Creating your first quote

A quote proposes scope, prices, and payment terms. Acceptance, invoicing, payment, and portal signup are separate steps: a signed quote does not mean the client has paid.

Where the composer lives

Open New → Send quote, or use Send Quote in a client's workspace. Start from a saved quote loads a reusable starting point. Draft a quote from notes expands the optional AI drafting tools.

Step-by-step

1. Pick the recipient

Choose Existing customer and select the client, or choose New customer and enter both Recipient name and Recipient email. Company is optional. Check the address carefully before sending.

Sending to a new recipient creates or finds their customer record. It does not automatically create their portal login. After acceptance, a new customer can use the separate portal signup step.

2. Add the title, project name, and note

Give the quote a short, descriptive title. Use the project-name field for the intended job and Note to client (optional) for scope, assumptions, or exclusions.

If project auto-creation is enabled, acceptance can create a project using the supplied project name or quote title. Matching an existing project's name is not a substitute for explicitly linking the correct project.

3. Review the line items

Use the Quote Library, Pricing Catalog, Surcharge Catalog, or custom rows. Check description, quantity, unit price, and total for every row.

• One-time items make up the project price.
• Monthly and annual items are ongoing commitments, shown separately.
• Optional items require the client's selection on the hosted acceptance form.
• Provider-direct recurring costs are paid by the client to the outside provider. They are disclosed, not collected by your business.

See Line items and the library for pricing sources, materials presentation, and recurring limits.

4. Choose the billing mode

These modes govern one-time work. A selected business-billed monthly or annual row can still add its first billing period at acceptance, including when one-time work is only a draft. Provider-direct rows never add to that invoice.

See Billing modes before promising an automatic renewal schedule.

5. Check deposit, validity, and discount

• Deposit % applies in deposit modes. The organization default is used unless you override it; the fallback is 25%.
• Valid for (days) starts at 14 days and accepts 1–365 days.
• Discount is a flat amount against the required one-time subtotal, capped at that subtotal. It is not a percentage discount or a discount on recurring commitments.
• Milestone quotes use stage percentages totaling 100% instead of the deposit field. Optional add-ons are not supported with a milestone schedule.

Selected optional one-time items contribute to the accepted price and deposit calculation; unselected items do not.

6. Sign as company

On desktop, the sticky totals and company-signature column stays on the left. Review the totals, then use your saved signature, type a signature, or draw one. Sending requires the company signature.

Save a reusable signature in Settings → Signatures. Older quotes created through a different flow may still require a company countersignature; check their contract status.

7. Preview and send

Review the PDF, recipient, prices, billing mode, and signature, then click Send Quote. The send workflow emails the hosted signing link and quote PDF. There is no separate Send without email option in this composer.

Check the resulting contract in Contracts. If delivery fails, inspect that record before trying again: a customer or quote may already have been created even though the email did not arrive.

AI drafting and Field Mode

Expand Draft a quote from notes to type, paste, or dictate the job, then choose Draft quote. Your industry provides context, but describe the actual work even when it differs from the usual business category.

AI output is a starting point, not a verified supplier offer or a guarantee of quantities, code compliance, or price. Before sending:

• Resolve missing information and unpriced rows; unknown cost is not free work.
• Check units, package sizes, location, source dates, and whether a price is estimated or cached.
• Compare library prices and live alternatives deliberately. A retail suggestion should not silently replace your agreed customer price.
• Verify labor, waste, delivery, taxes, exclusions, and recurring payer. Do not treat an estimated supplier cost as your final selling price.

In Field Mode, Quick estimate and Thorough quote offer different levels of drafting detail. Review the itemized table before opening Preview PDF. Saving a quote and sending it are separate actions.

Field Mode retains encrypted notes and recent drafts for 24 hours and offers recovery or retry when available. That recovery does not itself send a quote, create a customer contract, or start billing. The desktop notes drafter may take several minutes; keep its page open while it runs.

Saved quote templates

Select Save as template when sending if you want to reuse the structure. Manage saved quotes at Contracts → Templates → Saved quotes.

A template starts a new quote, not a new acceptance of an old agreement. Review recipient, quantities, prices, and current proposed terms before sending.

Unsent work saves itself

The desktop composer stores unsent work in the current browser and offers Resume or Discard when you return. Starting deliberately from a template or client takes precedence over that prompt.

Successful sends clear that browser draft. Failed sends retain it. Browser drafts do not sync between devices, and signatures are not stored in them; review and sign before sending.

Currency and tax

The quote has one currency, inherited from its saved starting point or your configured quote currency. There are no independent currency selectors for each row, and changing a currency label is not currency conversion.

Check the quote's tax disclosure and the resulting invoice. Stripe tax behavior depends on your billing setup and the client's details; do not promise that a pre-tax quote is the final payable amount.

Edit / void / resend after sending

For an eligible unsigned quote, open its contract page and expand Edit line items. Save line items updates the hosted quote, including supported discount and materials presentation changes. Saving does not email the client. Use the available resend or change-request resolution action to notify them.

A client holding an older acceptance page must reload changed terms before signing. Already-signed quote prices and terms are not editable through this panel. Use a separate agreed change order or replacement workflow when the signed scope changes.

To withdraw an unsigned offer, open the quote's contract page, find Next action, and choose Void quote. Enter a reason and confirm. The signing link closes and the audit history remains. This button is visible in the action area, not hidden under a separate “Close this contract” menu.

To change a sent quote's billing mode, withdraw the unsigned offer and prepare a replacement. A completed signed agreement is not erased by voiding an invoice. Changes to accepted work require a separately agreed change; no void action refunds money or automatically stops a project or recurring service.

For an unpaid deposit or completion bill, use Void beside that bill in Invoices waiting on you, or in the quote's Quote invoices section. See Voiding a quote invoice for the distinction between a bill and its signed agreement.

Quote expiration in practice

The validity period and any applicable Acceptance grace period (days) determine the acceptance window. Check the displayed expiry before resending an old link. An expired or voided quote cannot simply be treated as a new offer.

Quote analytics

Open Contract Analytics for document status, activity, signing-time, and template-usage reporting. Its signed-value charts describe contract amounts, not collected payments.

For actual collections, use Revenue Dashboard. Review the original quote's currency before relying on a combined contract-value report; that report does not perform currency conversion.

What can go wrong

• No invoice after acceptance: check the billing mode, amount, company-signature status, Stripe connection, and any billing error on the contract. Do not ask the client to sign again just to retry billing.
• Wrong recipient: withdraw the incorrect offer and create the correct one.
• Missing email or attachment: verify delivery and use the hosted quote link from the correct contract. Treat signing links as private.
• Unexpected price: stop before sending and review the source, unit, quantity, optional selection, and recurring payer.