API integration quotation template
API integration quotation template in hours: reading the documentation, building the connection and data mapping, error handling and testing to go-live.
Templates by industry
- Reading the API documentation and integration design
- Building the connection and data mapping
- Error handling, retries and logging
- Testing against the sandbox and go-live
Preparation guide
Example workflow
Confirm scope and quantities
Example: start with "Reading the API documentation and integration design", confirm the required quantity and client inputs, then agree completion criteria for each item.
Review and approve the quotation
Confirm acceptance evidence for "Testing against the sandbox and go-live", all line quantities, exclusions and quote validity with the customer, and retain the approved version.
Deliver and prepare billing
Deliver the agreed test results and configuration notes, and assign owners for outstanding items. When the agreed milestone is complete, prepare an invoice using actual quantities and approved changes.
Connecting an online shop to an accounting system, or a booking tool to a CRM, looks small until the details appear: field names that do not match, limits on how many calls are allowed, and what to do when the other side is down. A developer quoting by the hour should show where the hours go. This template splits the estimate into design, the build itself, the error handling that keeps the link reliable, and testing in the sandbox before switching to live data.
Fields to prepare
- Deliverables and line items
- Reading the API documentation and integration design, Building the connection and data mapping, Error handling, retries and logging, Testing against the sandbox and go-live: specify the planned quantity and delivery scope for each item.
- Reading the API documentation and integration design
- Say which endpoints and data objects are in scope; anything not listed is quoted as a change.
- Building the connection and data mapping
- Describe the direction of the sync, one way or both, and how often it runs or what triggers it.
- Error handling, retries and logging
- State what happens when a call fails: how many retries, who is alerted and where errors are logged.
- Testing against the sandbox and go-live
- Say whether the client's sandbox access is ready, as waiting for keys is the most common delay.
- Environment and dependencies
- Record target systems, integration counts, data volume and who supplies test access.
- Acceptance and support
- Set acceptance scenarios, the review window, support duration after handover and excluded work.
- Scope to agree
- Estimate hours per stage, name both systems and the API versions used, and say who provides test accounts and keys on each side.
Before sending
- Does “Reading the API documentation and integration design” say what is included and what quantity the price assumes?
- Would the customer read “Building the connection and data mapping” the way you do, including what it leaves out?
- Can you still honour the price of “Error handling, retries and logging” on the last day the quotation is valid?
Show 4 more
- Does “Testing against the sandbox and go-live” say what is included and what quantity the price assumes?
- Separate third-party service charges from implementation fees.
- Agree who handles the production transition and what recovery work is included if it fails.
- Check quote validity, the customer approval method and payment milestones.
Worked example with sample figures
The figures below are invented to show how the template adds up: 4 lines in USD, with an example tax rate of 8%.
| Item | Hours × rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Reading the API documentation and integration design | 6 × $95.00 | $570.00 |
| Building the connection and data mapping | 20 × $95.00 | $1,900.00 |
| Error handling, retries and logging | 8 × $95.00 | $760.00 |
| Testing against the sandbox and go-live | 6 × $95.00 | $570.00 |
| Subtotal | $3,800.00 | |
| Sales tax (8%) | $304.00 | |
| Total | $4,104.00 | |
Quoted net amount $3,800.00, sales tax $304.00, quoted total $4,104.00.
- Hours in total: 40.
What the document must show
The details a quotation has to show, and why each one matters, are set out in the guide below.
The sales tax depends on where the work is supplied, so set the rate that applies to your customer before sending.
Official rate reference: US government: state and local taxes
Full requirements: How to write a quotation: format, example and checklist
Frequently asked questions
The other system changes its API version next year. Is that in this quotation?
No. Name the version you build against, and say that a move to a later version is quoted when it is announced. Offer a maintenance plan if the client wants it covered.
The estimate is in hours. What if the work takes longer?
Say how far the hours may run over before you ask for approval, for example ten per cent. Beyond that, stop, explain the cause and agree the extra hours before continuing.
How is the sales tax worked out on this quotation?
The worked example above uses an example rate of 8%: $304.00 on a net amount of $3,800.00, for a total of $4,104.00. The editor recalculates all three when you change a quantity, a price or the country.
Can I use it in another language or currency?
Yes. The document language can be set to any of 33 languages, and changing the country setting updates the currency, the date format and the tax rate.
How is the document numbered?
QuoteBill gives each new document a unique number of its own. A member can switch to numbers in sequence in settings, such as QUO-2026-0001: one sequence for each kind of document, starting again every calendar year. A number you type yourself is kept as it is.
Read next
Reading for the API integration quotation template: How to write a quotation: format, example and checklist and Quotation vs invoice: differences and timing. The VAT and GST calculator adds tax to your quoted prices.