Quotes
Quotes let you build, send, and manage price proposals for your customers. Create a quote with line items, send it to the customer for approval, and convert accepted quotes into jobs.
Open Quotes from the main navigation after enabling the plugin in Settings → Features.
When to use Quotes
Use Quotes when a customer needs to approve scope or price before work starts. This is common for larger jobs, replacement work, project phases, upgrades, or any visit where the office should confirm the price before dispatching a crew.
Before you start
- Quotes must be enabled in Settings → Features.
- At least one customer must exist in your account.
- If you want to use tiered packages (Good / Better / Best), enable the Tiered Packages sub-feature under Settings → Features.
- Customers need an email address on file to receive quote emails.
The quote list
The quote list shows all quotes with a header displaying the total count and how many are awaiting a customer response.
Status tabs
Filter by status: All, Draft, Sent, Accepted, or Declined. Each tab shows a count badge.
Search
Search by customer name to find specific quotes.
What each row shows
- Customer name
- Amount — the quote total
- Status badge — Draft, Sent, Accepted, or Declined
- Date — when the quote was created
Create a new quote
- Click New Quote.
- Select a Customer (required).
- If tiered packages are enabled, choose a package tier (Good / Better / Best) to auto-populate line items.
- If tiered packages are not enabled, add line items manually with a description, quantity, and unit price for each.
- Save the quote.
New quotes default to Draft status.
Validation rules
- Customer is required.
- If using tiered packages, a package must be selected.
- If adding line items manually, at least one item needs a description and positive quantity.
- Quantity must be greater than zero; unit price cannot be negative.
Quote statuses
Quotes follow this lifecycle:
Draft → Sent → Accepted
→ Declined- Draft — Created but not yet sent. Only visible to staff.
- Sent — Delivered to the customer via email. The customer can view, accept, or decline through a public link.
- Accepted — The customer or staff has approved the quote. Ready to convert to a job.
- Declined — The customer has declined. Cannot be converted to a job.
Quote detail view
Click any quote row to open the detail drawer. It shows:
- Status badge at the top.
- Customer name, date, and reference number (first 8 characters of the quote ID).
- Package code if built from a tiered package.
- Line items with description, quantity, unit price, and line total.
- Total amount prominently displayed.
Actions (contextual by status)
- Draft or Sent: "Send to customer" / "Resend to customer" and "Mark Accepted" buttons.
- After sending: A customer link section with the URL and a copy button.
- Accepted with a linked job: "View Job" button.
Send a quote to a customer
- Open a quote in the detail drawer.
- Click Send to customer.
- ToolbagCRM validates that the quote is not already Accepted or Declined and that the customer has an email address.
- The quote status changes to Sent.
- A public link is generated and an email is queued for the customer.
- The link appears in the drawer for copying.
Resending reuses the same link so previous links keep working.
Customer experience (public link)
Customers open the quote through a signed public link — no login required. The public view shows your company's phone, address, and website so the customer knows who sent the quote. They can:
- View the quote details, line items, and total.
- Select a tier if tiered packages are enabled.
- Accept the quote (optionally providing a signature if signature capture is enabled).
- Decline the quote with an optional reason.
When a quote is accepted, ToolbagCRM creates or reuses the linked Draft invoice from the quote's line items so the office can review, send, or collect payment without retyping the scope. If the customer refreshes or clicks Accept again, ToolbagCRM returns the same linked invoice instead of creating a duplicate. When the Deposits feature is enabled, a separate deposit invoice is also created based on the configured percentage.
Convert a quote to a job
- Open an accepted quote.
- Click Convert to Job.
- A new job is created with the same customer and service location.
- The job title references the quote, and the description includes all line items.
- The quote links to the new job so you can navigate between them.
If the quote is still in Draft or Sent status, it is automatically accepted before conversion. Declined quotes cannot be converted.
Tiered packages (Good / Better / Best)
When the Tiered Packages sub-feature is enabled, you can present customers with multiple pricing tiers:
- Each tier has a name, color, description, and feature list.
- Layout options include Inline (side by side), Podium (center tier raised), or Stacked (vertical).
- Customers see the available tiers on the public quote page and can select one during acceptance.
- Configure tiers in Quotes → Packages → Settings; see the Tiered Packages guide for the package-library workflow.
Tips
- Keep customer-facing line item descriptions clear; avoid internal shorthand.
- Use pricing catalog items when possible so quotes stay consistent across the team.
- Add expiration language for seasonal pricing or volatile material costs.
- If the customer approves only part of the scope, update the quote before converting to a job.
- Check the linked draft invoice after acceptance before sending it, especially when a customer selected a tiered package or signed from the public quote link.
- Check the status history to see the full audit trail of a quote's lifecycle.
Troubleshooting
The Create Quote button is disabled
When tiered packages are off, you must add at least one line item with a description and a quantity greater than zero before the Create Quote button becomes enabled. When tiered packages are on, select a package tier first.
The customer's public link shows an error
A declined quote becomes terminal — the public link returns an error after the customer declines. If the customer changes their mind, create a new quote or mark the existing one as Accepted from the detail drawer and resend.
Sending a quote fails or returns an error
Email delivery requires the Quotes feature to be fully configured. If the send action returns an error, check that the customer has a valid email address and that your account's email integration is active.
Out-of-area warning appears when creating a quote
If the Service Areas feature is enabled and the customer's address ZIP code is not covered by any configured service area, a warning appears in the New Quote dialog. This is informational — you can still create the quote, but you may want to confirm coverage before committing.
A deposit invoice was not created on acceptance
When the Deposits feature is enabled, a deposit invoice is automatically created only if the quote total meets the requiredAboveAmount threshold configured in Deposits → Settings. Check that the threshold is lower than your quote total.