The Customer Estimate screen lets you create estimates, open existing estimates for review or editing, print or email estimates to customers, archive estimates, or convert existing estimates to invoices.
Estimates have no accounting effect until they are converted to invoices.
In addition, from this screen, you can access the Estimates List to review all estimates created for the active client.
To create, edit, or send customer estimates:
1. Select Invoice from the Sales menu to open the Customer Invoice screen.
2. Click the Estimate button to open the Customer Estimate screen.
In the Customer Estimate screen, you can click the Invoice button to return to the Customer invoice screen, or you can click the Credit Memo button to open the Credit Memo screen.
3. Enter a customer name in the Bill To field and select the customer from the drop-down list.
Alternatively, click Recent Estimates to select a previously-created estimate to review or edit.
The estimate fields appear, displaying customer information, the current date, and a pre-assigned estimate number.
You can change the Date and Estimate number if necessary.
4. Use the drop-down lists in the Item and Product/Service columns to select the type of item and the items to list on the estimate.
The field in the Description column is automatically populated based on the product information you entered for the product or service you selected in the Product/Service column, but you can edit the description as necessary.
5. Enter number of items for the estimate in the Quantity column.
The Unit Price column is automatically populated based on product information you entered into the system, but you can change this entry, if necessary. The Amount column is calculated based on the entries in the Quantity and Unit Price columns.
6. Enter any discount to apply to the estimated cost in the Discount column, and select or clear the checkbox in the Taxable column to specify whether this is taxable.
The screen automatically calculates the tax based on the Taxable indicator.
7. Use the drop-down list in the Account column to specify the account for this item.
8. (Optional) Identify a Sales Representative, in the Miscellaneous Information panel, and enter additional information about this estimate in the Notes field.
9. Add Freight charges or change the Tax Rate, if necessary, in the fields in the Totals panel.
All of the other fields in this panel are automatically calculated and cannot be edited directly.
10. Click Save to save the estimate and calculate the totals.
11. Click Print or Email to generate the estimate for your customer.
Alternatively, you can click Delete to delete the estimate, or edit the estimate and save it again.
12. Click Create Invoice to convert the open estimate to an invoice, or click List to access the Estimates List to review all existing estimates.