"Converting a lead" means flipping their lead_status to Customer. From there, you can create jobs the same way you would for any other customer.

How to convert

Three paths:

1. From the kanban (the fast way)

Drag the customer's card from Quoted (or Prospect, or Lead) directly onto the Customer column.

What happens server-side:

  • lead_status: "customer"
  • converted_at: <now> — stamped with the conversion timestamp.

That's it. No new entity is created.

2. From the customer profile

  1. Open the customer.
  2. Click the Lead status badge in the header.
  3. Pick Customer.

Same server effect.

3. From lead actions (right-click)

On any customer card, right-click → Convert to Customer. This is the explicit version of the kanban drag.

What's NOT automatic

Converting a lead does not:

  • Create a job.
  • Create an estimate.
  • Send any message to the customer.
  • Move anything in QuickBooks.
Note

It's purely a status flip. By the time you convert, you typically already have a job lined up — the conversion just records that the lead is real.

The intended sequence

The typical workflow:

  1. Lead comes in → lead_status: Lead.
  2. You qualify them → drag to Prospect.
  3. You send an estimate → drag to Quoted.
  4. They sign / pay deposit → estimate approved → create the job from the estimate (see Creating a job from an estimate).
  5. Drag the customer to Customer (or it happens automatically when the first job is created in some workflows).

Reversing a conversion

You can drag a Customer back to Inactive. You cannot drag Customer back to Lead — the workflow is one-way (with Inactive as the off-ramp). To re-engage an inactive customer, drag them back to Lead or Prospect.

Reporting

converted_at powers conversion-rate reporting:

  • Time from created_at to converted_at = sales cycle length.
  • Count of converts per period = won deals.