# Text items and subtotals

> Use text items for introductions, section headings and longer explanations, and subtotals to total each section of a quote.

Alongside price items, a quote can hold two other kinds of item: text items and subtotals.

## Text items

A text item is a block of writing with an optional section heading. Use text items for:

- the **introduction** or cover letter, usually the first item;
- section headings that split a long quote into parts, such as "Design" and "Build";
- scope, assumptions, timelines or anything else that is not priced.

Add one with **Text item** below the items, or between two items. Type the heading in **Section heading** and the content in the text box below. As with price items, typing a heading suggests matching text items from your library.

On the customer page and in the PDF, a text item's heading is shown as a section heading. To keep it off the quote (for an introduction or a cover letter, say), choose **Hide heading on the quote** in the item's **⋯** menu: the heading stays in the editor, greyed and marked **Heading hidden on the quote**, and still names the item in the library. In the library, the same option is **Hide the heading on quotes** under a text item's heading. Text items can include placeholders such as *{customer_first_name}*, which are filled in for each recipient. See [Smart tags and placeholders](https://quoterium.com/help/writing-quotes/smart-tags-and-placeholders).

## Subtotals

A subtotal adds up the price items above it, back to the previous subtotal (or the start of the quote). Add one with **Subtotal** below the items or between two items. You can rename the line in **Subtotal line**, for example "Design total".

Things to know about subtotals:

- They only count price items that are included: unselected optional or multiple-choice items are left out.
- Subscription items are not included, because they are not part of the one-off total.
- Subtotals are for presentation only. They do not change the quote total.
- A subtotal also marks where a [percentage-priced item](https://quoterium.com/help/writing-quotes/percentage-priced-items) starts counting from.
- A subtotal ends a multiple-choice group, just as a text item does.

On the customer page a subtotal appears as a shaded line with its amount. When the quote hides line totals from the customer, the amount is hidden too; see [Tax and how customers see prices](https://quoterium.com/help/writing-quotes/tax-and-price-display).

## See also

- [Price items](https://quoterium.com/help/writing-quotes/price-items)
- [Arrange items and reuse them from the library](https://quoterium.com/help/writing-quotes/arrange-and-reuse-items)

Source: https://quoterium.com/help/writing-quotes/text-items-and-subtotals