Estimates
A proposal with pricing and terms. No financial impact.
An estimate is a priced proposal sent to a prospective customer before any commitment is made. It shows what you plan to deliver and at what price. Estimates have zero financial impact — no journal entries, no AR, no inventory movement. They exist purely to communicate intent and can be converted to binding documents once accepted.
Use Cases
| Use Case | Why |
|---|---|
| Send a quote before the customer commits | Let the customer review pricing and terms before placing an order |
| Tender or bid response | Formal pricing submission for a project or contract |
| Services engagement proposal | Itemized scope and fee schedule for a consulting engagement |
| Multi-option pricing | Present alternative configurations or tiers in one document |
| Internal cost estimate for approval | Get internal sign-off on pricing before committing to a customer |
Creating an Estimate
Navigate to: Sales → Estimates → New
Form Fields
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Customer | Required. Searchable dropdown. |
| Date | Required. The date the estimate is issued. |
| Valid for | Required. 7, 14, 30 (default), 60 or 90 days. |
| Expiration Date | Calculated from Date + Valid for; printed on the document as the date after which the pricing is no longer guaranteed. |
| Items | Same item table as invoice: Item, Qty, Rate, Discount, Tax, Amount. The printed total is labelled Estimated Total. |
| Subject | Optional. Brief subject line for the proposal. |
| PO Number, Tags, Project, Center/Location | Optional fields, revealed by their pills. |
| Note | Optional. Terms, conditions, or any message to the customer. |
| Attachments | Optional. Supporting documents, technical specs, drawings. |
Status Lifecycle
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Saved without posting. Not sent to customer. |
| Pending | Saved and awaiting internal approval, where an approval workflow exists for estimates. |
| Approved | Approved internally. Ready to send and to convert. |
| Rejected | Rejected in the internal approval workflow. |
| Partly converted | Part of the estimate's value has been converted to a sales order or invoice. |
| Closed | The full value has been converted. The estimate is fulfilled. |
| Voided | Cancelled manually. Remains in system for reference. |
Pending, Approved and Rejected come from your own approval workflow (Settings → Approval workflows). The customer's acceptance is a conversation: when they say yes, convert the estimate. There is no accept or reject button on the shared link.
Converting an Estimate
When a customer accepts an estimate, convert it directly — do not retype the details.
Convert to Invoice
Navigate to: Estimate page → More → Convert to → Invoice
The invoice form pre-populates with all line items, prices, and the customer from the estimate. Review, adjust if needed, and save. The estimate reads Closed once its full value has been converted, Partly converted until then.
Convert to Sales Order
Navigate to: Estimate page → More → Convert to → Sales Order
Use this path when the business process requires a confirmed order before invoicing (standard B2B cycle). The sales order pre-populates from the estimate.
An estimate is a communication document, not a contract. Converting an estimate to an invoice or sales order pre-fills the form — but you can change quantities, prices, and terms before saving. The estimate itself is not modified by the conversion; its status is derived from what was converted.
Sharing an Estimate
Send estimates to customers the same way as invoices, from More → Share:
- Email — the PDF attached, with To, CC, subject and message pre-filled
- WhatsApp — a pre-written message with the estimate summary and a link
- Copy Link — a read-only view of the estimate the customer can open without signing in
Related
- Turning an accepted estimate into an order or invoice: Converting between documents.
- Watching the pending pile: Tracking sales documents.
- Sending it to the customer: Sharing and reminders.
- How far it has been converted: The Lifecycle panel.