Create a quote
Write a quote with the same lines, tax and discounts as an invoice, and save it as a draft. Nothing posts to your books.
- Who can do this
- Owners, or people with Create quotes and View quotes; editing needs Edit quotes
- Where
- Sales, then Quotes
- You'll need
- An active customer and at least one described line
On this page
Write a quote
- Open Quotes in the Sales menu, then select New quote.
- Choose the Customer. Their billing address fills in. People with Create customers can select New customer to add a customer from a sales form.
- Check the Quote date and Expiry date.
- Add a line for each product or service, with its quantity, rate, discount and tax.
- Enter a discount for the whole quote under the subtotal, if you offer one.
- Add Customer notes and Terms and conditions if you need them.
- Select Save quote.
The quote is saved as a draft and gets its number, such as QTE-202611-00001. Saving doesn't email the customer and doesn't post anything. Next, send it.
How the form works
Lines work like invoice lines, including products and services when they are turned on for invoices, line discounts, sales tax groups and tax-exempt customers. The totals use the same rounding as invoices, so a converted invoice shows the same figures. Ship-to state fills in from the customer, and the lines get their sales tax the way invoice lines do. They can differ if a tax rate changes, or the customer becomes tax exempt, before you convert. See Convert a quote to an invoice. A discount can't be more than the subtotal.
Quotes are in your business currency. In Nonprofit books, each line can carry fund and program coding, which is copied to the invoice when you convert.
The expiry date starts a set number of days after the quote date, 30 unless you change Quotes are valid for on the Quote tab of Customer emails in General or Emails in Nonprofit. You can pick any date on or after the quote date.
Change, copy or renumber
- To change a quote, open it and select Edit, then Save changes. You can edit a draft, sent or viewed quote; the customer's link shows the new version. A customer who had the old version open is asked to review the new one before answering.
- Once a quote is sent, its customer can't change. To quote someone else, void it and duplicate it.
- To start a new quote from an old one, select More, then Duplicate. It copies the customer, lines and wording with today's dates and a new number.
- The number prefix is Quotes under Document numbers in your accounting setup. Existing quotes keep their numbers.