How estimates work

What this does

In LogMyRepair.app an estimate and a work order are the same record at different stages. When you create an estimate you are creating the job; it simply carries the status Estimate until the customer approves it. Nothing is copied or re-created at approval, so the number, the lines, the customer, the vehicle, and the notes all carry straight through to the shop floor and the invoice.

The estimate band

A job is "an estimate" while its status is one of three: Estimate (waiting on the customer), Approved (customer said yes, work not yet started), or Declined. These three show under Sales → Estimates. The moment a job moves to In Progress or beyond it disappears from the Estimates list and lives under Sales → Work Orders instead.

What an estimate carries

Every estimate has a customer, usually a vehicle, a title, and line items (labor, parts, fees, sublet, other, and discounts). It can carry a Valid Until date, which prints on the customer's copy. It gets its number from the order prefix and next number under Settings → Shop Profile, and it keeps that number for the life of the job.

Approval

The customer can approve or decline from the share link you send them, without logging in, or you can record their answer yourself. Either way the first approval is stamped on the job with who approved it and when, and that stamp is never overwritten by later status changes. See Approving, declining, and revising.

Common problems

I can't find an estimate I made last week. Check Sales → Work Orders. If someone moved it to In Progress, it's a work order now. Search by the number; it hasn't changed.

Two estimates for the same customer look identical. They're separate jobs. Delete the one you don't need while it's still in the estimate band; once it's approved and worked, it can't be deleted.