Every estimate has one of six statuses. The status tells you where the sale stands and what, if anything, to do next.
The statuses
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Saved but not sent. The customer can't open it. | Finish it and click Send estimate. |
| Sent | Emailed to the customer. They haven't opened it yet. | Wait, or click Resend if they can't find the email. |
| Viewed | The customer opened the approval link. | Follow up. The estimate page shows how often they looked and which option. |
| Approved | The customer signed, or your team recorded the approval. | Schedule the job that was created. |
| Declined | The customer tapped No thanks, or your team marked it declined. | Read their reason. Duplicate the estimate to make a new offer. |
| Expired | The Valid until date passed before the customer approved. | Click Resend and set a New validity date. |
What changes a status
| From | To | What causes it |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Sent | You send the estimate. |
| Sent | Viewed | The customer opens the approval link. |
| Sent or Viewed | Approved | The customer signs, or someone on your team changes the status to Approved or clicks Convert to job. |
| Sent or Viewed | Declined | The customer declines, or someone on your team changes the status. |
| Sent or Viewed | Expired | The Valid until date passes. A daily check marks it, and so does the customer opening the link after that date. |
| Expired | Sent | You extend the validity and resend. |
You can also change the status by hand with the status menu at the top of the estimate. Approved estimates are locked, so their status can't be changed.
What happens at each status
| Status | What changes |
|---|---|
| Sent / Viewed | You can still click Edit estimate. The customer's link shows your changes right away. |
| Approved | A job is created (or the work is added to the job the estimate came from). If there's a payment schedule, the deposit invoice is created. The estimate can't be edited anymore; the link becomes the customer's project page. |
| Declined | The customer's reason shows on the estimate. It can't be sent again. |
| Expired | The customer's link says the estimate has expired and asks them to call you. They can't approve it. |
To stop estimates from expiring, or to change how long they stay valid, open Estimates, click the gear (Estimate settings), and go to Basics. Set Estimates expire and Expire after (30 days by default).
Remind the customer before an estimate expires
Run a Call can email or text the customer a few days before an open estimate expires, with the link to approve it. Both notices start off.
- Go to Automations.
- Turn on Email customers before their estimate expires (in Getting paid), Text customers before their estimate expires (in Texting, once business texting is active), or both.
- Under the notice, the timing row reads Sends 3 days before the estimate expires. To change it, click Change, set Days before the estimate expires (1 to 30) in When the expiring notice goes out, and click Save timing. One setting covers the email and the text. Owners and admins can change it.
Which estimates get one. Once a day, in the morning, Run a Call looks for Sent and Viewed estimates whose Valid until date falls within your chosen number of days, and sends each one a notice: the email if the customer has an email address, the text if texting is set up and the customer hasn't opted out. An estimate sent with less time left still gets one the next morning, as long as it hasn't expired yet. Approved, declined and expired estimates, and estimates with no Valid until date, are skipped.
Once per expiry date. Each estimate gets one notice. Resending it without changing the date doesn't send another. If you give the estimate a new Valid until date (for example with Resend and a New validity date), it can get a notice again before the new date.
What the customer gets. The email's subject reads Your estimate EST-0042 expires Oct 23, 2026, with the total, the date, how many days are left and a Review & Approve button. The text reads Your estimate EST-0042 ($455.00) expires Oct 23, 2026. Approve it here: followed by the link and reply if you'd like more time. The notice shows on the customer's Timeline as Estimate expiring soon.
Change the wording. Click the notice's name on the Automations page and open it in the builder. You can change the email's subject and opening lines (the estimate details and the Review & Approve button are always added) and the whole text. See Changing the wording of a built-in message.
Finding estimates by status
At the top of the Estimates page, the Draft, Sent and Approved tiles show counts. The Status filter lets you pick Draft, Sent, Viewed, Approved, Declined or Expired. Useful views:
- Viewed — customers who looked but haven't decided. Your best follow-up list.
- Declined — to spot patterns in why you're losing jobs.
- Board — shows estimates as cards by stage.