How Estimate Approval Works

Availability: all plans

An estimate is only useful if the customer's yes is something you can point to later. ServiceVisit treats acceptance as a record, not a status change: when a customer approves, the system keeps what they were shown, how they accepted, and when. This guide walks through the whole path from sending an estimate to having acceptance on file, and points to the guides that cover each part.

Before you start

You need permission to view estimates to open the list and an estimate's page.
Sending needs permission to send estimates. Edit, Create Revision and the signature rules settings page each depend on their own permissions, described in the guides linked below.
The send confirmation shows where the customer will actually be reached, and says so if it is nowhere.

Steps

Open Money, then Estimates, and open the estimate. A draft shows Edit and Send.
Select Send and confirm. The estimate leaves Draft and waits for the customer's decision. While it waits, the same button reads Resend.
The customer accepts in one of three ways:
- Online, from their estimate page, by selecting Quick Approve or Sign to Approve. See the customer approval guide.
- In person, by signing on your device. You select Customer Signs Here.
- By telephone, where you record the call with Record Verbal Authorization.
Once accepted, the estimate shows an approved date and, if you have permission to view authorization evidence, an Authorization Record button that jumps to the record.
When the estimate is approved, Schedule Work appears so you can turn it into work orders.

What decides whether a signature is needed

Your signature rules decide what a customer must do to accept online, based on the estimate total. With no rules, a customer can accept any estimate with one click. Signing on your device is different: it always needs a signature. A verbal authorization records no signature at all, and is labelled that way on the record.

If the customer says no

A customer can decline from their estimate page and may give a reason. The decline appears in the Timeline. To re-propose, use Create Revision, which starts a new draft linked to the original. The earlier estimate stays as history. Edit is available only while an estimate is still a draft.

Expiry

An estimate can carry a Valid Until date. Once that date passes, the provider page shows an Expired marker beside the status, and the customer sees that the estimate expired on that date. An expired estimate is no longer open for the customer to respond to. If the customer still wants the work, create a revision and send it again.

Tips

Use Timeline on the estimate to see each step in order: created, sent, approved or declined.
Keep internal notes in the Internal Notes field; they are marked as not visible to the customer.

If something goes wrong

If Send is missing, the estimate is no longer a draft, or you do not have permission to send.
If you cannot see Authorization Record, the estimate is not yet approved, or your role does not include viewing authorization evidence.
If a customer says they never got the estimate, use Resend.

Setting Signature Rules for Estimates — A signature rule decides what a customer must do to accept an estimate online, based on what the estimate is worth. The rule says that at or above an amount, the customer must sign. You can add as…
Recording Acceptance In Person or By Telephone — When the customer is not approving from their own estimate page, you can record their acceptance yourself in one of two ways. In person, the customer signs on your device. By telephone, you record…
Approving or Declining an Estimate Online — When a provider sends you an estimate, you can review it and respond from your own estimate page. You can approve it, sign to approve it, or decline it. Your approval is saved as a record of what you…
Viewing and Exporting Acceptance Evidence — When an estimate is accepted, ServiceVisit keeps an authorization record of what the customer agreed to and how. The estimate page describes it as the immutable evidence of what the customer accepted…
Send an Estimate — Sending an estimate moves it from draft to sent (it then shows as Pending Approval on its page) and starts the process of telling the customer about it. Use the Send button on the estimate; the…
Revise an Estimate — Revising creates a new draft from an estimate you have already sent. You would use it when the customer asks for changes, when the scope shifts after a site visit, or when you want to re-propose after…
Decline an Estimate — Declining records that a customer has turned down an estimate. It applies to an estimate that has been sent and is waiting for the customer's decision, and it ends the quote as declined. The customer…
Convert an Estimate to Work Orders — Once a customer has approved an estimate, converting it turns the quote into scheduled work. Each line item on the estimate becomes a pre-filled action on a work order, and each of those actions keeps…
View Estimates — ServiceVisit keeps every estimate you write in one place so you can look back at what you quoted. The Estimates page under Money lists your estimates, and opening one shows its line items, its status…