Send Estimates & Quotes

Quote Before You Bill

Some jobs need a price estimate before the customer commits — especially larger projects like master key systems, access control installs, or whole-building rekeys. KeyBolt's estimates feature lets you send a professional quote the customer can approve, and then convert it into a job with one tap.

Creating an Estimate

1. Go to the Invoices tab and tap "+ New Estimate".
2. Select the customer or create a new one.
3. Add line items — description and price for each. This works exactly like the invoice builder: you can use templates as a starting point or build from scratch.
4. Add any notes visible to the customer (e.g., "Price assumes standard pins. High-security cylinders quoted separately").
5. Tap "Send Estimate".

What the Customer Sees

The customer receives an email with your shop name, the itemized estimate, and two buttons: "Approve" and "Decline." If they approve, you get an instant notification in KeyBolt. If they decline, you're notified and can follow up to negotiate.

Converting to a Job

Once an estimate is approved:

1. Open the estimate from your Invoices tab (estimates have an "EST-" prefix).
2. Tap "Convert to Job".
3. The job creation flow opens with all line items, pricing, and customer info pre-filled from the estimate.
4. Set the schedule and tap "Create".

The estimate is linked to the resulting job and invoice, giving you a clean audit trail from quote to payment.

Customer Approval Flow

When you send an estimate, the customer receives an email with your shop name, itemized line items, the total, and two prominent buttons: "Approve" and "Decline." No login or account required — they tap a button and it's done. After responding, the estimate status updates to "Pending Approval" while the response processes, then changes to "Approved" or "Declined" within moments. You can track the current status from the Invoices tab at any time.

Manual Approve or Decline

If a customer responds by phone or in person instead of using the email buttons, you can update the estimate status yourself. Open the estimate and tap the "Manual Decision" button. Choose Approve or Decline and optionally add a note (e.g., "Customer approved via phone call 3/15"). This keeps your records accurate even when the customer doesn't use the email link.

Convert to Job

Once an estimate is approved — whether by the customer or manually — a "Convert to Job" button appears on the estimate detail page. Tap it and KeyBolt opens the job creation flow with all line items, pricing, and customer info pre-filled from the estimate. Set the schedule, tap "Create," and both a job and its corresponding invoice are generated in one step. The estimate, job, and invoice are all linked for a clean audit trail from quote to payment.

Notifications

When a customer approves or declines an estimate, you'll receive an in-app notification immediately — the bell icon badge in your header will update. If you've enabled email notifications for estimate responses in Settings > Notifications, you'll also get an email with the details. This means you can respond to approvals quickly and follow up on declines while the conversation is still fresh.