Estimates, quotes, bids, and proposals let you formally quote the price of goods or services before work begins or a sale is finalized. Once a customer accepts a document, you can convert it into an invoice in one click — no double-entry needed.
These documents do not affect your books. Line items are not posted to the general ledger until you convert the document to an invoice.
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Configuring your Document Type
Ambrook supports Estimates, Quotes, Bids, and Proposals. Wondering which to use? Here’s a quick guide:
Estimate — best for approximate pricing where the final cost may vary based on conditions (e.g. custom fieldwork where hours or inputs aren't fully known yet)
Quote — best for fixed-price jobs where the number you send is the number you'll invoice (e.g. a set price per acre for a specific service)
Proposal — best for larger or more complex jobs that include scope of work, terms, and conditions alongside the pricing
Bid — best when responding to a competitive bidding process, where multiple vendors are pricing the same job
To set your document type, go to Estimates and click the settings in the top right and update "Default Document Type." This will update the display name across the app.
Creating an Estimate, Quote, Bid, Proposal
Navigate to Invoices and select the Estimates button in the top right. After you've created one, "Estimates" will also appear as its own item in the left-hand nav.
Click + New Estimate.
Fill in the details:
Customer — who you're sending it to.
Estimate Date and Expiry Date — the expiry date is when the estimate automatically expires if your customer hasn't responded.
Estimate # — auto-filled based on your preferences; can be edited per estimate.
PO / Job # — optional reference number for your customer.
Opening Message — an introductory note to your customer. Supports bold, italic, lists, and links.
Line Items — add from your catalog or enter manually. The same items, taxes, discounts, and fees you use on invoices are available here.
Closing Message — typically used for payment terms or legal language. Also supports formatting.
Attachments — any additional files to include with the estimate PDF.
Prepare to send:
If you'd like your customer to provide a signature as part of their acceptance, enable the Request Signature option.
Click Save to save as a draft, or Send to send immediately.
Tip: Set default opening messages, closing messages, expiry windows, numbering, and document label in the Preferences found in the top right of the Estimates tab. These pre-fill on every new estimate and can be overridden per estimate.
Sending an Estimate, Quote, Bid, Proposal
From a draft, click Send.
Enter your customer's email address. Add CCs if needed. You can also choose to send an SMS notification.
Click Send Estimate/Quote/Bid/Proposal.
Your customer will receive an email with a link to a customer portal where they can view, download, and accept or reject the document — no Ambrook account required.
You can also select Mark as Sent if you shared the document outside of Ambrook (e.g., printed or emailed manually). This action can be undone.
How Your Customer Responds
From the customer portal, your customer can:
View the document details and download a PDF.
Accept — both you and the recipient will receive a confirmation email with the accepted document, and the document status updates to Accepted. If you requested a signature, they'll sign as part of this step.
Reject — both you and the recipient will receive a confirmation email with a rejection reason, if included, and the document status updates to Rejected.
You can also record a response on their behalf using Mark as Accepted or Mark as Rejected. Both actions can be undone.
Converting an Estimate, Quote, Bid, or Proposal to an Invoice
Once your document is accepted, convert it to an invoice to record the completed work:
Open the accepted document.
Click Convert to Invoice.
Choose what to invoice:
Remaining Amount — invoices the full uninvoiced balance. Use this for a straightforward one-time conversion.
Line Item Selection — remove the specific line items to partially invoice now (e.g., only materials, not labor yet).
Review the pre-filled invoice and click Save or Send.
The estimate/quote/bid/proposal tracks how much has been invoiced across all linked invoices. You can create multiple invoices from one document — for example, to bill in stages as work progresses.
Tip: Once the full amount has been invoiced, click Mark as Fully Invoiced to close it out.
Statuses
Status | What it means |
Draft | Created but not yet sent. |
Sent | Sent to the customer, awaiting response. |
Accepted | Customer (or you) accepted it. |
Rejected | Customer (or you) rejected it. |
Expired | The expiry date passed with no response from the customer. |
Partially Invoiced | Some line items have been invoiced. |
Fully Invoiced | All line items have been invoiced. |
Canceled | Canceled by you — can be uncanceled. |
Deleted | Permanently removed. |
Setting
Go to Estimates/Quotes/Bids/Proposal and click the settings in the top right to set defaults that apply to every new document:
Document label — choose how the document is titled on the PDF: Estimate, Quote, Proposal, or Bid. Set a default here to match your industry, and override it per document if needed.
Numbering prefix and starting number — e.g., "EST-001". The next number auto-fills on each new document.
Default opening and closing messages — pre-fill your standard intro note and terms language on every new document.
Default expiry window — set how many days out document expire by default (e.g., 30 days).
All of these defaults can be overridden on any individual document.
FAQs
What happens when an estimate/quote/bid/proposal expires?
The status changes to Expired and your customer's portal link shows a message for the recipient to reach out the sender for a new document. You will need to navigate to the “Canceled” tab to find the document and can “Duplicate” to create a new one.
What if the portal link itself expires?
Portal links have a 30-day security limit. If it expires, your customer is prompted to re-enter their email and will automatically receive a new link.
Can I collect a deposit through Ambrook?
Not yet! For now, we recommend the following workflow:
Have your customer send the deposit how they normally would, such as through ACH/check/cash
From there, create a credit memo in Ambrook for the deposit amount and categorizes it as something like “Overpayments & Prepayments” and add a memo like “deposit for Estimate #1234” for traceability
When you convert the document to an invoice, apply the credit memo as a pre-payment
Can I issue a change order through Ambrook?
Not yet! For now, we recommend the following workflow:
Create a new document to document the change in scope, and reference the original in the opening message or memo (e.g. “Change Order for Estimate #EST-1234”).
Send it through the normal document flow so that it has its own accept/reject record.
If it is additive, invoice it independently once accepted.
For de-scoping (scope shrinks rather than grows), close out the original document by using Mark as Fully Invoiced, rather than trying to reconcile line-by-line.