Creating and Sending Estimates
How to build an estimate, add line items, and send it to a customer.
Navigate to Estimates and click "New Estimate." You can also create an estimate directly from a job detail page to link it to that job.
Adding Line Items
Add line items manually or search your Pricebook to pull in pre-configured parts, labor, and materials. Each line item has a description, quantity, unit cost, and markup percentage. The calculated price updates automatically.
Preview
Click Preview on a draft or sent estimate to see the customer page, including options, prices, and notes. Opening Preview does not mark the estimate as viewed. You can also preview from New Estimate before saving.
Totals and Discounts
Apply an overall service markup percentage, tax percentage, and flat discount to the estimate total. Add customer-facing notes (visible on the estimate) and internal-only notes (visible only to your team). Cost and line markup % stay internal. If Settings → Estimate display has “Hide service fee” on, overall markup is included in item prices instead of a separate Service fee line.
Sending
Send the estimate via email and SMS. You can require full payment upfront or a deposit (25%, 50%, 75%, or a custom percentage). The customer receives a link to view, approve, and pay.
Follow-up reminders
If an estimate is still Sent or Viewed, OpsBack can send one automatic reminder after 3, 5, 7, or 10 days (Settings → Customer notifications). Unviewed quotes ask “Did you get this?”; viewed quotes ask if they are ready to approve. The reminder does not extend the expiry date. Manual Resend still works anytime and counts as a follow-up, so the automatic reminder will not also fire. On the shop dashboard, due reminders show Send or Skip (skip applies to that estimate only). Quotes older than 45 days are not auto-nudged.
Hold, decline, and archive
If a customer asks to wait, open the estimate and choose Put on hold. Reminders stop, and they can still approve from the original link. Resume puts it back to Sent or Viewed without changing expiry. Decline is for a lost quote (you or the customer). Archive hides a non-draft estimate from the main list; Unarchive or Restore to active brings it back. Filter the list by On hold or Archived.
Estimate Statuses
Estimates move through these statuses: Draft, Sent, Viewed (customer opened it), On hold (shop parked it), Approved, Declined, or Expired. Archived is a list filter, not a status.