# Introduction - Quotes

A quote is a priced offer with an expiry date.

**Video coming soon:** A quote from first line to accepted, and the two documents it can become.

It commits nothing, posts nothing to your books and reserves no stock. Its whole job is to be accepted, at which point it becomes a sales order or an invoice without anybody retyping the lines.

![The Quotes screen. A table lists quotes with columns for Quote Date, Quote Number, Customer, Total, Salesperson and Created At, with totals in a mix of pounds and dollars.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/quotes/quote-list.png)

*The quote list. Each total carries that customer's own currency.*

## What a quote is not

Most quote questions are really this question, so it is worth being blunt. A quote is a document, not a promise the system enforces.

- It does **not** reserve stock. Two quotes can offer the same last unit, and neither will warn you.
- It does **not** post to your books. Nothing appears in any report until an invoice exists.
- It does **not** lock the price. Converting later picks up the quoted price, but the item's own price may have moved since.
- It does **not** commit the customer. Acceptance is a status, not a contract.

> **Note:**
>
> **Nothing is real until a sales order or an invoice**
>
> That is the point of a quote. It lets you offer freely, at speed, without anything downstream having to be undone when the answer is no.

## Where a quote goes

Acceptance unlocks conversion, and you then choose which document the quote becomes. That choice depends entirely on whether anything needs to be picked, packed or delivered before you bill.

1. **Quote accepted**: Agreement reached
2. **Sales Order**: If it needs fulfilling
3. **Invoice**: When you bill
4. **Customer Payment**: When it arrives

Both conversion paths have their own article, because the decision matters more than the mechanics of either.

## The statuses in practice

| Status | How it gets there | What you can still do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Draft | Saved without sending. | Everything. Edit, delete, send. |
| Sent | Emailed or shared as a portal link. | Edit, resend, mark accepted or declined. |
| Accepted | You marked it, or the customer accepted in the portal. | Convert to a sales order or an invoice. |
| Declined | You marked it, or the customer declined. | Duplicate it into a fresh offer. |
| Expired | Passed its validity date with no answer. | Extend the date, or duplicate at current prices. |