Creating & Sending Estimates
This page covers building an estimate and getting it in front of the client. The flow mirrors invoicing, so if you've created an invoice this will feel familiar.
Create an Estimate
Click Create Estimate from the Estimates page (or Add New Estimate from the admin sidebar). A modal opens with a blank form. The only thing you must pick is the Client — everything else has sensible defaults.
Line Items
The heart of the estimate. Click Add Line Item to add a row, and fill in:
| Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Description | The line item's name — required |
| Details | Optional extra notes shown under the description |
| Quantity | Defaults to 1; decimals allowed (e.g. 1.5 hours) |
| Unit Price | Price per unit |
| Taxable | Whether tax applies to this line (on by default) |
Rows are drag-to-reorder, and the per-line total updates as you type. As you fill in descriptions, an autocomplete suggests items you've used before and pre-fills their price and details — handy for repeat services.
Totals, Dates & Currency
Below the line items:
- Subtotal — calculated automatically from the line items.
- Tax Rate (%) — you set the rate; the Tax Amount is derived from the taxable lines only.
- Discount — a fixed amount (not a percentage) subtracted from the subtotal.
- Total Amount — Subtotal + Tax − Discount, calculated for you.
- Issue Date — defaults to today.
- Valid Until — defaults to 30 days after the issue date. This is the expiry: if the client doesn't respond by then, the estimate auto-expires.
- Currency — USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, or AUD (USD by default).
- Related Project (optional) — cross-reference a project for context.
Notes & Terms
Two rich-text blocks appear on the estimate and its PDF:
- Notes — anything you want the client to read alongside the quote.
- Terms — your terms and conditions. This pre-fills with "This estimate is valid until the date shown above." — edit it to suit.
Saving & Numbering
Click Save. ClientCove:
- Assigns the next estimate number in
EST-YYYY-####format automatically. - Sets the status to Draft.
- Records a "created" entry in the activity log.
You can reopen and Edit a draft any time before it's converted.
Sending to the Client
When the estimate is ready, use Send Email (from the list row or the estimate page). ClientCove:
- Emails the estimate's client a branded message with a "View & respond to your estimate" button linking to their portal view.
- Stamps the send time and moves the status from Draft → Sent.
- Logs the send in the activity log.
The email subject and the From name/address come from Settings → Estimate Settings (falling back to your site name and admin email if unset). You can also just Mark as Sent without emailing — useful if you've shared the estimate another way.
The client doesn't need to do anything to "receive" it. Sending sets the status and emails a link. When the client opens that link, the estimate flips to Viewed automatically, so you can see they've seen it.
Cloning an Estimate
Need a similar quote? Use Clone. It copies the client, project, line items, tax rate, discount, notes, terms, and currency into a fresh Draft — with a new estimate number, today's issue date, and a new 30-day valid-until. The conversion link is cleared, so the clone is fully independent.
Fixing the Status
Admins have a Set Status option that can move an estimate to any status, including back out of a terminal state, for corrections. Use it sparingly — the normal lifecycle (send → client responds → convert) handles the common path, and Set Status is the manual override for when reality and the record don't match.