Create and Send an Estimate Manually
Go to Estimates, click New Estimate, pick the contact and service location, and add line items from your price book or type them in. Click Save & send to email it; your client opens a link where they can approve and sign, or decline with feedback.
A fast, professional estimate is often the difference between winning the job and losing it to whoever quoted first. Here is the full flow from blank screen to "estimate sent".
Create the estimate
Go to Estimates in the sidebar's Finance section and click New Estimate. Pick the Contact (a client or a lead) and, for clients, the Service Location; the primary property is preselected. Click Create Estimate and the editor opens. New estimates start as Unsent.
Add line items
In Items, click Add item to open the Add items picker. The search box is always on top:
- Browse: leave the search box empty and open Services, Products, or Warranties to walk your price book by category. The trail above the list jumps back up.
- Search: type a name, SKU, or description and the list switches to matching items. No match? Create a new item on the spot.
- Packages: the Packages folder drops a whole pre-built bundle onto the estimate, items, quantities, and prices included. Set packages up on the Price Book page.
- Custom item: the button at the bottom left adds a one-off line without saving it to the price book.
Under Notes & terms you can switch on Require Deposit (as a Percentage or Fixed Amount), add notes, and set Terms. A discount can be applied to the whole estimate, and the Valid until date controls expiry.
Each saved line item also takes internal comments: the small comment icon on the item's row opens a thread only your team sees. Use it for the "client wants brass, not steel" details that belong with the line, never on the document. Clients never see these comments, on screen or on the PDF.
Creating the estimate from a job that has a PO Number? It is copied over automatically. View or edit it in the estimate's Prepared for section; changes there apply to that estimate only.
Send it
Click Save & send at the top right of the editor (on the estimate's own page, the button is Send). The Send Estimate modal lets you choose Email, Text message, or Both, and shows the fields for what you picked: email shows the Email address and a prefilled Email message, text shows the Mobile number and a prefilled Text message with a secure link to the estimate (texting needs a texting line or the ZenGrow plan). Edit either message before you send. The link is always included: if you delete it from the text, WorkZen adds it back at the end. In the mobile apps the text goes out as your message template reads. Click Send and the status moves to Sent.
If WorkZen asks you to verify a phone number by text before emailing documents, a banner walks you through it: request the code, type it in, done. It is a one-time step, then you send freely.
Automatic follow-ups
Sending is the easy part; the silence after is where estimates die. On ZenAI, WorkZen can chase them for you. In Settings (in the sidebar's Company section) > Financial Settings, under Automatic follow-ups, check Follow up on sent estimates automatically, then choose how many days after sending the first message goes out (5 by default), how many days before expiry the reminder goes out (3 by default), and whether they travel by email, text message, or both.
Two messages, each sent once per estimate: a friendly "any questions, or ready to book?" check-in, and a "your estimate is valid until…" reminder for estimates that have an expiry date. Both stop the moment the estimate is approved, declined, converted, or the client asks for an extension. Resending an estimate restarts the clock. The wording comes from Settings > Message Templates (Estimate follow-up and Estimate expiring, email and text), so the tone stays yours.
What your client sees
The email links to a clean web page showing the estimate with Approve Estimate, Decline Estimate, Print, Download PDF, and Share actions. Approving opens a Sign Document step where they enter their name and Type Signature or Draw Signature, then Sign and Approve. If a deposit is required, they are prompted to pay it right after approving. Declining asks for optional feedback so you learn why.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Unsent | Created, the client has not received it |
| Sent | Emailed to the client |
| Approved | Client approved and signed, no invoice yet (by default the invoice is created right away and the status becomes Converted) |
| Declined | Client declined, optionally with feedback |
| Converted | Turned into an invoice |
By default, an approved estimate is automatically converted to an invoice, so the paperwork keeps pace with the handshake. To invoice later instead, turn off Create the invoice when a client approves an estimate in Settings > Financial Settings: approved estimates then wait on the Approved tab of the Estimates list. Estimates with a deposit always create their invoice.
Delete an estimate
Created an estimate by mistake, or the deal is dead? On the web, open it, click the ⋯ (Actions) menu at the top right, then Delete. In the mobile apps, open the estimate, open its actions menu, then tap Delete Estimate. Admins and Managers can delete estimates by default.
Only Unsent, Sent, and Declined estimates can be deleted. Once a client approves and signs, the estimate is a record of that agreement (usually with an invoice attached), so the option no longer appears.
A deleted estimate disappears from your lists, and the link your client received stops working. This cannot be undone.
Want it out of the way but kept on file? Use Archive in the same menu instead. Archived estimates leave your lists and can be restored at any time. Approved and Converted estimates can be archived too, and an archived estimate that is still Unsent, Sent, or Declined can be deleted later from its ⋯ menu on the web.
Step by step
- 1
Create the estimate
Go to Estimates, click New Estimate, select a contact (a client or a lead) and the Service Location, then click Create Estimate.
- 2
Add line items
Click Add item, then browse your price book or type in the search box, open the Packages folder to drop in a whole bundle, or click Custom item for a one-off line.
- 3
Set deposit, notes, and terms
Under Notes & terms, switch on Require Deposit and choose Percentage or Fixed Amount if you want money up front. Add notes and terms.
- 4
Send it
Click Save & send, choose Email, Text message or Both, check the Email address or Mobile number, adjust the prefilled Email message or Text message if you like, and click Send. The status moves to Sent.
See it in action
Frequently Asked Questions
This article answers:
- How do I create an estimate?
- How do I send a quote to a client?
- Can clients approve estimates online?
- How do I add price book items to an estimate?
- What do estimate statuses mean?