Most software quotes given to Sri Lankan SMEs are a single figure and a timeline. That format hides everything that matters. It cannot tell you what happens if requirements change, what you own at the end, or which assumptions the number rests on — and it is those assumptions that decide whether the project comes in near the estimate or at twice it.
A useful quote separates discovery from delivery. Nobody can accurately price a system they have not yet specified, so an honest proposal prices the discovery phase confidently and gives delivery as a range that narrows once the specification exists. A supplier who gives a firm total before discovery is either padding heavily to cover the unknowns, or planning to raise change requests later.
It should also state what is out of scope. Exclusions are more informative than inclusions, because they show you where the supplier expects arguments to happen. Data migration, staff training, third-party integration costs, and the first year of hosting are the four that most commonly appear as surprises after signing.
Finally, it should say who owns the result. Source code, deployment configuration, documentation, and the accounts the system runs on should all transfer to you. If a quote is silent on ownership, ask directly and get the answer in writing — the cost of discovering the answer later is measured in whole rebuilds.