoices
Building a document
From Home, click New Quote or New Invoice. In the builder:
- Add Item adds a line — pick a product by SKU, or type a one-off line.
- More lines extends the table when a job needs it.
- The pencil icons edit the client, the ship-to address, and the document details.
- Preview shows exactly what your customer will see.
- Finalize locks the document; Edit unlocks it again if something changes.
- Duplicate starts a new document from this one — useful for repeat work.
Profit & margins
The panel to the right of the builder shows what the job actually earns you, before you send it — total cost, total margin, and average margin %, plus the cost and margin on every line. Your customer never sees any of it.
Use the bulk actions to re-price every line at once by Price, Markup %, Margin %, or Markup $. Per-item mode prices each line on its own rule; Blanket applies one rule across the whole document.
Sending it
- Print / PDF produces a PDF exactly as your customer will see it.
- Email opens a message with the document attached, using your saved template.
- Edit the templates in Settings — double-click any subject or body box. Placeholders such as
{Client},{Number},{Total}and{DueDate}fill in per document.
Payments & status
Open an invoice and click Payments to record what’s come in — date, amount, method, and a reference such as a cheque number. Status then follows the money on its own:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Still being worked on. Not counted as owed. |
| Finalized | Sent to the customer, nothing paid yet. |
| Partially Paid | Some payment received, balance outstanding. |
| Paid | Settled in full. |
Past-due invoices show the due date and days late in red on the Home list, and the Outstanding tile totals everything you’re still owed.
Labels & language
Settings → Labels & language editor controls every label printed on your documents. Pick a language — English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, or Polish — and the labels fill in. Type your own wording in the Your text (override) column for any label and yours always wins, which is also how you set up a language that isn’t on the list.
Reports
Home → Reports summarises your activity over a date range — this year, last year, trailing 12 months, all time, or a custom range — with document counts and amounts by month, plus a revenue and tax summary.
What Pro adds
The free version has no limit on how many quotes and invoices you create. Pro is a one-time purchase that adds three things:
- Your branding only — removes the small “Powered by ExcelGurus” line from every document.
- Year-end tax pack — exports documents, line items, and payments for any date range, with totals by month for your accountant.
- Overdue reminders — the Remind link on any late invoice drafts a reminder email from your template.
Your license
Activating
- Go to Settings → License.
- Enter the license key and the email address from your purchase confirmation.
- Click Activate. Pro features unlock immediately.
Two computers
Your license covers two computers — a desktop and a laptop, for example. Activate on each with the same key.
Moving to a different computer
On the computer you’re leaving, go to Settings → License and click Deactivate. That frees the slot, and you can then activate on the new machine. Deactivating needs an internet connection so the slot can be released on our side.
Working offline
The workbook checks in with our license server occasionally to confirm your license is still valid. You can work offline in between — it only needs a connection now and then.
Troubleshooting
The buttons don’t do anything
Macros aren’t enabled — see how to enable macros. It’s the most common issue by far.
“This license is registered to another computer”
Your key is already active on two machines, or this computer’s hardware changed. Deactivate on a machine you no longer use, or contact support.
Activation says the server can’t be reached
Check your internet connection and try again. Corporate firewalls sometimes block it — try from a home connection, or contact us.
Pro features are still locked after buying
Make sure you’ve activated: Settings → License, then enter the key and the email you purchased with.
I’ve lost my license key
It’s in your purchase confirmation email. If you can’t find it, message us from the address you bought with and we’ll resend it.