Estimates

Estimates are non-posting quotes you prepare before the work is done. They carry no accounting impact until converted, so you can propose freely and only book revenue when the customer says yes.

Availability: the Estimates module is currently hidden. It no longer appears in the Books sidebar, and the Regent assistant and AI assistant connections do not offer it. Existing estimates stay in your data. The steps below describe how the module works when it is switched on.

Key capabilities

• Statuses Draft, Sent, Accepted, Declined, and Converted (an Expired status exists but nothing sets it automatically)
• Auto-numbered, with customer, line items (description, quantity, price), optional due date and expiration date, a description, and internal notes
• Line items can reference a product variant or be free text
• Convert to Invoice creates a finalized invoice from the estimate and links it back
• No journal entry until the estimate becomes an invoice

How it works

flowchart LR
  draft["Draft"] -->|"Send"| sent["Sent"]
  sent -->|"Accept"| accepted["Accepted"]
  sent -->|"Decline"| declined["Declined"]
  draft -->|"Convert to Invoice"| converted["Converted"]
  accepted -->|"Convert to Invoice"| converted

Send only moves the estimate from Draft to Sent and stamps the time; it does not email the customer, so deliver the quote yourself. Nothing posts to the ledger until you convert. Conversion builds a draft invoice from the line items (using the estimate's due date, or the standard default when empty), finalizes it so it posts to accounts receivable, and marks the estimate Converted.

How to use it

1. Open Estimates and click New Estimate, then Create Estimate to save.
2. Pick the customer, add line items with a quantity and price, and optionally set a Due Date and description.
3. Save. The estimate is a Draft with its own number.
4. Use the row actions: Send (Draft), then Accept or Decline (Sent) when the customer answers.
5. On a Draft or Accepted estimate, click Convert to Invoice. Find the new invoice in Invoices.
6. Filter the list by status (All, Draft, Sent, Accepted, Declined, Converted).

Rules and errors

An action outside these states is refused with a message naming the action (for example "cannot be converted"). A converted estimate cannot be converted again.