Sending quotes and approvals

Every quote carries a status, and the buttons in the quote header change to match it.

• Draft: you are still building it. Only your team can see it, and the header shows Mark as Sent.
• Sent: live in your client's portal, awaiting a decision. The header shows Mark Approved and Revert to draft.
• Approved: your client said yes. The header shows Convert to Invoice and Reopen.
• Declined: your client passed. The header shows Reopen.
• Expired: an e-signature request lapsed before it was signed. The header shows Reopen.

Send to Client, Generate PDF, and Delete are available in every status, with these exceptions. Send to Client greys out once the Valid until date has passed, so extend the date first. On an approved quote the button still opens the send modal, but the two email choices are refused and only Send for e-signature is left; convert the quote to an invoice instead. And a quote cannot be deleted once an invoice has been created from it, until you remove or unlink that invoice.

1. Open the quote and give the line items and total a final look.
2. Open the ⋯ menu in the quote header and click Send to Client.
3. Pick how you want to send it.

• Portal template: the branded email with a link to review and approve. You see a preview of the exact email before it goes out, and its wording is fixed.
• Custom email: write your own subject and message. OneTool adds no greeting, signature, or footer, and the portal link still goes with it.
• Send for e-signature: collect a signature on the quote PDF instead. See E-signatures.

Either email choice sends to your client's primary contact by default, moves the quote to Sent, and gives them a link straight to the quote in their portal, where they can approve or decline it. Sending again on a quote that is already sent reads Resend to Client.

Both email choices share the same recipient lines and attachment tray, so you can add a second reader or send a photo with the quote.

• Recipients. To starts with the primary contact. Click Add CC/BCC to reveal the other two lines, which take any address you type. A custom email lets you type any address on the To line as well. Any typed address can receive the email, but only an email saved as a contact on this client can sign in to review or approve the quote. The portal template keeps To on the client's own contacts.
• The quote PDF. The most recent version you generated is attached already. Remove it with the X, or use the clock icon to pick a different version, including a signed PDF where one exists.
• Your own files. Attach file adds photos, documents, and anything else the job needs. All attachments together can total 20MB, and program files are refused.

Every quote you send this way lands in the client's conversation in your inbox, and their reply comes back to the same place. If an address has hard-bounced or marked one of your emails as spam, the send is refused and OneTool names the address.

A sent quote is locked, so the numbers never change under your client while they are deciding. To fix a price, a line item, the title, or the terms, click Revert to draft in the quote header and confirm. The quote leaves your client's portal and their link stops working, and everything is editable again. Click Send to Client when it is ready to go back; that emails the revised quote and makes their link work again. If the Valid until date has passed while you were editing, extend it first: sending is blocked past that date in every status, drafts included. (Mark as Sent only flips the status, so save it for quotes you delivered outside OneTool.)

Your client signs in to their portal with a one-time code sent to their email. On a sent quote they review the pricing, sign by typing or drawing, and click Approve quote. If it is not right, Decline this quote lets them pick a reason and add a note.

Each portal approval is recorded with the signature and an audit trail, which you can review on the quote's Approval Audit tab. For the full client-side walkthrough, see What your clients see and Approving quotes and paying invoices.

Clients do not always click buttons. If yours approves over the phone or on paper, record it so the quote can move on.

1. Open the sent quote.
2. Click Mark Approved.

If a declined or expired quote comes back around, click Reopen to pick it back up and send it again.

Once a quote is approved, billing is one click. Convert to Invoice creates an invoice with the same line items and totals, ready to review and send. See Creating an invoice.