What quotes are
The estimate a customer approves before a technician starts work, and why this list is shorter than Finance's.
A quote is the price you put to a customer before anybody picks up a spanner. It lists the work you propose and what it will cost, it carries a date after which the price no longer stands, and it waits for an answer. Nothing in the workshop should start on a job worth quoting until one has come back accepted.
Highlights
- This list holds repair quotes only. Estimates raised elsewhere in the business are not here.
- Every quote points back at its ticket through the reference number.
- Four states: draft, sent, accepted and expired.
- A quote can become an invoice or a ticket, and the choice is yours.
- The valid-until date is a real deadline, and the list marks a quote expired once it passes.
The list
What a quote holds
- Reference Number
- The repair ticket this estimate was raised from. It is the thread back to the equipment and the fault.
- Valid Until
- The date the price stops standing. Past it the quote shows as expired, which is a prompt to requote rather than an error.
- Subject
- A short description of what is being quoted for, so a customer with several open estimates can tell them apart.
- Line Items
- The services and parts carried over from the ticket, each with its own quantity, rate and tax.
- Quick Actions
- A banner offering the step that usually comes next for a quote in this state.
The four states
| State | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Written but not sent. The customer has never seen it | Check it, then send it |
| Sent | With the customer, awaiting an answer | Chase it if it has been sitting |
| Accepted | They have agreed the price | Convert it, and let the workshop start |
| Expired | The valid-until date has passed with no answer | Requote at today's prices rather than honouring an old figure |