PocketSuite’s Estimates feature is an effective way to send a quote or a proposal to clients. Send professional quotes with and once accepted, convert them into actual appointments or invoices!
To get started, turn on Estimates by going to Settings > Features, then toggle on “Estimates”.
In this article:
- Learn how to create an estimate
- Track and manage your current estimates.
- Turn estimates into invoices and appointments
How to create an estimate
To begin, tap on “Estimates” from your dashboard.
You will be routed to your estimates dashboard. Tap on the “+” in the top right corner to create a new estimate.
Now you can customize the details of your estimate. Tap on “Client”, to select the client that you plan to send the estimate to.
If you are not planning on itemizing or adding expenses, you can manually enter the total for the estimate. Tap on “Total” and enter the amount in the estimate that will display in the “Total” field.
If you would like to include a deposit, add that amount to the “Deposit due upfront” field. Remember that your client will pay the amount specified in the deposit upon purchase or booking regardless of whether they later cancel. The deposit amount paid will be subtracted from the total amount specified in the Estimate.
If you would like to add a discount, tap on “Discount” and select the discount you would like to apply. Discounts can be set as a fixed amount or a percentage of the total.
If you plan on collecting sales taxes from this estimate, tap on “Sales tax” and select whether the Sales tax rate should be collected at all (and if so, based on your business location or another location where you are delivering the service).
If you would like to add a surcharge to your estimate to pass the credit card processing fee on to your clients as a convenience fee, toggle on “Add 3% surcharge”.
To set the status of the estimate, tap “Status”. There are three options that define the status of an estimate. Tap “Already approved”, if you would like to send the estimate as approved to the client so it is just a notification and there is no additional action needed from them. Tap “Requires approval” if you would like the client to approve the estimate, which means they will need to accept the Estimate. Tap “Requires credit card”, to request that your client place a credit card on file to confirm their acceptance of the card.
If you would like to include specific products or services in your estimate, tap on “Add an item”. This feature is only available if you have itemization enabled.
Tap “Item” to select the product or service you would like to add to the estimate. Tap “Quantity” to specify the quantity of the selected item or product. PocketSuite will auto-calculate the total in “Amount” for you. If you would like to change the total, tap on “Amount” and specify a different value.
If you would like to add a sales tax or discount, toggle on “Add sales tax” and “Allow discount” respectively.
You have successfully added an item! The cost of the items will become the estimate’s total or be added on if there are existing items or expenses. If you would like to add another item, you may do so by tapping on “Items” and tapping “Add another item”.
Tap “Add an expense”,if you would like to add an expense to the estimate. Extra expenses may cover costs of setting up, travel, transport, and much more. This feature is available when you have itemization enabled.
Tap “Type” to select the type of expense covered. Tap “Memo” to include a description of the expense. Tap “Amount” to specify the cost of the expense.
If you would like to add sales tax or discount, toggle on “Add sales tax” or “Allow discount”, respectively.
You have successfully added an expense! The estimate total will either be the sum of expenses or the sum of items and expenses. If you would like to add another expense, you can tap on “Expenses” and tap on “Add another expense”.
To set how you would like to send your client the estimate, tap “Send via”. Tap “Don’t notify” if you do not plan on sending this estimate. Tap “Text message” if you want to send the estimate to the client via sms. Tap “Text and email” to send the estimate to the client via sms and email. Tap “Email” if you want to send the estimate to the client via email.
To set how frequently you would like the client to be reminded to review and respond to the estimate, tap “Reminder”. Select how often you would like your client to receive reminders.
If the client is expecting the details of this estimate to correspond with a period of time, such as a service, you can include that in this estimate. Tap on “Duration” and select the length of time the client should associate with the estimate. If you have included services in the estimate, “Duration” will autofill with the total length of time taken by those services.
If you would like to add a description to the estimate, you cany tap “Description” and enter a description. If you would like to attach a form or contract to the estimate, you can tap “Attach a form” or “Attach a contract” respectively. Then your clients will be prompted to complete the form and sign the contract when they accept your estimate. To preview your estimate, tap “Preview”. Once you complete the estimate, tap “Next” and “Send”.
If you would like to create and send the estimate later, tap “Save” then “Save estimate”.
Track and manage your current estimates
PocketSuite allows you to track the status of all your estimates from your estimates dashboard. Tap on “Estimates” from your dashboard to access it.
You are now on your estimates dashboard. The number in the top left corner of the screen displays the total value of all of your open estimates that haven’t been accepted yet.
To filter your estimates by status, tap the arrow on the top of the screen and select a status.
To filter your estimates by date, tap the arrow on the top right corner of the screen and select a window of time.
Turn estimate into an invoice or an appointment
PocketSuite’s Estimates feature allows you to streamline the booking process by allowing you to turn estimates into an invoice or appointment. Before this can happen, an estimate can be approved by you or the client.
You can view the approval status of your estimate by tapping on your estimates dashboard and tapping on the estimate. If the estimate has not yet been approved and you would like to accept it, tap “Approve”.
Return to the estimate, tap on “Invoice” to convert the estimate to an invoice. Tap on “More” then “Schedule appointment” to convert the estimate into an appointment.
For another visual of this feature, check out this instructional video: