Write an estimate
Start one from a visit (More → Estimate) or from a customer's page (New estimate).
- Give it a title and, if you like, a note for the customer.
- Add up to three options, called Good, Better and Best until you rename them. Add option or Copy option.
- Fill each option from the price book or with custom items. Tick Add-on on a line the customer may choose on top.
An estimate you haven't sent stays on your phone as a draft for 30 days.
Get it signed on the spot
Tap Show customer and hand them the phone. They pick an option and any add-ons, type their name, sign, and tap I approve. They can also tap Not today or Decide later. No signal is needed.
Send it as a link
Tap Send to customer while writing it (it saves the estimate first), or on a saved estimate's page. Text it opens your phone's Messages with the link written in; you press send. Email it has Pipr email the customer for you, from your shop's name; a reply goes to your shop's contact email. The customer opens it, chooses, types their name and taps I approve, or declines or asks for changes. Their answer comes back to Pipr and shows under the bell. If you take bookings online, an approved estimate's page also offers the customer Pick a time: they choose an arrival time and pay the deposit, and the visit is booked with the estimate on it, its approved work ready to tick off and bill.
Estimates are good for 30 days unless the owner changes it under Settings → Customers → Estimates are good for. After that the link stops working.
Changing an estimate
A sent or signed estimate never changes. To change the price or the work, use Make a new version: the old one is marked Replaced and its link stops working.
From approved to done
- An approved estimate with no visit yet shows under Approved, no visit yet. The office can Book a visit for it, or anyone can Add to a visit. For an estimate written from a customer's request, booking from either the estimate or the request puts the approved work on the visit and closes the request.
- If your shop books online, the customer can also tap Pick a time on the approved estimate. Once your card payments are set up, they pay a deposit by card to hold the time: a share of the estimate's total that you set in the web app under Settings, Online booking, Deposit on approved work (none until you choose a share, with an optional most it can be; a new shop picks it while setting up). One estimate can ask for something else: while writing it, Deposit to book the work takes the shop's setting, no deposit, another share, or a fixed amount. Their estimate says the amount before and after they approve, and until it is paid the estimate reads Approved, deposit due. The deposit comes off the bill. Some states limit deposits on home improvement work; in California it's 10% or $1,000, whichever is less.
- On the visit, the approved work is a tick-list to work through.
- Bill it starts the bill with all the approved work at the signed prices. On any bill, Add approved work brings it in.
- Found more to do? Add extra work on the visit makes a new estimate for the customer to sign.
In the office, a bill's page shows each line as from the estimate or not, so you can compare the estimate against what was done.