Create and send an estimate
Price the work, send it for your client to accept, and follow it until they decide.
An estimate shows your client what the work will cost before you start. They can accept or decline it online, and once accepted it becomes an invoice without retyping anything.
Create the estimate
- Open Finance › Estimates and select New Estimate.
- Choose the Contact, or select New contact to add a person you bill directly. An account is optional.
- Check the Recipient Email.
- Set the Issue Date and Expiry Date.
- Select Add Item for each piece of work. Pick a saved service, or type a name and select Use "…".
- Add tax, discounts, notes and terms where needed.
- To ask for a deposit, open Deposit and schedule. See deposits and payment schedules.
- If the client must sign, add each signer under Signatures.
When the client has billing details saved on their account, the estimate starts with their currency and payment terms.
Send it
- Select Send estimate.
- Check the recipients, subject and message, then send.
You're done when the estimate status is Sent and your client has an email with a link to review it. To share it another way, use Copy public link. Your client can't accept a draft, so copying the signing link of a draft marks it Sent.
Follow its status
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | Not sent yet. |
| Sent | Delivered to your client. |
| Viewed | Your client opened it but has not decided. |
| Accepted | Your client accepted it. You are notified. |
| Rejected | Your client declined it. They see this as Declined. |
| Expired | The expiry date passed before they accepted. Your client can't accept or sign it any more. |
Follow up on sent and viewed estimates before they expire. To give your client more time, edit the estimate's Expiry Date. When your client responds, see when a client accepts an estimate.
Good to know
- The Estimate Number fills in automatically, such as EST-0001. You can type any number or label instead.
- Turn on Auto Convert On Accept to create the invoice as soon as your client accepts.
- If prices change after an estimate expires, duplicate it with current prices and send the new one.
- AI assistants, including Agiled AI, can prepare an estimate as a draft. You decide when to send it.