Creating an Estimate

Create professional estimates for your customers by selecting a customer, adding products and services, setting tax rates, and saving the estimate for review or approval.

How to Access

Navigate to Estimates in the left sidebar, or click Create Estimate from the sidebar quick-action menu. You can also create an estimate directly from a customer's detail page by clicking the Create Estimate button.

Step-by-Step: Creating an Estimate

1. Click Create Estimate to open the estimate creation form.
2. Start typing in the Customer field to search for and select an existing customer. If the customer does not exist, click Create Customer to add them on the fly.
3. The Estimate # field auto-generates a unique number. You can edit this if your company uses a custom numbering scheme.
4. Review the First Name, Last Name, Email, and Mobile fields that auto-populate from the customer record. Update them if this estimate is for a different contact.
5. Enter a Work Description to describe the scope of work covered by this estimate.
6. Click Create to save the estimate.

Result: The estimate is created in Open status and you are taken to the estimate detail page where you can add products, adjust pricing, and send for approval.

Adding Products and Line Items

On the estimate detail page, the Products tab is where you build the estimate's line items.

1. Click Add Product in the header area.
2. Search for a product or service from your catalog, or create a new line item.
3. Set the Quantity, Rate, and review the calculated Total for each line item.
4. Repeat for all items you want to include in the estimate.

Estimate Detail Page Tabs

The estimate detail page includes several tabs for managing all aspects of the estimate:

• Details Tab — view and edit the estimate description, customer info, and addresses (service and billing). You can edit the service address directly from this tab.
• Products Tab — manage line items with quantity, rate, tax, and totals. Below the product list, you see the subtotal, tax rate, tax amount, grand total, amount received, and balance due.
• Optional Products Tab — add optional line items that the customer can choose to include or exclude.
• Change Requests Tab — view any change requests submitted by the customer during the approval process.
• Payments Tab — record and view payments received against this estimate.
• Profit Analysis Tab — review margin and profitability data for the estimate.

Setting Tax and Totals

On the Products tab, the totals section at the bottom right shows the tax rate, subtotal, tax amount, and grand total. Click the tax rate percentage to edit it. The system calculates the tax and grand total automatically based on your line items and tax rate.

Next Steps

• Sending & Approval — email the estimate to your customer and track their response
• Convert to Work Order — turn an approved estimate into a work order
• Change Requests — handle customer-requested modifications