A quote, which we call an Estimate in Method, is a proposed price for your products and services you give to a customer.
In the last article of our onboarding series, we created a lead as well as related activities to keep track of our interactions with her. In this article, we will create a new estimate for her as well.
When viewing your lead, you will see the estimates associated with this customer in the Estimates tab. We will start from here.
Click Estimates in the Apps Panel, and then click ⊕ New Estimate.
This will create a new Estimate. Remember, estimates (and all transactions) use Customers, not Contacts. You can read more on this in our article "Contacts in Method vs Contacts in Xero."
The next few fields for the Estimate are fields from Xero. The only required field here is the date.
Following fields are specific to Method.
Assigned To - You can assign transactions to Method Users.
Tags - Used to categorize your estimates. For more information, see "Using tags".
Opportunity - You can associate this estimate with an opportunity (which will be covered later).
Wait for sync approval? - When checked, this estimate will not sync to Xero. In this example, since the customer is a lead and doesn't sync, it would also make sense that her transactions don't sync. However, if you were to uncheck and save this estimate, then the customer lead will automatically convert to a customer and immediately sync to Xero.
The item line grid holds the items for this estimate. Click inside the grid and add some items to this grid.
Click Save at the bottom of the screen. This will save your Estimate and update the totals for the Estimate.
Note the buttons also have a down arrow [∨] for more options:
More Actions [∨] -
Clear / New: Clear the form and create a new estimate
Delete: Delete the estimate
Make a Copy: Copy the estimate
Mark as Sent: When in Draft, you can change the status to Sent.
(Un)Mark as Accepted: Available when status is Sent.
(Un)Mark as Declined: Available when status is Sent.
(Un)Mark as Invoiced: Available when status is Accepted.
Create [∨] -
Create Invoice: This will create an Invoice from the estimate, copying the line items and and other transaction information.
Create Sales Order: This will create a Sales Order from the estimate, copying the line items and and other transaction information. Remember, Xero does not have sales orders, so Sales Order transactions will not sync to Xero.
Print: Create a PDF document which can be printed. (Do not block pop-ups).
Send [∨] -
Email: Email the customer a link to their portal where they will be able to view their transactions online. You will get a preview and the option to make edits before sending it out.
SMS: Send an SMS to customer with a link to their portal where they will be able to view their transactions online. You will get a preview and the option to make edits before sending it out. Only shows if SMS is enabled in your account.
Save [∨] -
Save & New: Save the estimate and create a new one.
Save & Back: Save the estimate and go back a screen.
Congratulations! You've created your first Estimate!
This concludes creating an estimate for your contact! If you are following along, you may be wondering why the estimate hasn't synced to Xero like we promised.
Remember, the customer is currently a lead, and thus will not sync.
The next step in the work flow is to