# Line items and pricing

> Price each line as hours × rate, add a variance buffer and profit margin, apply a discount and see how the total is built.

- URL: https://tillage.ai/docs/quotes/line-items-and-pricing
- Section: [Quotes](https://tillage.ai/docs/quotes)

Tillage prices work from the bottom up. Each line item is hours × rate, with a risk buffer called variance. Your profit margin is added on top, then any discount comes off. You see every step; your client sees only the final prices.

## The line item columns

| Column | What to enter or read |
|---|---|
| Title | A short name for the work, such as "Homepage design". Optional, but needed to save the line to your library. |
| Description | What's included. Use the toolbar for bold, italic and lists. |
| **Qty** | Hours. Decimals are allowed. |
| **Price** | Your hourly rate. New lines start at your **Default Price**. |
| **Base** | Qty × Price. Calculated for you. |
| **Var %** | The variance buffer for this line. New lines start at the quote's **Default Variance**. |
| **w/ Var** | Base plus variance. Calculated for you. |
| **Line total** | The line price including variance and profit margin. |

Enter the real hours and your real rate. Don't build margin or contingency into the rate; that's what variance and margin are for.

The row menu has **Save to Library**, **Clone** and **Delete**. Lines added from your library or a template show a **From Library** or **From Template** badge.

## Variance

Variance is extra time you add to cover risk on a specific line: unclear scope, revision rounds, a third-party dependency. A well-understood task might get 5%; a custom integration might get 30%.

Set it per line in **Var %**. The **Default Variance** control above the line items sets the starting value for new lines on this quote. Click **Apply to All** to copy it onto every line. If a line differs from the default, a reset arrow (**Reset to default variance**) appears beside it.

Your team default comes from **Default Variance (%)** in [Quote and invoice settings](https://tillage.ai/docs/account/quote-and-invoice-settings). It starts at 15%.

## Profit margin

**Profit Margin** applies one percentage to the whole quote, on top of each line's variance. It starts at your team's **Default Profit Margin (%)**, which is 20% unless you've changed it. Margin and variance accept whole numbers from 0 to 100.

## Discount

Set **Discount** in the project details to **Fixed** or **Percent**. One discount applies to the whole quote, after variance and margin. A fixed discount can't take the total below zero. There are no per-line discounts.

## How the total is calculated

For each line:

1. **Base** = Qty × Price
2. **w/ Var** = Base × (1 + Var % ÷ 100)
3. **Line total** = w/ Var × (1 + Profit Margin ÷ 100)

Then for the quote:

4. **Subtotal** = the sum of every line total
5. **Discount** is taken off the subtotal: a percentage of it, or a fixed amount
6. **Final total** = subtotal − discount

Amounts are rounded only for display.

### Example

A line of 20 hours at $125 an hour, with 20% variance and a 15% profit margin:

| Step | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Base | 20 × $125 | $2,500.00 |
| With variance | $2,500 × 1.20 | $3,000.00 |
| Line total | $3,000 × 1.15 | $3,450.00 |

With a 10% discount on a quote that only has this line, the final total is $3,450 − $345 = $3,105.

See [Formulas](https://tillage.ai/docs/reference/formulas) for every calculation in one place.

## What you see and what your client sees

The editor's totals panel breaks the quote down into **Base Subtotal**, **With Variance**, **With Profit Margin**, **Discount** and **Final Total**. A bar at the bottom of the page shows **Base**, **+Variance**, **+Profit** and **Total** while you scroll.

Your client never sees variance, base cost or margin. Each line reaches them as a single total, under **Description**, **Qty**, **Unit Price** and **Total**, with the quote total shown as **Total Investment**.

> **Note:** **Unit Price** on the client's copy is your base hourly rate, while the line total includes variance and margin. If you'd rather clients didn't compare the two, turn off **Rate** under **Display Settings** on the **Quotes** settings tab.

## Tax on quotes

If **Show Tax on Quotes** is on, the editor includes a tax line in its totals so you can estimate the final bill. Tax isn't saved with the quote or shown to the client, and the approved total excludes it. Add tax on the invoice. See [Create an invoice](https://tillage.ai/docs/invoices/create-an-invoice).

## Related

- [Create a quote](https://tillage.ai/docs/quotes/create-a-quote)
- [Service library](https://tillage.ai/docs/quotes/service-library)
- [Formulas](https://tillage.ai/docs/reference/formulas)

---

All docs: https://tillage.ai/docs.md  
Site index for AI assistants: https://tillage.ai/llms.txt  
Sign up free: https://app.tillage.ai/signup