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Estimates are how you quote work before billing for it. The prospect reviews the scope and price on a public approval link, accepts (or declines, or asks for revisions), and on acceptance you convert to an invoice with one click. This guide walks through the full flow.
Prerequisites: at least one product in your catalog and a CRM contact for the prospect. If you haven’t set up Commerce yet, start with Send Your First Invoice.

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When to use an estimate

  • Prospect hasn’t committed yet. They want to see numbers before saying yes.
  • You want explicit approval. A clicked-Accept estimate is a much cleaner record than a verbal “sounds good.”
  • Scope is custom or negotiable. The estimate’s line-item descriptions are where you sell the work.
  • You want to track conversion rate. Estimates accepted vs. declined is a useful sales metric.
If the work is already verbally agreed and you just need to bill, skip the estimate and create an invoice directly.

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Build the estimate

1

Go to Estimates

Navigate to /dashboard/commerce/estimates/.
2

Click New Estimate

A blank draft opens.
3

Pick the prospect

Search by name or company. If they’re not in CRM yet, click + New Contact — at minimum a name and email.
4

Set the issue and expiry dates

Issue: today (default). Expiry: 14 or 30 days from today (a soft deadline that creates urgency without feeling pushy).
5

Add line items

For each scope item, add a line:
  • Pick a product from your catalog (or click Ad-hoc for a one-off)
  • Edit the description to be specific to this engagement
  • Set quantity and unit price
  • Add a per-line discount if you’re offering one
6

Set tax

Per-jurisdiction rates apply automatically based on the prospect’s billing address. Tax-exempt prospects skip tax.
7

Add an estimate-level discount (optional)

A whole-quote discount, useful for bundling deals.
8

Add terms

Free-text field for payment terms, project timeline, or conditions tied to acceptance. Examples:
  • “Pricing valid for 30 days from issue date”
  • “Net 30 payment terms upon acceptance”
  • “Project start within 14 days of acceptance”

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Write line-item descriptions for the buyer

This is the difference between estimates that get accepted and estimates that get pushed back on: 
Strategy Consulting — 1 unit — $5,000
Reads like a SKU lookup. Prospect doesn’t know what they’re buying.
Use the description field generously. An accepted estimate is also your statement of work — clear scope here prevents post-acceptance scope arguments.

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Preview before sending

Click the PDF preview button. Read it as if you were the prospect:
  • Are the numbers correct?
  • Does the scope read clearly?
  • Are the terms what you actually want to commit to?
Catch typos and pricing mistakes here. After sending, edits get awkward — see the section on revisions below.

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Send for approval

1

Click Send

Hiveku generates a PDF, attaches it to an email, and sends to the prospect’s email with a public approval link.
2

Confirm the recipient

Double-check the email — typos here mean the estimate goes nowhere.
3

Watch the status update

The estimate transitions from draft to sent. The activity log captures the send.

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What the prospect sees

The prospect receives an email with a link to a public approval page. The page shows:
  • Your logo and brand
  • The full estimate (line items, totals, tax, terms)
  • An optional comment field
  • Two buttons: Accept and Decline
Accept transitions the estimate to accepted. Decline transitions it to declined. Either way, you get notified.

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Handling revisions

If the prospect asks for changes (“can we drop the workshop to 1 day?”), don’t edit the live estimate — their view would change underneath them.
1

Click Create Revision

From the estimate’s actions menu. The current revision (rev 1) locks; a new draft (rev 2) opens with the same line items.
2

Make the changes

Edit lines, adjust pricing, update scope language.
3

Send rev 2

The prospect gets a new email with a new approval link. Rev 1’s link no longer accepts new actions.
4

Track the history

The estimate’s activity log shows every revision and any prospect comments.

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Convert to an invoice

Once the estimate is accepted:
1

Click Convert to Invoice

From the accepted estimate’s actions menu.
2

Review the draft invoice

Line items, tax, discounts, and terms copy over. The estimate links to the invoice for reference.
3

Set due date and payment terms

The invoice starts as a draft. Set Net 15/30/60 or custom; adjust the due date.
4

Send the invoice

Standard invoice flow from here — client pays through portal, status flips to paid.
Conversion creates one invoice per estimate. For multi-phase projects with milestone billing, either edit the converted invoice into a deposit-only line and create follow-on invoices manually, or split the work into multiple estimates upfront (one per phase).

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Verify it worked

After conversion, both records should show:
  • The estimate: status accepted, with a link to the converted invoice
  • The invoice: status draft, with a link back to the source estimate
The prospect’s CRM record now has both — useful for reporting and historical reference.

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Troubleshooting

Mark the estimate accepted manually from the actions menu. Note: this skips the audit trail of a clicked Accept, so for important deals consider asking them to use the link.
The button only shows for status accepted. If the estimate is in sent, draft, or declined, you can’t convert. Mark accepted manually if needed, then convert.
The converter copies the estimate’s current state, not its state at acceptance. If you edited the estimate after acceptance, the invoice reflects those edits. For audit-clean conversions, don’t edit accepted estimates.
Use Void from the actions menu. The public link returns “no longer available” and the estimate is removed from active reporting. You can clone it as a fresh draft if you want to send a corrected version.

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Best practices

  • Set an expiry date. Open-ended quotes haunt your pipeline. 14–30 days is standard.
  • Track your accept rate. If less than 50% accept, your pricing or scoping needs work. If more than 90%, you might be under-pricing.
  • Pair big estimates with a contract. For deals over a certain size, the estimate covers commercials and a contract covers legal — see Send a Contract for E-Signature.
  • Convert promptly. The faster you bill after acceptance, the faster you get paid.

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What’s next?

Send a Contract for E-Signature

Pair the estimate with legal terms.

Send Your First Invoice

The next step after acceptance.

Estimates Reference

Full reference for the estimate lifecycle.

Products Catalog

The line items that power estimates.