Available for Accounting Premium
After you have created a new estimate for your customer, you can manage each estimate on the Estimate Listing Report. The Estimate Listing Report shows key estimate details, including current status, and allows you to easily perform tasks when necessary — including duplicating an estimate and converting an accepted estimate to an invoice.
How to Manage Estimates
The Estimates list shows estimates created within the last 30 days. To further filter your Estimates list, you can enter a start and end date, and/or select the customers and estimate statuses you want to include. You can also sort by each column.
Go to Reports > Accounting > Estimates
By default the Estimates list shows estimates created in the last 30 days with all statuses and all customers listed.
To change the dates, enter a start and end date.
To filter by customer, check the box next to the customer(s) name from the Customers dropdown.
To filter by status, check the box next to the status you want to view.
The status will display in the Status column. See Estimate Statuses in the section below for more details.
Manage actions for each status by clicking the cog icon in the Action column. See Estimate Actions in the section below for a list of available actions based on the status of the estimate.
An estimate example in accounting: clicking the cog icon under the Action column will display action links available for the estimate.
Estimate Statuses
The status of the estimate will determine what kinds of actions you can take.
Here are the possible statuses of a customer estimate:
Pending: The estimate has been created. The estimate can now either be accepted, rejected, cancelled, or deleted.
Accepted: The estimate has been accepted by the customer. You can now convert the accepted estimate to an invoice.
Rejected: The estimate has been declined or rejected by the customer.
Cancelled: The estimate is no longer valid.
Deleted: The estimate has been deleted. You can view the deleted estimate in your Estimates list; be sure to include "Deleted" as a Status when you run the report.
Invoiced: The status will change to "Invoiced" when an estimate has been converted to an invoice. A link to the resulting invoice is available directly from the estimate.
Estimate Actions
The Actions dropdown at the end of each row in the Estimate Listing allows you to perform certain actions for that particular estimate, depending on the status of the estimate. You can also perform these actions when you view the details of the estimate:
View Details: You can view the details of any estimate.
Edit: You can edit the details of the estimate, including the department, discounts, and attachments, as long as the estimate is in a status that allows editing.
Duplicate: You can duplicate any estimate, regardless of its status. The Duplicate action is available from the action menu on the Estimates list, the expanded row, and the estimate detail page. Duplicating an estimate opens a pre-filled create form with all of the original estimate's information — customer, department, line items, discounts, comments, notes, and attachments. The estimate number is not copied; a new estimate number is assigned automatically. Everything on the form can be edited before saving the new estimate.
Print: You can print a PDF version of your estimate. When you select Print, the PDF will download to your computer.
Email: You can use our email template and use Patriot to email the estimate to your customer. For more details, see Emailing Estimates to Your Customers.
Accept: If a customer has agreed to your estimate, marking "Accept" will change the estimate status to "Accepted."
Convert to Invoice: The Convert to Invoice action is only available if the estimate status is "Accepted." Converting will take you to the "Create Invoice" page with all of the information from the estimate pre-filled — including the department, line-item and overall discounts, comments and notes, and attachments. No re-entry is required, and you can make changes to the invoice before you create the invoice. After conversion, the estimate's status changes to "Invoiced" and a link to the resulting invoice is available directly from the estimate.
Reject: If a customer does not agree or declines your estimate, marking "Reject" will change the estimate status to "Rejected."
Cancel: If an estimate is no longer valid, marking "Cancel" will change the estimate status to "Cancelled." The "Reject" and "Cancel" actions are for you to use at your discretion for tracking purposes. When you reject or cancel an estimate, you can no longer change its status.
Delete: When you delete an estimate, the estimate will no longer appear in your Estimates list, unless you include "Deleted" in your Status filter when you run the report.
Common Questions About Estimates
Q: Will existing estimates be affected by the new estimate fields (department, discounts, and attachments)?
A: No. Existing estimates display correctly without any changes. The department, discount, and attachment fields will simply be blank on estimates created before these fields were added.
Q: Can an estimate be duplicated even if it was rejected or already invoiced?
Yes. The Duplicate action is available on any estimate regardless of status. The new estimate gets a fresh estimate number; everything else pre-populates from the original estimate.
Q: Can attachments be added to an estimate after it has been saved?
A: Yes. You can add or remove attachments on an estimate at any point through the Edit Estimate action, as long as the estimate is in a status that allows editing.
Q: Is the Department field on an estimate required?
A: No. The Department field on estimates is optional. If your company has no departments configured, the Department field will not appear.
Q: Does duplicating an estimate copy its attachments?
A: Yes. Attachments pre-populate on the duplicated estimate's create form and can be removed before saving.
Available for Accounting Premium