Estimates
An estimate is a standalone quote document — sections of priced line items with markup and tax — that you send to a client, get signed, and convert into a live project.
Estimates live in their own screen, separate from projects. You draft the numbers here, share them with the client, and only turn the accepted quote into a project when the deal is won. That keeps your project list clean and your win/loss history intact.
The main pieces
Group the job into sections, then add line items — material, labour, equipment, subcontract or other — each with a quantity and price.
A reusable price book of works and multi-part assemblies, so common line items drop in with one click instead of being retyped.
Offer optional add-ons and good/better/best choices, then let the client accept and sign online with a deposit shown up front.
Print the quote as a clean PDF contract, then convert the accepted estimate into a new project or merge it into an existing one.
How money is calculated
- Cost vs. price — each line has a net cost and a sale price. The client only ever sees the sale price, shown simply as “Price”.
- Markup — set a default markup for the whole estimate, or override it per line to build the sale price up from cost.
- Tax — choose None, Exclusive (added on top) or Inclusive (already contained in the price), with your own rate.
- Totals — net, sale, tax and grand total are recomputed automatically as you edit lines. Optional lines the client didn’t pick are left out.
Fixed price or milestones
Each estimate is billed one of two ways, and that choice carries into the project when you convert:
A single agreed total for the whole scope.
Each section becomes a billing milestone, with tax carried as its own milestone so the sum matches the grand total.
Estimate lifecycle
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Being built. This is the only state where you can add, reprice or remove lines. |
| Sent | Shared with the client and waiting on their decision. Read-mostly. |
| Accepted | The client accepted and signed. Ready to convert. |
| Declined | The client turned it down. |
| Converted | Turned into a project. The link is kept for the budget view. |
| Archived | Kept for reference, out of the working list. |
Where it fits
Estimates sit at the front of the workflow. The works & assemblies catalog is the module’s own price book; material lines can also be pulled from the Purchases add-on when it is enabled. Converting an accepted estimate creates a project (in estimate mode) that then runs through the rest of the ERP — work plan, attendance, purchases and client portal — while the budget view compares the original quote against what the project actually spends and bills.