I usually don't include much about the technical details of a solution in my quotes. For example, I will not outline things such as table names, functions etc. I generally break things down as such:
Basic project requirement outline
Plain-english description of the proposed solution
Logistics and schedule for receipt of deliverables
Project Breakdown
- Initial Planning/Requirements Generation - This is the money part. All of the following are listed in hours
- Project-specific planning steps go here. If there's specfic meetings or extensive commuting required, this is where you track those hours. I usually go something like "Acquire overview of project and specific requirements" and "Additiona/misc refinement of project criteria". You'll need some slush room here, everytime.
- Back End Design/Development - Fairly self explanatory. This is where you detail how many hours or percentage of resources will be thrown at developing the actual back end as well as testing your datamodel.
- Client Front End Design/Development - Again, fairly self explanatory. I usually include a few hours for gathering process information and focus groups in here. Development of application flow would go in here. Of course the actual development itself and testing as well.
There are probably much better templates out there and I welcome you to share what else you find. A good proposal can make all the difference, I'm CONSTANTLY looking for better ways to construct mine.