Payments
Create a quote
Send pricing to a customer for review before you create an invoice or begin billable work.
What you will accomplish
You will create a quote—pricing the customer can review and approve before your facility sends a real invoice or starts expensive work.
A quote is not the same as an invoice:
Quote — "Here is what we propose to charge. Please review and approve."
Invoice — "This amount is ready to be paid now."
Quotes are useful for storage proposals, detail packages, transport estimates, memberships, or larger service work.
Before you start
- Quotes must be turned on for your facility. An owner or admin can enable them in Settings > Billing under Enable quotes. If the Quotes page says quotes are not enabled, finish this step first.
- Make sure the customer already exists in Contacts.
- Know what you are quoting, such as storage, detailing, transport, or membership pricing.
- Confirm the price, quantity, tax, and expiration date.
- Create common products first in Products & Services so you can add them quickly as line items.
- Decide if the quote should be saved as a draft or sent to the customer right away.
Open the Quotes page
Go to Payments > Quotes.
The Quotes page shows each quote, the customer, the status, the total, and when the quote expires.
Create the quote
- Click Create quote
In the top-right area of the Quotes page, click Create quote.
Expected result: A window titled Create Quote opens.
- Choose the customer
Search for the customer and select the correct person or company. This connects the quote to the customer record and helps your team find it later.
Expected result: The customer name appears in the form and the email address looks correct.
- Add a clear quote header
Use the quote header to explain the purpose of the quote in one short phrase. Examples: Storage and detail package, Winter storage proposal, or Transport and service estimate.
- Add line items
Click Add line item (or similar) and choose a product from Products & Services, or type a custom description and amount.
Use names and descriptions the customer will understand. Example: Monthly Climate Controlled Storage — one vehicle, climate-controlled bay.
Why this matters: Clear line items help customers approve pricing without calling your office.
- Set the expiration date
Choose the date when the quote should stop being valid. A quote expiration date helps your team avoid honoring old pricing by mistake.
- Decide whether to finalize now
At the bottom of the window, choose how to save:
- Create Draft Quote — Saves the quote for your team to review first. The customer does not receive email yet.
- Create & Send Quote — Finalizes and emails the customer when the quote is ready.
Why this matters: Sending too early can lock in pricing before a manager reviews it. Drafts give your team a safe review step.
- Review the total and save
Check the subtotal, tax, and total. Then click the button you chose.
Expected result: The window closes. The quote appears on Payments > Quotes with status Draft or Open.
Review a quote you already sent
After you save or send a quote, it appears on the Quotes page. Click a row to open the quote detail page.
What each status means
Draft means your team is still working on the quote.
Open means the quote has been finalized and can be reviewed by the customer.
Accepted means the customer approved the quote.
Canceled means your team stopped using the quote.
Expired means the quote is past its expiration date.
What success looks like
After you create a quote:
- The quote appears on the Quotes page.
- The quote status shows whether it is a draft, open, accepted, canceled, or expired.
- If the quote was sent, the customer can review the pricing online.
- If the customer accepts the quote, your team can use it as the basis for billing.
Tips for better quotes
- Use a short, friendly quote header that explains the outcome.
- Break large jobs into separate line items so the customer can understand the total.
- Add a description when the customer may need context, such as what a service includes.
- Set a realistic expiration date so your team does not need to re-create the quote too soon.
Troubleshooting
Turn an accepted quote into billing
When a customer accepts a quote online, Car Storage Software usually creates the right billing record automatically. Your team does not need to click a separate Convert to invoice button on the quote page.
One-time charges on the quote usually become a customer invoice on Payments > Invoices.
Recurring charges on the quote usually become a recurring plan on Payments > Recurring.
If the quote included both types, check both pages after the customer accepts.
What the customer does
- Open the quote link
The customer opens the quote from their email or the customer portal.
Expected result: They see line items, the total, and an option to accept the pricing.
- Accept the quote
The customer reviews the pricing and accepts it online.
Why this matters: Acceptance is the customer's formal yes. After this step, your facility can bill based on what they approved.
What your team does after acceptance
- Confirm the quote status
Go to Payments > Quotes and open the quote. The status should show Accepted.
Expected result: The quote detail page shows when the customer accepted and the same line items they approved.
- Find the new invoice or recurring plan
- For one-time work: open Payments > Invoices, click Customer, and look for a new invoice for that customer.
- For monthly or repeat work: open Payments > Recurring and look for a new plan for that customer.
Why this matters: The system creates billing from the accepted quote so totals match what the customer already approved.
- Collect payment or monitor the plan
- For a new invoice, follow Send and collect customer payments.
- For a new recurring plan, confirm the Next billing date and status on Manage recurring billing.
If you need to bill manually instead
Use this only when your manager asks you to create billing by hand (for example, the quote expired or the customer approved pricing over the phone).
- Open the accepted quote for reference
Go to Payments > Quotes and open the Accepted quote. Keep this page open so you can match line items and totals.
- Create a new invoice or recurring plan
- One-time work → Create an invoice
- Repeat charges → Manage recurring billing
- Match the line items and total
Use the same customer, descriptions, and amounts from the accepted quote.
Expected result: The new bill matches what the customer already approved.
What to do next
After the quote is accepted, follow the steps above to invoice the customer, or start Manage recurring billing if the agreement is a monthly plan. For one-time work without a quote, use Create an invoice.