Customers approve the price before you order parts, online or on your technician's phone, and can pay the parts deposit in the same step.
Create an estimate
- On the job, click Estimate in the Estimates and invoices card. Or click Write estimate in the Next step box.
- A draft opens with the parts already on the job and one Repair labor line at your labor rate.
- If the customer already paid the service call fee and you credit it, it appears as Service call credit.
Estimates are numbered EST-1001, EST-1002 and so on.
Edit the lines
- Change any line's Type (Part, Labor or Fee), Description, Part #, Qty or Price.
- Add lines with Part, Labor or Fee. Parts from job adds every part on the job.
- Remove a line with the trash button.
On the right you see the Totals and these fields:
- Service call credit. The amount taken off.
- Tax %.
- Parts deposit %. The share of the parts lines the customer pays when they approve. It starts at 50%. Set it to 0 for no deposit.
- Note to customer.
Give up to three options
Click Option to copy the current option into a new one, then change it. For example, "Repair" and "Repair plus" with a maintenance kit. You can have up to three. Give each an Option name and a Short description. Remove this option deletes the one you are looking at.
Repair or replace advice
If the appliance type is in your repair-or-replace list, the estimate shows advice based on the cheapest option:
- Repairing makes sense
- Worth a think
- Replacing may be the better buy
Replacing is suggested when the repair costs more than half a new one, or more than a third when the appliance is near the end of its life. Add Year made on the appliance so its age counts. The customer sees the same advice on their estimate. You can turn this off in Settings. See Settings.
Send it
- Click Save and email. The customer gets Your estimate is ready with a View and approve button.
- Or click Copy link and text it yourself. Customer view shows you exactly what they see.
The customer approves online
On their estimate the customer:
- Picks an option if there is more than one.
- Types their name in Type your full name to approve.
- Clicks the approve button. It says exactly what happens, for example "Approve Repair and pay $25.00 deposit".
- If card payments are on and there is a deposit, they go straight to Stripe to pay it.
They can also click Decline. You get an Estimate approved email, and the customer gets their own copy with every line and the total.
The customer approves on site
Your technician can get approval before leaving the house.
- Open the estimate and click Customer approves here.
- Hand over the phone. The customer picks the option and types Your full name.
- They sign in the box with a finger and tap Approve and sign.
- If there is a deposit and card payments are on, Take the deposit appears. They tap the button, like Pay $25.00 by card, to pay on the phone.
The estimate then shows who approved it, when, "on site with" your technician's name, and the signature. The customer gets their copy by email.
Technicians can do this when Technicians can write estimates, get the customer's signed approval and book the return visit on site is ticked in Settings.
Approved and locked
Once approved, the estimate is locked so the agreed prices can't change by accident. To change it, click Revise. The approval is cleared, the estimate goes back to draft, and you send it again for a fresh approval.
Turn it into an invoice
When the work is done, office staff click Turn into invoice. The invoice gets the option the customer chose, and any deposit they paid counts toward it. See Invoices and payments.