Build and send a quote

A quote goes to the customer by email, with an Open your quote button and the quote attached as a PDF. From the quote page they accept, pick a date and book in.

There are two kinds:

• Quick quote: your lines, VAT if you are registered, a short message and how long it is valid for. On every plan.
• Detailed quote: everything in a quick quote, plus a discount, a deposit on accept, a job description and your terms. On Pro and Autopilot.

Plan | Quotes

Any plan | Quick quotes, email reminders you send yourself, Convert to booking

Pro | Detailed quotes with a deposit on accept, text reminders, an automatic follow-up email

Autopilot | Everything on Pro, plus a second automatic follow-up

There are three ways in:

• Tap the + button at the bottom of the screen, then New quote.
• Go to More, then Quotes (in the Work group), and tap + at the top right.
• On a job, tap Actions at the bottom of the screen, then Build quote under Change the job. The customer and the service are filled in for you.

You can also open a customer, tap the menu at the top right and choose New quote.

Build quote only shows on a job whose price is not agreed yet, such as a new request or a finished quote visit, where it is also the main button at the bottom of the job. Once a job is priced and booked in, change it with Variations instead (see "Handle mid-job variations").

Android works the same way: the + button then New quote, More then Quotes, or on a job the menu button at the bottom then Build quote. Opened from a job, Android also adds a line for the service estimate and one for each add-on the customer picked, so you adjust the price rather than type it.

On the web, open Quotes and press New quote, then choose Quick quote or Detailed quote. The round quick actions button on your dashboard also offers Quick Quote. On a job, Build quote opens the quote builder filled in from that booking.

Customer: type a Name, Email and Phone (optional), or tap Use a saved customer. Opened from a job or a customer it is filled in already, and Change lets you edit it.

Service (optional): tap Choose or add a one-off to pick one of your services or name a one-off job.

Quote lines: give each line a Description, Qty and Unit price (£). Each line shows its total and Subtotal adds them up. Tap Add line for the next one. If your trade orders parts, each line also has a Lead time (see "Give yourself time to order parts and materials").

Materials: on the web, start typing a line and items from your materials catalogue fill in the description and price. In the apps, you type each line yourself.

VAT: shown only if you are VAT registered. Choose No VAT, Add VAT or VAT incl.

Message (optional): a short note to the customer, shown on the quote and in the email.

Valid for: 7, 14, 30 or 60 days. It starts at 30.

To reuse a quote, open it under Quotes and tap Save as template. Start from a template, at the top of a new quote, copies its lines and settings but never the customer.

Switch on Detailed quote and four more cards appear:

• Discount (optional): a Percent or an Amount off, with the Subtotal, Discount, VAT and Total shown underneath.
• Deposit on accept (optional): a Percent or an Amount the customer pays when they accept.
• Job description (optional): what the job covers. It takes the place of the message.
• Terms (optional): your terms and conditions. Leave it empty to use the default terms saved on the web under Settings, Booking settings, Customer messages, Detailed quote terms.

The button at the bottom changes to Send detailed quote. On the web, a Detailed quote also takes a job site address, a note on each line, and a validity of up to 90 days.

On Solo, the apps offer quick quotes only, and the web shows Detailed quote with a Pro badge.

Tap Preview to see exactly what the customer will get: the email for a quick quote, the PDF for a detailed one. Nothing is sent.

Then tap Send quote. If anything is missing, the fields to fix are highlighted. The total has to be more than £0.

The quote is sent by email only. To reach the customer by text as well:

• On Pro, follow it up by text from Quotes (see "Chase a quote" below). The text carries the link to the quote.
• On the web, press Copy link on the quote under Quotes and paste it into your own messages. In a Quick Quote, Copy text copies the quote as plain text.

The email subject is "Quote from" followed by your business name and the quote number ("Detailed quote from" for a Detailed quote). It has an Open your quote button, the quote as a PDF, and a Not interested? link.

The quote page shows your business name, logo and phone number, the total and how long it is valid, your badges and reviews, what the job covers and a Breakdown of the lines. A Detailed quote also shows the job site, your terms and the deposit. At the bottom is Accept this quote.

They tap Accept this quote, fill in their details and the job address, pick a date and time, sign to accept, and tap Book this in.

If the quote has a deposit, they go straight on to a secure card payment. On iPhone the job shows Waiting on deposit until it is paid.

The booking is made at your quoted price, and the quote shows as Converted on your Quotes list.

If the customer says yes on the phone instead, open the quote under Quotes, tap Convert to booking, choose the date and time and confirm (Create booking on iPhone). The job is booked in at the quoted price and the customer gets an email confirming it.

If the customer taps Not interested? and confirms, the quote closes, TradeBooked stops chasing it, and it moves to Archived on your Quotes list.

Once a quote passes its Valid for date, the link no longer opens it. The customer lands on your booking page with a note that the quote has expired, and can still book in for you to confirm the price. The quote moves to Archived.

To send it again, press Refresh quote on the web. In the apps, build a new quote, or save the old one as a template and use Start from a template.

To close a quote yourself, tap the three dots on it, then Close quote (Archive on Android). It stops being chased and no money moves.

On iPhone, open Quotes, tap the quote, tap the three dots and choose Send a reminder. On Solo it sends an email. On Pro you choose Email or Text. Text needs Allow SMS nudges (costs apply) switched on in More, Settings, Quote follow-ups, and a mobile number saved on the customer.

On Android the button is Remind, and on the web it is Nudge. You can send one reminder per quote every 24 hours.

On Pro, TradeBooked can also send a follow-up email by itself 48 hours after a quote with no reply. See "Set up quote follow-ups".