Skip to main content
A quote, called an estimate in Hiveku, shows your client the price before any work starts. Your client opens it from a link, types their name to accept it, and you turn the accepted quote into an invoice in one click, with the same lines. This guide quotes Theo Nakamura at Lanternwick Café for the first month of Northwind’s rotating single-origin program. It shares the quote with a link, accepts it the way Theo would, and turns it into a draft invoice.

​
Write the quote

1

Open Estimates

Click Commerce in the left rail, then Estimates, then New estimate at the top right.
The Commerce menu with Estimates outlined, and the Estimates list with its search, status and sort filters and the New estimate button outlined

Estimates, and New estimate

2

Client and dates

Give the quote an Estimate title if you like, and pick the Client. Company and Deal are optional and link the quote to them in your CRM.Set the Expiry date: from then on, your client can no longer accept the quote. In the US a quote stops taking acceptances on the afternoon or evening before its expiry date, so choose the day after the last day your price holds.
Estimate title Rotating single-origin program: first month, the Client Theo Nakamura, the Company Lanternwick Café and the Lanternwick Café deal outlined, and the Expiry date 11/20/2026 outlined

Theo Nakamura at Lanternwick Café, open for a month

3

Lines, notes and terms

Add the lines with Pick from catalog…, and write Notes and Terms, just as on an invoice (see Create and Send an Invoice). Northwind quotes eight bags of single origin, four bags of house espresso and three hours of barista training.
4

Signing and payment terms

At the bottom, Signing & payment terms can add to what happens when your client accepts:
  • Contract to sign sends a contract with the quote. The client signs it from the link in their email.
  • Split into payments splits the price into installments, such as a deposit and a balance. The invoices are created for you when they accept, so you don’t add a deposit line yourself.
  • What this client does, and in what order uses your default from the Commerce settings. Customise for this client changes it for this quote.
Northwind leaves them as they are: no contract and one payment.
Signing and payment terms with Contract to sign No contract outlined, Split into payments unticked and outlined, and What this client does, and in what order, using the account default

No contract, one payment

5

Save draft

Click Save draft at the top. Save & send saves it and opens the email for you to check before it goes.
New estimate with the Save draft button outlined next to Save and send

Save draft

​
Share it with your client

The saved quote opens as a Draft. Preview as customer shows you exactly what your client will see, without recording a view or letting you accept it.
Estimate EST-2026-000005, Draft, with the Edit and Send buttons, Preview as customer and Copy link outlined, and the progress line from Draft to Invoiced

Preview as customer, and Copy link

1

Send it from Hiveku

Click Send to choose Send via email, Send via SMS or Send via email + SMS. Each opens the message for you to check, and nothing goes out until you send it there.
The Send menu open with Send via email to theo.nakamura@example.com outlined, Send via SMS to (503) 555-0122, and Send via email + SMS

The Send menu

2

Or share the link yourself

Click Copy link to copy your client’s link, then paste it into your own email or message. The button shows Copied. Northwind shares the quote this way.
The estimate's buttons with Copy link now reading Copied, outlined

The link, copied

​
What your client sees

Your client opens the link and sees the quote, with your lines, notes and terms. Under it, they type their full name in Your full name, or switch to Draw signature, tick the agreement and click Accept estimate. Their name, IP address and the time are recorded as proof. Decline turns the quote down.
The client's Accept this estimate form with Your full name Theo Nakamura outlined, Type name and Draw signature, the agreement ticked, and the Accept estimate button outlined next to Decline

Accepting, on the client's page

The client's page after accepting: Accept the estimate ticked, and Estimate accepted, Thanks! The sender will follow up with next steps, outlined

The client sees Estimate accepted

​
Turn it into an invoice

1

Open the accepted quote

The quote is now Accepted, and says who accepted it and when. Hiveku also alerts the quote’s owner when the client opens, accepts or declines it. Click Convert to invoice.
Estimate EST-2026-000005 with the Accepted badge outlined, the Convert to invoice button outlined, and Accepted by Theo Nakamura on 10/21/2026, 2:30:06 PM, outlined

Accepted by Theo Nakamura

2

Send it now, or keep it a draft

Hiveku makes a draft invoice with the quote’s lines, notes and terms, and opens its email straight away so you can send it. Check it and click Send now, or click Cancel to keep the invoice as a draft and send it later. Northwind keeps it a draft.
The Email invoice to client dialog for Invoice NW-2026-001002, To theo.nakamura@example.com, the payment processor warning, and the Cancel button outlined next to Send now

The invoice email opens by itself

3

The draft invoice

The invoice is a Draft, and its History starts with Converted from estimate. The quote is now marked Converted, with View invoice to open the invoice, and the link your client used stops working.
Invoice NW-2026-001002, Draft, outlined, for Theo Nakamura at Lanternwick Café with the quote's three lines and a total of $1,127.00, and the History entry Converted from estimate outlined

NW-2026-001002, from the quote

​
Good to know

  • Agreed by phone? Once you have sent the quote, Mark accepted manually on it records the acceptance, and Convert to invoice works the same.
  • An accepted quote can’t be edited. To change it, click Duplicate to make a new draft with the same lines, and send that.
  • Online payment needs a payment processor. Northwind has none connected, so the window for emailing its invoice warns that the Pay online link won’t work yet.
  • A copied link works for 30 days. Copy a new one if the quote stays open longer. With a Contract to sign, send the quote from Hiveku: the link can’t be copied until the contract has gone out.
  • More: Estimates covers every quote setting. To record the payment when it comes, see Record a Payment by Check, Cash or Transfer.