Estimates

Estimates are quotes you send to customers. The estimate builder walks you through panel selection, dents, factors, pricing, and a branded PDF.

1. Start from a lead, customer, or Estimates → New Estimate.
2. Step 1 — Customer & Vehicle: pick the customer; pick a vehicle from their garage or add a new one (VIN supported).
3. Step 2 — Damage: for each panel, either:
   • Add specific dents (size in inches, depth, factors like glue pull, aluminum, edge, brace, etc.), or
   • Tap a panel and pick a quick option:
     • Wholesale used-car cleanup (flat-rate cosmetic pass)
     • All dents on entire vehicle (panel-by-panel matrix fill)
     • Custom (free-text + price)
4. Step 3 — Review: see totals, add a discount %, toggle Include vehicle diagram in PDF, add R&I (remove & install) line items if needed, and add internal notes.
5. Send or Save as Draft.

• The app uses your Retail or Wholesale matrix with size + depth + factors.
• If you change a default price, a Recalculate with matrix button appears so you can revert.
• AI-generated estimates only use what you explicitly state: size, factors, panel, count. If you don't specify, the app defaults to a 1″ dent, no factors, hood panel. A dollar amount alone never inflates size or adds factors.

Closing the builder mid-edit prompts: Save as Draft or Discard. Drafts won't auto-load next time — you open them from the Estimates list when you want them.

1. Open an approved estimate.
2. Choose Edit (regular changes) or Supplement (new approved version layered on top).
3. The supplement PDF shows: customer/vehicle on top → Original Approved Items (reference) → Additional Items (Supplement) → New Grand Total.
4. In the document list, only the current version shows by default, with a small breakdown of original + supplement.
5. Invoices always bill the current approved total.

• Every estimate has a unique private share link. Old or guessed links cannot be enumerated.
• The PDF is branded with your shop's logo and colors.

• The AI summary appears at the top of a lead and on the estimate, in the same place and style.
• Internal notes on an estimate behave like lead comments — they never go to the customer.
• Search in the estimates list always scrolls back to the top of results.

• 1. Customer & Vehicle — pick the customer or lead (type to search), then the vehicle details.
• 2. Type & Pricing — the vehicle type, the category (Retail, Hail, or Wholesale), and which pricing matrix to price with. Set the hourly rate used for R&I and services and save it as your default; it doesn't affect dent pricing.
• 3. AI Builder — optional. From a written damage description the app drafts the dent list for you, which you then correct.
• 4. Dents & Services — add dents one at a time, or use Visual Mode and tap panels on a vehicle diagram. Each dent has a size and a depth (shallow, medium, deep). Apply pricing factors where they apply, and add R&I items, extra services, and custom fields such as claim number or RO/PO.
• 5. Review — the finished document, notes, and a job duration in hours that feeds scheduling.

A matrix is your price list. Admins set them up under Settings → Pricing Matrices, either as a size grid (dime / nickel / quarter / half-dollar) or by inches. You can keep several — retail, wholesale, a specific dealer's rates — mark one as the default, duplicate one to make a variant, and pick the right one per estimate.

Share gives you:

• Text estimate / Email estimate, with resend versions after the first send.
• Copy link — a clean public page the customer can open on their phone.
• Download PDF or Download image (PNG).

On the public page the customer taps Approve Estimate, accepts the terms, and confirms. You're notified and the estimate becomes a work order — simply an approved estimate, the job you're actually going to do.

Draft → Waiting Approval → Follow Up Needed / Follow Up Sent → Work Order (accepted) → Declined or Expired.

• Schedule Job — books the appointment using the job duration you set.
• Convert to Invoice — copies line items, total, vehicle, claim number, and custom fields into a new draft invoice, and warns you if an invoice already exists.
• Supplement — for extra damage found on the day, creating a linked follow-on estimate.
• Duplicate estimate — a fast starting point for a similar job.

• Leaving mid-build offers Save & Exit so nothing is lost.
• Estimates keep their photos and technician notes attached, so whoever does the job has the context.
• An estimate belonging to a lead shows a Lead badge until that person becomes a customer.
• If someone else is paying, a Bill: badge shows who the document is billed to.

Desktop: sidebar → Estimates. Mobile: bottom tab → Estimates.