Managing Estimates

In Zoho Invoice, you can perform actions on estimates to manage them. You can filter estimates, create custom views, sort estimates on a particular order, attach files to estimates and do a lot more. In this page, we’ll look into all that you can do to manage estimates.

Filtering Estimates

You can filter estimates to view a list of estimates based on a specific criterion.

Zoho Invoice contains a default set of filters based on a certain criteria which allows you to quickly filter the estimates. If you want to filter the estimates based on the criteria you set, you can create custom views.

Default Filters

The default filters that are available for estimates in Zoho Invoice is listed below with its descriptions.

Filter Name	Description
All Estimates	All the estimates in Zoho Invoice will be displayed. By default, the Estimates module displays the estimates using this filter.
Draft	All the estimates that are in the draft status are displayed when you use this filter.
Sent	All the estimates that you’ve sent to your customers will be displayed when you use this filter.
Client Viewed	All the estimates that your customers have viewed in the Customer Portal will be displayed when you use this filter. Learn more about Customer Portal.
Accepted	All the estimates that your customers have accepted will be displayed while you use this filter.
Invoiced	All the estimates that you’ve converted to invoices are displayed when you use this filter.
Declined	Estimates that your customers have declined will be displayed when you use this filter.
Expired	All the estimates who’s expiry date is in the past are displayed under this filter.

Creating Custom Views

You can create a new custom view to filter the estimates based on the specific criteria you mention. Also, you’ll be able to specify the columns you want to see when you apply the custom view. Let’s look at Mark to understand how this helps him in his everyday business.

Similarly, you too can create different custom views based on your needs and filter the estimates.

To create a new custom view:

1. Go to the Estimates module in the left sidebar ore press shift + e to instantly navigate to the Estimates module.
2. Click the filter dropdown and select + New Custom View from the bottom of the list.

1. Enter a Name for the custom view.
2. Click the dropdown under Define the criteria section and select one of the fields from the dropdown.
3. Click the next dropdown and select the appropriate condition.
4. Enter or select an appropriate value in the next field.
5. Click + Add Criteria to add another criterion and repeat the previous 3 steps.
6. Click the + on each field in the listed in the Available Columns table to add them under the Selected Columns table.

1. Choose if you want this filter to be displayed to every user in your organization or only to you.
2. Click Save.

Now, the filter will be displayed under the default filters and you can filter the estimates based on the new criteria.

Editing Custom Views

To edit the custom view that you’ve created:

1. Go to the Estimates module in the left sidebar or press shift + e to instantly navigate to the Estimates module.
2. Click the filter dropdown and select the filter you want to edit.
3. Hover your mouse cursor next to the filter name and click the Edit icon.

1. Edit the custom view.
2. Click Save.

Sorting Estimates

You can sort the estimates to display them in a particular order based on a particular value. All the sorting options that are available in the Estimates module is listed below.

Sort By	Description
Created Time	Sorting by Created Time allows you to view the estimates in the order of latest to oldest or vice versa based on the created time.
Last Modified Time	Sorting by Las Modified Time sorts the estimates by listing the last edited estimates at the top or vice versa.
Date	Sorting by Date allows you to sort the estimates in the order of latest to oldest or vice versa. By default, the latest is displayed on top.
Estimate Number	Sorting by Estimate Number allows you to list the estimates in the ascending order or in the descending order of the estimate number.
Customer Name	Sorting by Name allows you to list the estimates in the alphabetical order or in the reverse alphabetical order of the customer names. By default, the estimates are listed in the alphabetical order.
Amount	Sorting by Amount allows you to list the estimates in the ascending order of the rate or in the descending order of the rate.

To sort the estimates:

1. Go to the Estimates module in the left sidebar or press shift + e to instantly navigate to the Estimates module.
2. Click the Hamburger icon in the top right corner of the window.
3. Select one of the Sort By options to sort the estimates in that particular order.

1. Select the same option again to reverse the order in which the estimates are sorted. You can change the alphabetical to reverse alphabetical and ascending to descending.

Downloading an Estimate as PDF

At times, you would want to download an estimate as a PDF to keep a hard copy record for future references or to share it with someone else. Whatever your need may be, you can easily download the estimate as a PDF from Zoho Invoice.

To download an estimate as a PDF:

1. Go to the Estimates module in the left sidebar or press shift + e to instantly navigate to the Estimates module.
2. Select the estimate that you want to download as a PDF.
3. Click the PDF icon in the top-right corner or press d to save it to your device.

Printing an Estimate

You can print an estimate directly from Zoho Invoice. To print an estimate:

1. Go to the Estimates module in the left sidebar or press shift + e to instantly navigate to the Estimates module.
2. Select the estimate that you want to print.
3. Click the Print icon in the top-right corner or press p to print the estimate.
4. Choose the appropriate settings and click Print.

Mailing an Estimate

You can share your estimates via email to the concerned people. To email the estimate:

1. Go to the Estimates module in the left sidebar or press shift + e to instantly navigate to the Estimates module.
2. Select the estimate that you want to email.
3. Click the Email icon in the top-right corner of the window or press m to email the template. A template of the content that would be sent is shown as a preview where you can enter your message.
4. Check the addressee’s email address and click Send.

Attaching Files to Estimates

Zoho Invoice allows you to attach files to an estimate in Zoho Invoice. Let’s look at how this helps Mark in his day-to-day business.

Like Mark, when you want to attach files to an estimate, you can easily attach them. To attach files to an estimate:

1. Go to the Estimates module in the left sidebar or press shift + e to instantly navigate to the Estimates module.
2. Select the estimate to which you want to attach a file.
3. Click the Attachment icon and a pop-up is visible.
   • Select Cloud if you wish to upload the file from the cloud. Choose the file from the appropriate storage drive and click Attach.
     OR
   • Select Drag & Drop to upload the file from a device or drag and drop the file into the pop-up.

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