An estimate (SeroBooks also calls it a quotation) is a priced offer: the items or work you propose, at the prices, discounts and tax you quote. It records no sale — no payment is taken, no stock moves and nothing is posted to the books — so you can write as many as you like. When the customer accepts, you turn the estimate into an invoice (or a sales order) without retyping it.
Opening Create Estimates
- Customers ▸ Create Estimates
- Home ▸ Estimates (in the Customers band)
- Create Estimates on the Estimates list
Create Estimates opens in a window of its own, beside Create Invoices rather than inside it, so a half-written invoice is not disturbed. Its draft is kept separately too.
Step by step
- Open Create Estimates.
- Choose the CUSTOMER (search by name, company, phone or email). Their price level and tax province apply.
- Add the lines from the item bar, and set quantities, prices, line discounts and tax exactly as on an invoice. See Invoice lines.
- Set a DISCOUNT, SHIPPING, TERMS, NOTE or JOB on the right if the offer includes them.
- Click Save & Close (or press F9). Use Save & New to save and start another.
SeroBooks confirms Estimate (number) saved — find it under Customers ▸ Estimates. and shows the Estimates list.
The estimate form
The form is the invoice form in estimate mode. A blue note on the right reads Estimate — no payment is taken and no stock moves. What differs from an invoice:
| Part | On an estimate |
|---|---|
| Header | Customer, credit position, addresses and DATE as on an invoice. The status pill reads Draft (or Revising estimate when you are changing a saved estimate). |
| Lines grid | The same columns and behaviour as an invoice: location, item, serial, quantity, U/M, price, discount, tax, net amount. |
| Totals | Subtotal, discounts, shipping, taxable amount, each tax and the grand total — what the customer will pay if they accept. |
| Document tiles | DISCOUNT, SHIPPING, TERMS, NOTE, JOB, CLASS, TIME & COSTS, as on an invoice. |
| Settlement and When this is saved | Not shown — an estimate takes no payment. |
The buttons
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Save & Close | Saves the estimate and shows the Estimates list; when you are revising a saved estimate, saves the revised version in place of the old one. F9, or Ctrl+S. |
| Save & New | Saves it and starts a blank estimate. |
| Order | Saves the lines as a sales order for the customer instead. See Create Sales Orders. |
While you are revising a saved estimate, an amber bar reads Editing (number) with Cancel, which discards your changes and leaves the saved estimate as it was.
On Create Invoices, Estimate saves an invoice-in-progress as an estimate in the same way. See The invoice buttons.
Revising an estimate
Open the estimate from the Estimates list and click Edit estimate (or Edit on its row). The estimate loads into the form — Editing estimate — Save & Close replaces it. Change it and click Save & Close. SeroBooks saves the new version and removes the old one: Estimate updated — (old number) replaced by (new number).
If the estimate had been sent for approval, editing it cancels any answer the customer already gave; send it again.
Sending an estimate and getting it approved
Open the estimate from the Estimates list. Under Send the estimate you can print it, save a PDF, email it or send it by WhatsApp. Sending creates an approval link — a web page on which the customer can Approve or decline the quotation — valid for 30 days. The email says Please find our quotation… and states the date it stands until. The customer's answer appears on the estimate and in the list's Approval column.
What an estimate posts
Nothing. An estimate is not a transaction in the books: no Accounts Receivable, no income, no tax, no stock. It appears in the Estimates list, in the Income Tracker under Estimates, and on estimate reports. It becomes a sale only when you convert it to an invoice and save that.
Tips
- Set the customer first so their price level and province price and tax the lines correctly.
- Use NOTE for the scope of work or conditions of the offer; it prints on the estimate.
- An estimate for a prospect: add them in the Lead Center and convert them to a customer first — estimates are written for customers.
Common problems
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| The save button is grey. | Add at least one line. |
| The estimate is not in the Estimates list. | Check the list's period covers the estimate's date. |
| The customer says the approval link has expired. | Open the estimate and click Issue a new link, then send it again. |