Create the quote: PDF or QuickBooks drafts

1The estimate preview

Scroll the project to step 4, Review & create drafts. Its intro reads "Confirm quantities and prices, then download a branded PDF quote or create drafts in QuickBooks. Nothing is sent to the customer automatically."

The Estimate preview card holds the material quantities and prices that both outputs use. Its badge reads Ready when every room has an area, a wood and a price. The room table lists each room with its area, material, pattern and status.

Below it, Material order groups the rooms by laying pattern. On the demonstration job it shows two lines:

• Herringbone · Living room: 360 sqft measured, 20 % waste, 432 sqft to order at $6.85, total $2,959.20.
• Straight · Kitchen, Nook, Hall, Primary bedroom: 656 sqft measured, 10 % waste, 722 sqft to order at $6.85, total $4,945.70.

The Material subtotal is $7,904.90. You can adjust measured area, waste, order quantity, markup or price here for this quote; the plan measurements stay unchanged. Then answer "How do you want to create this quote?" with Create in QuickBooks or Download a PDF quote.

2Download a PDF quote

Press Download a PDF quote. The PDF quotes card shows the two amounts at the top right: $7,904.90 material and $2,500.00 labor.

• Customer name and Project address come prefilled from the job. Customer email is optional.
• Set the Quote number, Tax %, Issue date and Valid until (30 days after today by default). Edit Notes & terms if you want, for example to add a deposit term.
• Press Save details, then Download material quote and Download labor quote.

On the demonstration job, quote number Q-2210 saves Q-2210.pdf, a material quote with both order lines and a total of $7,904.90. The labor file, Q-2210-labor.pdf, is numbered Q-2210-L automatically and lists the five lines from the installer's prices, with a total of $2,500.00.

The material quote waits until rooms, materials and prices are complete. Both downloads need a company name in Settings, a customer name and a quote number. The labor quote needs labor lines read from the installer's quote in the job details. Edit company branding opens Settings.

3Pick the QuickBooks customer

Press Create in QuickBooks. When QuickBooks is connected, this card is already selected when the page opens. It reads "Create linked material and labor estimates for review in QuickBooks" and shows ✓ Connected.

Under QuickBooks customer, a warning appears until you pick someone: "No customer selected — “Dana Halloran” will be created in QuickBooks when the draft is made (or reused if a customer with exactly that name exists)."

1. Press Pick a customer from QuickBooks.
2. Type part of the name in the search box. On the demonstration job, typing "Hall" narrows the list to Dana Halloran and Hallett Builders.
3. Click the customer. The section then reads "existing QuickBooks customer #58. The drafts go on this customer."

Picking a customer also copies that customer's name, address and email from QuickBooks onto the project. Pick a different customer changes the choice, and Unselect — create “Dana Halloran” instead goes back to creating a new customer from the job's name.

4Create the QuickBooks drafts

Press Create material estimate. The button reads Creating…, then a box confirms the draft with a link to it. Press Create labor estimate next. The line under the buttons tells you what it will send: on the demonstration job, "5 lines from the installer's quote, $2,500.00".

The linked material and labor drafts come as two estimate numbers. On the demonstration job the box reads:

• Material estimate #1042 — $7,904.9 · 2 lines
• Labor estimate #1043 — $2,500 · 5 lines

Each number links to its estimate in QuickBooks. If a link opens an empty form, sign in to QuickBooks and find the numbers in your estimates list.

Both are estimate drafts marked for review. Open them in QuickBooks, check them, and send them to the customer from there yourself. Creating one keeps the other draft on file, so the box lists both. The labor estimate can be created before every room has a material.

If a room is missing something, the box lists it under Review alerts: and that room is skipped. A Tax % above 0 on the PDF card blocks both drafts, so put a taxed quote on the PDF.

5Connect QuickBooks Optional

The QuickBooks drafts need the workspace connected to a QuickBooks Online company. You connect it once, and the connection serves every project in the workspace.

1. Open Settings & team in the sidebar.
2. Find the QuickBooks connection card: "Connect the QuickBooks company for the workspace shown above."
3. Press Connect QuickBooks. It opens Intuit's sign-in and consent page, where you choose the company and approve access.

Back in Settings, the card reads "This workspace is connected." The project page also offers a Connect to QuickBooks link on the QuickBooks card.

Only an owner or admin of the workspace can connect. A member sees "Ask an owner or admin to connect QuickBooks." in place of the link. The PDF quotes need no connection at all, so you can quote from day one and connect later.

6After the quote

Below the quote outputs sits the Customer contract step, under the heading "After the quote". It turns the accepted quote into a contract for signature.

• Press Upload contract template once to add your own contract. You upload it once.
• Check the fields it fills: customer name, customer email, project address, agreement date, estimate number and contract price.
• Press Download contract for DocuSign to get a filled contract PDF, then send it through your signing service.

Next, Team and workspace covers inviting your team and the workspace settings. For what the QuickBooks connection reads and writes, see the QuickBooks Online integration page.