Estimates

Estimate Management is available on the Business and Family plans. Create professional estimates with line items, tax, notes, terms, and supporting photos. Send estimates to customers via a secure link, negotiate changes through a comment thread, and get notified when customers respond.

• Navigate to Business → Estimates → New Estimate.
• Select a customer from your directory (must have an email to send).
• Add line items with description, quantity, and unit rate.
• Optionally set a tax rate, issue date, and Valid Until date.
• Add notes, payment terms, and supporting photos (uploaded to Cloudinary).
• Click Create Estimate to save as a Draft.

When you click Send to Customer, a confirmation dialog appears reminding you that an email will be sent to the customer with a secure, private link. You may optionally include a comment in the email.

• The customer receives an email with a one-click link to review the estimate.
• The secure link is unique to each send — no account needed for the customer.
• The customer page shows a sign-up prompt encouraging them to create an account.
• Resending after changes generates a fresh token and notifies the customer again.

Estimates are designed to be negotiable. The customer review page includes a Request Changes section where the customer can describe what they would like adjusted. Upon submitting, the sender is notified and the estimate enters Changes Requested status.

• The owner can read the message, update the estimate, and resend.
• All messages are displayed in a comment thread visible to both parties.
• The owner can also add internal comments from the estimate detail page.
• This cycle continues until both parties approve.

Estimates move through these statuses:

• Draft — Saved but not yet sent. Can be edited freely.
• Sent — Email delivered. Customer can review.
• Under Review — Customer has viewed the estimate.
• Changes Requested — Customer wants modifications. Edit and resend.
• Approved — Both parties have agreed. Convert to an invoice to proceed.
• Rejected — Estimate was declined.
• Expired — Valid-until date passed or manually expired.

Photos (job site, materials, reference images) can be attached to an estimate. They are uploaded to the Home - trendingbudget - estimates folder in Cloudinary and are visible on both the owner's detail page and the customer review page with a lightbox viewer.

• Accepted formats: JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF. Maximum file size: 10 MB.
• Multiple photos can be attached. Remove individual photos from the edit form.

Configure how estimates are tracked under Settings → Estimate Schedule:

• Follow-up days — How many days after sending before you should follow up.
• Expiry days — Default number of days until an estimate expires.
• Milestones — Named checkpoints (e.g. Initial Send, Follow Up, Final Reminder) shown on the customer timeline.
• Notifications — Choose in-app and/or email alerts when customers approve or request changes.

On the Customer detail page, a Timeline section shows a chronological vertical timeline of all estimates, invoices, and activities for that customer — with dates, statuses, and event labels. This gives you a full picture of your relationship history at a glance.