This new feature makes it possible to now create and print estimates for customers. Prior to the introduction of this feature, creating estimates was limited to prospects only.

So if you have a customer who you’ve done work for in the past, and they want an estimate on a different kind of service that your company provides, then from within the customer profile screen, click on the “Create an Estimate” “Jump to” link or scroll down to the “Create an Estimate” section.

All you have to do is fill in the job details for the estimate and the date the estimate is scheduled to be presented to the customer. Once you do this and click the “save” button, the estimate details will end up in an “Estimate Information” section which is right below the “Create an Estimate” area.

From this area you can delete, edit, print, or schedule any estimate.

And do you see the initial wording in this “Estimate Information” section? It talks about the estimate format. You’re given an opportunity to change or edit the estimate format by clicking on the “estimate format” link. Plus the software knows what the current estimate format is so it’ll tell you this.

The first time you print an estimate for a customer, the default estimate format is the one available, so again, if you want to change it to the customized estimate format, make sure to click on the “estimate format” link. A window will open up where you can select the format that you want. If you do choose the customized estimate format option, you’ll be able to upload a company logo, add your own personalized text, choose what info. you want to appear on the estimate, etc. etc. The estimate format is patterned after customized invoice format #1.

Once you have your estimate format chosen and you’ve made your desired customizations, you’re good to go. Save your changes and the window will close so that you can then print the estimate.

Speaking about printing the estimate, an indication that the estimate has not been printed yet is when you see the checkbox in the “Estimate” column checked as shown in above image. If the estimate was previously printed, the checkbox would be unchecked.

Of course you can print an estimate however many times you want. Just make sure the “Estimate” checkbox is checked prior to you clicking the “print” button. You can read more about this if you run your mouse over the question mark image to the right of the “Estimate” column heading.

Ok…you’ve printed the “print” button. Here is the “Estimate” screen that you’ll be sent to:

As you see, you can click a “print” which opens up a window allowing you to print the estimate or you can save the estimate in pdf format which allows you to send it to a customer as an email attachment.

So you presented the estimate to a customer and the customer wants you to do it for them. What do you do next? Glad you asked. 🙂

Turning an Estimate Into a Job

To schedule an estimate (turn it into an actual job), it’s as easy as clicking on the “Schedule” link to the right of the estimate in the “Estimate Information” area. A window will open up that looks like this:

The estimate details will prefill for you so all you have to do is insert the date that you and the customer have agreed to do the job on, choose one of the options from the “How often” area, and click the “schedule” button. The window will close and your new job will appear in the “Current Jobs” area.

Calendar Screens

When you have an estimate scheduled to be presented to a customer, you’ll see an “(E)” to the right of that appointment on both the weekly and monthly calendars. So when looking at these calendars, you’ll be able to spot immediately which customer appointments are for actual jobs and which customer appointments are for estimates.

If you do ever forget what the “(E)” is for (or even what the “(R)” is for), just look at the top right of the weekly or monthly calendar and it’ll tell you:

Here are what appointments look like with an “(E)” to the right of ’em:

Home/Quick Summary Screen

This feature wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t provide you an easy way to access recent estimates that you provided to customers, so on the home/quick summary screen, there is a new listing under the “Customers” area called “Presented new estimates. Contact and Schedule”:

The number of customers you presented estimates to in the past week will be hyperlinked. Just click on the link and you’ll get sent to a search results screen showing you the details of these customers and their estimate info. where you can then follow up with them and turn the estimates into jobs.

Note: You can also search for estimates that you’ve presented to customers directly from the search screen (Click on the “search” dropdown under “Customers” in the navigation area). Look on the right and you’ll see a new “Customers presented new estimates” search criteria:

If you click on the “Customers presented new estimates” radio button and open up this search criteria, you can search for “estimates presented in the last week”, “estimates presented in the last 2 weeks”, and “all estimates”.

So there you have it! If you have questions, feel free to contact us. Have a good day.

Regards,

Steve