Sending an Estimate
An estimate is a quote you send before the work is agreed — what a repair, a detail or a set of tires will cost. It is written in the same editor as an invoice, but nobody owes anything on it: it is never counted as money owed and it cannot be paid. When your customer says yes, you turn it into an invoice and bill that.
Estimates share everything with invoices up to the point of sending — the lines, the customer, the business it is from. Invoicing a Customer covers the editor itself.
Step by step
Section titled “Step by step”Start one. On the Overview, a customer’s billing profile or the Invoices tab of their customer record, click the arrow on the right of New invoice and choose New Estimate. The Estimates tab, between Invoices and Customers, has a New Estimate button of its own, with New Invoice and From a template… behind its arrow. You can also start one from an invoice template — choose Estimate under Make it — or duplicate an estimate you already sent.
Fill it in. Everything works as it does on an invoice, with three differences:
- Valid until sits where the due date would be. It starts at today plus your Estimates valid for (days) setting — in Invoices → Settings, under Defaults for new invoices — and you can click it to pick another day.
- There are no payments: no Take payment, and nothing to pay on the page your customer opens.
- Lines can only be typed or picked from your saved items. Bill from a deal is for invoices.
Finalize it. Finalize estimate gives it a number from its own sequence — EST-0001 and on, unless you changed Estimates start with in the settings — and makes it ready to send. As with invoices, a number is handed out when you finalize, never on a draft.
Send it. Send works as it does on an invoice: copy the link or email it. The window notes “The link shows your customer the estimate. There’s nothing to pay until you turn it into an invoice.” Your customer sees the estimate and its total, with a line saying it is an estimate, not a bill, and that to go ahead they should contact your business — never a button to pay.
What each status means
Section titled “What each status means”| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | Not finalized yet. It has no number and your customer cannot see it. |
| Sent | Finalized and waiting for an answer. |
| Expired | Sent, and its Valid until day has passed. It is still valid through that day itself. Expired is a reminder, not a lock: you can still mark it accepted or turn it into an invoice. |
| Accepted | You marked it accepted, or turned it into an invoice. |
| Invoiced | An invoice was made from it. The estimate says Invoiced as that invoice’s number, and links to it. |
| Declined | You marked it declined. |
| Voided | You voided it. It stays in your list with its number, marked void. |
The Estimates tab lists them all, with a Status filter using the same words, and filters by number, customer and total.
When your customer answers
Section titled “When your customer answers”Record their answer from the ⋮ menu at the top of the estimate: Mark accepted or Mark declined. Once it is answered, its lines and dates are locked. Reopen estimate, in the same menu, puts it back to Sent if the answer was recorded by mistake; to quote again with changes, duplicate it instead.
Turning it into an invoice
Section titled “Turning it into an invoice”Convert to invoice, at the top of a sent or accepted estimate, makes an invoice draft with the same lines, terms and notes, and opens it. Three things to know:
- It keeps the tax rate you quoted, even if your rate has changed since. What the customer agreed to is what they are billed.
- It marks the estimate accepted, and from then on the estimate reads Invoiced as the new invoice’s number. Finalize and send the invoice the usual way.
- It only happens once. The estimate cannot be converted again, declined or deleted while that invoice exists. If the invoice is voided or deleted, the estimate can be converted again.
A declined estimate is not offered Convert to invoice; reopen it first.
Why estimates are not in what you are owed
Section titled “Why estimates are not in what you are owed”An estimate is a price, not a debt, so it is kept out of every money figure. Money owed to you and the other figures on the Overview count invoices only; your open estimates — sent or accepted, and not yet invoiced — get a line of their own under the figures, beside “Not counted as money owed until invoiced”. A customer’s billing profile lists their estimates in an Estimates card apart from their invoices, and none of them adds to what that customer owes. An estimate also cannot go on a combined payment link.
Voiding and deleting
Section titled “Voiding and deleting”Void estimate and Delete estimate, in the ⋮ menu, work as they do for an invoice: a void keeps it on file with its number, and deleting is for one that should never have existed. An estimate that became an invoice cannot be deleted — void or delete the invoice first.
After you finish
Section titled “After you finish”- The invoice an estimate becomes is sent and paid like any other: Invoicing a Customer and Taking Payment From a Customer.
- If you trade under more than one name, the business an estimate is from sets its numbering and starting valid-until — Invoicing for More Than One Business.