Create and send a quote

A quote (estimate) lists the work and its price. You build it from your price list or your own lines, send it by email or text, and the client opens it in the Client Hub, picks any add-ons and approves it online. It works the same in every trade: a lawn treatment, a gutter job, a parking lot, a roof.

Who can do it

Owners, admins, office staff and estimators can open Quotes. Making, changing and sending quotes takes a role that includes Quotes and sales, which office staff and estimators have unless you’ve changed their role. Crews never see quotes or their prices. See What each role can see and do.

Start a quote

1. Open Quotes and choose New quote. You can also choose New quote on a client’s page, or Quote in the sidebar’s Create menu.
2. If you have quote templates, pick one under Start from, or leave it on A blank quote. See Quote templates.
3. Pick the Client (or type a name and choose Create “…” as a new client) and the Property.
4. Give it a Title, like “Driveway replacement”. The client sees it.
5. Choose Create quote.

The quote opens as a Draft, taxed at the Sales tax (%) in Settings → Company, and good for the number of days in Quotes valid for (days) there (30 unless you change it). See Set your business details, tax and defaults.

To quote a request you already have, choose Create quote on the request instead. The client, property, measurement and files come with it. See Take a request and book an assessment.

Add what you’re quoting

Under the lines:

• Add from price list opens a search of your services (“Search your services”). Pick one and it goes on with its name, description, unit, price, cost and whether it’s taxed. Set up your services in Set up your price list.
• Custom item adds a “New item” line, open and ready to type in, for anything that isn’t on your price list.

Each line shows its Qty, Unit, Price and Total, and the quote’s totals work themselves out as you go.

Change a line

Click a line to open it. Each field saves as you leave it, and Done closes the line.

• Item name, Qty, Unit and Price (each unit’s price).
• The description under the name: “Description the client will see (optional)”.
• Optional (client chooses): makes it an add-on the client can tick in the Client Hub. It starts unticked, so it shows Not included and doesn’t count in the total until they pick it. Use it for upgrades and extras, like “Add aeration” or “Gutter guards”.
• Taxable: untick it for a line you don’t charge tax on. It shows No tax.
• Unit cost: what the line costs you, for the profit estimate. Only people whose role includes Job costs and profit see it.

The ⋯ menu on each line has Edit, Move up, Move down, Duplicate and Remove. Removed a line by mistake? Choose Undo on the message that pops up.

Fill quantities from a measurement

If you measured the property on the map, the Drawings card in the side column lists the drawing. Choose Fill quantities and every line whose service has a formula gets its quantity from the drawing: the lawn’s square feet, a roof’s squares, the feet of fence. For mulch, gravel or asphalt, put the Depth (inches) in first. The Measure button on the card opens the map for this quote. See Measure a yard or a roof.

Set the totals

The card beside the lines has the money:

• Discount: a dollar amount off the whole quote.
• Add promo code: type the code and choose Apply. Crewtavo checks the code’s rules and takes it off. Remove takes it back off. If the client entered a code on your booking form, the quote says “The client entered … when they booked.” with an Apply button: it’s not applied until you choose it. Codes are made in Marketing: see Marketing: campaigns and promo codes.
• Tax: the rate for this quote. It starts at your sales tax; change it here for a job in another town. For a client marked Tax exempt (in Edit client on their page, under Invoices), it says Tax exempt, at 0%, with no rate to change. Marking a client exempt takes the tax off their drafts; quotes already sent keep theirs.
• Deposit required: what you ask the client to pay up front, as a dollar amount ($) or a percent of the total (%). A percent follows the total as lines change and as the client picks options and add-ons. It’s shown to them as Deposit to book. It can’t be more than the total. For billing it once they say yes, see When the client says yes.
• Valid until: the last day the price holds. Clear it for a quote that doesn’t expire.
• How often: One time, or how recurring work repeats. See below.

Quote recurring work

For work that repeats, like weekly mowing, quote the price of one visit and say how often:

1. Beside How often, which says One time to start, choose Repeat.
2. In How often, choose Repeats and fill in the schedule, the same as on a recurring job: Repeats every a number of days (up to 30), weeks (up to 8) or months (up to 12); On (the days of the week, or for monthly work A date or A weekday, like the last Friday); First visit; Ends (Never, On a date or After a number of visits); and Season. See Set up a recurring service.
3. Choose Save.

The quote’s total now reads Total per visit, with how often under it (“Every 2 weeks, Tuesday, April to October”). The client sees the same in the Client Hub and on the printed estimate, and when you send it without a message of your own, the email or text says “Here’s your quote ($55.00 per visit)”. When they approve, they tick “I approve this quote for $55.00 per visit, every 2 weeks, Tuesday, April to October…”.

To change it, click the schedule beside How often. Choose One time and Save to make it a one-time quote again. Change orders don’t have How often.

When you convert the quote, it becomes a recurring job billed after each visit, with its visits scheduled. See When the client says yes. Copy as new draft keeps how often.

Autopay for recurring work

If you take autopay, a quote with a line priced per visit (its Unit is “visit”, like mowing on the starter price list) lets the client choose Approve and set up autopay, so each visit is charged to their card from the start.

Write a message to the client

Message to client prints above the lines, in the Client Hub and on the PDF: a thank-you, what you recommend and why. “Thanks for having us out. Here’s what we recommend…” is the idea.

Polish with AI rewrites what you’ve typed to read more smoothly, and saves it (“Message polished. Review it before sending.”). Read it over before you send. It’s there once your business has added a Claude key under Apps → Claude, or the server has one: see Ask a question.

Check it before you send it

• Lines and Paper, above the lines, switch between the lines you edit and the estimate as it prints, on your template.
• Preview as client, in the ⋯ menu at the top, opens the quote as the client will see it in the Client Hub, with “Preview: this is what your client sees.” Nothing you do there approves it or sends anything, and the link stops working after a day.
• Print or save PDF, in the same menu, prints the estimate pages, or saves them as a PDF from your browser’s print window.
• Document style: with more than one document style, pick which one this quote prints on. See Make your estimates and invoices look like your business.
• Contract lists the contract sections that print with this quote, and lets you add more for this job. See Write your contract terms.
• Profit estimate shows once the lines have costs: Price before tax, Estimated cost and Profit, with its percent. It’s for you, never the client.

Send the quote

1. Choose Send quote at the top. (It’s greyed out until the quote has a line.)
2. Pick how:
   • Email: check To (the client’s email), the Subject (“Quote #12 from …”), and add a Message if you like. Choose Send email.
   • Text: check the Mobile number, add a Message if you like, and choose Send text.
   • Copy link: copies the client’s link for you to paste into any message, like a text from your own phone. Choose Copy link. It marks the quote as sent, too.
3. You’ll see “Emailed to …” or “Texted to …”, with the Client link to copy and a Preview button. Choose Done.

The quote is now Awaiting response, with “Sent … Waiting for … to respond.” at the top. The email or text and its link are logged on the client’s timeline.

If you don’t write a message, the client gets: “Thanks for the opportunity. Here’s your quote ($…). You can review the details, choose any options and approve it online:” and the link. “The link is added automatically”, so don’t paste it into your message.

Note

Email and texting have to be set up first. Until they are, the window says “Email isn’t turned on yet. Use “Copy link” and send it yourself.” (or the same for texting). See Send email from Crewtavo and Text clients with Twilio.

Your starter automations email the client a reminder if they haven’t answered three days after you send it (“Follow up on quotes after 3 days”). See Automate reminders and follow-ups.

Change it after you send it

You can keep changing a quote that’s awaiting a response, or one the client asked to change. The client’s link always shows it as it is now. Choose Resend to send them a fresh email or text about it. If they’re in the middle of approving when the price changes, they’re asked to look it over again, so they never approve a price they didn’t see.

Once it’s approved, a quote is locked. For a new version, choose Copy as new draft in the ⋯ menu: it copies the lines (and any options) into a new draft quote.

Follow your quotes

The tabs on Quotes:

Tab	What’s in it
Open	Drafts, quotes awaiting a response, ones with changes requested, and approved ones not yet a job.
Draft	Not sent yet.
Awaiting response	Sent, waiting for the client.
Changes requested	The client asked for changes.
Approved	The client said yes. Next, make it a job.
Converted or lost	Made into a job, marked lost, or archived.
Quote templates	Saved quotes that new quotes start from. See below.

Search by the title, the client or the quote’s number. The Sent column says how long ago each one went out (or Not sent), and the bottom of the list adds up the quotes on that tab. For a board of every open quote by stage, with what’s going stale, use the Sales board.

History, at the bottom of the quote’s side column, lists what’s happened to it, like when it was sent and approved.

Quote templates

For work you quote again and again, like a spring cleanup, save a quote as a template:

1. On the quote, choose ⋯, then Save as template.
2. Give it a Template name and choose Save template. Its lines, options, contract sections and message go with it. The client and dates stay on the quote.

Your templates are on the Quote templates tab. Open one to change it, the same as a quote. It’s never sent. To use it, choose New quote from it, or pick it under Start from in New quote. Delete template, in its ⋯ menu, removes it; quotes made from it stay as they are.

When a quote expires

Nothing changes on its own when the Valid until date passes: the quote stays where it is, and you can still convert it.

• In the office, a sent quote past its date says “This quote has expired; update the date before resending.”
• In the Client Hub, the quote says “Was good until …”, its Valid until date turns red, and the client sees “This quote’s valid-until date has passed. You can still approve it, and … will confirm the price.”

To give them more time, change Valid until and choose Resend. If the price has changed, update the lines first.

Your trade’s extras

• Good, Better and Best options side by side: Offer Good, Better and Best options.
• Roofs priced from the aerial, with a price range first: Get a roof estimate out from the aerial.
• Parking lots and driveways from a takeoff: Bid a paving job from the aerial.
• Measuring any property for quantities: Measure a yard or a roof.

If something’s off

Send quote is greyed out. Add a line first: “Add a line item first.”

“Add a valid email address for this client first.” The client has no email, or it’s mistyped. Fix it on their page, or send it by Text or Copy link.

I can’t edit the lines. The quote is approved, converted, lost or archived, or your role doesn’t include Quotes and sales. A lost or archived quote can be brought back with Reopen as draft in the ⋯ menu.

The add-on doesn’t count in the total. That’s on purpose: an optional line only counts once the client ticks it (or you do, by unticking Optional (client chooses)).

Next: When the client says yes.