Estimates

By the end you'll be able to build an estimate, sharpen the price with per-line discounts, share it with the client, and (if your clinic has it switched on) carry those items straight into a visit.

An estimate is a quote. It's a friendly "here's roughly what this will cost" — it doesn't ask anyone to pay anything, and it doesn't touch the client's account balance. When the client says yes, you turn the estimate into a real bill. That's covered in Invoices. When they actually pay, see Taking payments.

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How an estimate moves through its life

An estimate goes through a few simple stages. You don't have to memorise these — the app shows the current one as a coloured badge at the top of the estimate.

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Find your estimates

Usually: anyone.

Step by step

1. Look at the menu down the left-hand side.
2. Click Billing.
3. Click Estimates.

You'll see a table of every estimate in the clinic — the client's name, the patient, the date you made it, the "valid until" date, a status badge, and a price (estimates can show a range, e.g. "$280 – $340", more on that below).

You can type in the search box to find an estimate, and filter the list by status (draft, finalised, converted, and so on).

Other ways to do this

• See estimates for one pet: open the patient, look for their estimates there.
• See estimates for one owner: open the client, look for their estimates there.

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Create a new estimate

Usually: front desk, vet, or nurse.

The fastest, friendliest way to start is from the pet or owner you're already looking at — it fills in their details for you so you don't have to search.

Step by step (from the patient — recommended)

1. Open the patient (the animal) you're quoting for.
2. Click the ⋯ (three dots) menu in the patient's header.
3. Click Create Estimate. The patient and their owner are already filled in.
4. Add what the quote covers — see Add items to an estimate below.
5. Set a valid until date (how long the quote holds). The app suggests one for you; change it if you like.
6. (Optional) Add a Description and a Customer note (both shown to the client), and an Internal note (staff-only — the client never sees it).
7. Click Create Estimate. This saves it as a draft.
8. When the quote looks right, click Finalise to lock it, ready to share.

Other ways to do this — all reach the same form; pick whichever is closest to where you already are

• ⭐ From the patient: patient header → ⋯ → Create Estimate (fills in the pet and owner).
• From the client (owner): client header → ⋯ → Create Estimate (fills in the owner).
• From Billing: Billing → Estimates → New Estimate, then choose the client yourself. Gives you the most control over a blank quote.
• From a consult: if you're inside a visit, you can start an estimate there and it links to that visit.

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Add items to an estimate

Usually: vet, nurse, or front desk.

Items come from your clinic's catalogue — your list of services and products with their prices. You don't type prices by hand; you pick items and the price comes in automatically.

Step by step

1. On the estimate, click Add Item (top-right of the Charges card). If the estimate is empty, the button reads Add First Item.
2. The item picker opens, showing your catalogue. You can search, and switch between All / Items / Packages at the top.
3. Click an item (for example "Dental scale & polish"). The picker closes and the item drops straight in as a new line, with its catalogue price.
4. Adjust the line right there in the table — change the Qty, the Unit $ (already filled from the catalogue), or add a discount. There's no separate pop-up; you edit the row directly.
5. To add another item, click Add Item again. (Picking a package adds all of its items as separate lines at once.)

Repeat for everything the quote should cover. The estimate adds it all up for you as you go.

Reorder the lines

You can drag a line up or down to change the order. Grab the grip handle (the dotted icon on the left of each row) and drag.

Edit or remove a line

• Change a line: edit the Qty, Unit $, or Discount fields on the row directly. To swap it for a different catalogue item, click the search icon inside the item field and pick another.
• Clear a line's text: click the ✕ inside the item field to reset that row.
• Remove a line: click the trash icon at the right of that row. On a draft estimate this just removes it — no harm done.

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Apply a per-line discount

Usually: vet or front desk.

You can discount any single line — handy for a loyalty discount, a goodwill reduction, or a bundle deal — without changing the rest of the quote.

Step by step

1. On the estimate, find the line you want to discount.
2. In that line's Discount field, type the amount.
3. By default you're entering a percentage (for example, type 10 for 10% off that line).
4. Want to take a fixed dollar amount off instead? Use the $ / % toggle on that line to switch to $, then type the dollars (for example 15 for $15 off).
5. The line total — and the estimate total — update straight away.

The two ways stay in step with each other: enter 10% and the app stores the matching dollar figure; enter a dollar amount and it works out the matching percentage. Use whichever feels natural.

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Set a price range (optional)

Usually: vet.

Real-world quotes often aren't exact — "somewhere between $280 and $340, depending on what we find". Estimates can show that as a range instead of one fixed number.

Step by step

1. On the estimate, look in the totals block (bottom-right, under the Total) for Estimate range ±.
2. Enter a spread — by default a percentage (for example, 10% makes the quote show as roughly ±10% around the total).
3. Prefer to think in dollars? Use the $ / % toggle next to it to switch to $, then enter a dollar spread instead.
4. The estimate now shows a low-to-high range (for example "$280 – $340") on screen and on the printed/emailed copy.

Leave the range at 0 if you want a single firm price.

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Edit a finalised estimate

Usually: front desk or vet.

Finalising locks the quote so the figures can't drift while you're talking to the client. If you spot a mistake, you don't have to start over — just unlock it.

Step by step

1. Open the finalised estimate.
2. Click Unfinalise in the header. It drops back to an editable draft.
3. Make your changes.
4. Click Finalise again to re-lock it.

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Share an estimate with the client

Usually: front desk.

Once an estimate is finalised, the header shows three icon buttons — Download PDF, Print, and Send (hover any of them to see its label). You can email it, print it, or save a PDF to send yourself.

Email it

Step by step

1. Open the finalised estimate.
2. Click the Send (envelope) icon in the header.
3. A send dialog opens with the client's email already filled in.
4. Tweak the subject or message if you'd like.
5. Click Send. A PDF of the estimate is attached automatically.

Print it

Step by step

1. Open the finalised estimate.
2. Click the Print (printer) icon.
3. Your browser's print box opens (you can also press Ctrl+P, or Cmd+P on a Mac). Print to paper as normal.

Save a PDF

Step by step

1. Open the finalised estimate.
2. Click the Download PDF (download) icon.
3. A tidy PDF saves to your computer, ready to email or file away.

See Printing & PDFs for more on both.

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Turn an estimate into an invoice

Usually: front desk.

This is the happy ending: the client said yes, so you turn the quote into a real bill.

Step by step

1. Open the finalised estimate.
2. Click Convert to Invoice in the header.
3. A dialog shows the estimate flowing into a new invoice, with the totals so you can double-check.
4. Click Create Invoice.
5. The estimate is marked Converted, and a fresh draft invoice opens with the same line items.
6. Adjust anything you need on the invoice (payment terms, due date), then Finalise it. From there you can take payment.

The full invoice and payment steps live in Invoices and Taking payments.

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Pull estimate items straight into a visit

Usually: vet or nurse.

Some clinics like to build a quote, then — when the work goes ahead during a visit — drop those exact items into the visit's draft invoice rather than converting the estimate on its own. This keeps everything from that visit on one bill.

Step by step

1. Open the finalised estimate (it must be linked to a patient).
2. Click the ⋯ (More actions) menu in the header.
3. Click Add to invoice.
4. The Add to consult invoice dialog lists the patient's open consults (visits that aren't finished yet).
5. Pick the consult you want.
6. Click Pull into consult.
7. The estimate's line items are added to that visit's draft invoice — creating one if the visit didn't have a draft invoice yet. Existing lines on that invoice are kept.

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Good to know (small things that trip people up)

• Draft ≠ done. A draft estimate is private to your clinic and won't go anywhere until you Finalise it. If a quote seems to have "disappeared" for the client, check it isn't still sitting as a draft.
• Finalise ≠ send. Finalising only locks the figures. Sharing it (email, print, PDF) is a separate click.
• Estimates don't charge anyone. They never affect the client's account balance. Only an invoice does that — see Charges vs invoices.
• Mind the "valid until" date. Once it passes, the quote expires and can't be converted. The badge turns to "Expired". Make a fresh one if that happens.
• A quote needs a client, not a patient. The owner is required; the pet is optional but strongly recommended so you can tell later which animal the quote was for.

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Where to go next

• Ready to bill? Invoices
• Taking the money? Taking payments
• The money model in plain words: Charges vs invoices
• Wording on buttons and badges: Buttons & symbols cheat sheet
• Stuck? If something looks wrong — troubleshooting & FAQ
• Unsure of a term? Glossary