# Your first quotation

Prepare a quotation for a client from start to finish, with its services, prices and opening text, send it, see the client's page, confirm the order and prepare the draft invoice.

A quotation is the priced offer a client receives before the work starts. This walk-through prepares one for **Meadowline Holdings**: four hours of legal consultation and the drafting of a contract. It is sent by e-mail, viewed as the client sees it, confirmed, and turned into a draft invoice.

## Before you start {#before-you-start}

- You need an access right on **Sales**. **User: Own Documents Only** shows the quotations you are the salesperson of, and those that have none; **User: All Documents** and **Administrator** show them all.
- The services you sell exist as products with a price. The examples use **Legal consultation (hour)** at 350.00 and **Contract drafting** at 1,200.00.

## Step 1: open the quotations {#open}

Open **Sales/Orders/Quotations**. The list starts with the **My Quotations** filter: the quotations where you are the salesperson. Click **New**.

![The quotations of the current salesperson; New starts a quotation.](https://jaah.app/web/image/10844-9d93b2b2/quotations-first-quotation-quotations_list-en.png)

## Step 2: the client and the services {#client-and-services}

1. Choose the **Customer**. Its address appears under the name, and the **Expiration** date is already filled: today plus the default validity of the company, 30 days here.
2. In the **Order Lines** tab, click **Add a product**, search **Legal consultation (hour)** and set the **Quantity** to 4.
3. Click **Add a product** again and choose **Contract drafting**.

Each line takes its **Unit Price** and its **Taxes** from the service; you can type another price on the line for this client. The totals under the lines follow every change.

## Step 3: the opening text {#opening-text}

Click in the **Quotation Body** area, under the client, and write the text that opens the offer: the scope of the work, what the price includes, the next step. This text is printed on the quotation above the prices and shown to the client online. [Write the quotation body](write-the-quotation-body) shows the formatting and the template text.

![The client and the opening text of the offer, written in the Quotation Body.](https://jaah.app/web/image/10848-745b0d0f/quotations-first-quotation-quotation_body-en.png)

## Step 4: how the client confirms {#how-the-client-confirms}

Open the **Other Info** tab. **Online signature** asks the client to sign the quotation online; **Online payment** asks for a payment before the order is confirmed. Both follow the settings of the company. For this offer, keep the signature and untick **Online payment**: the client will confirm by signing, and the invoice follows.

![Online payment is turned off, so the client confirms by signing.](https://jaah.app/web/image/10852-503129f9/quotations-first-quotation-payment_off-en.png)

Click the cloud icon **Save manually**. The quotation takes its number, and the **Order Lines** tab shows the two services with their prices.

![The saved quotation; each price comes from the service.](https://jaah.app/web/image/10856-c7e24294/quotations-first-quotation-quotation_lines-en.png)

## Step 5: send it {#send}

1. Open the **Actions** menu and choose **Send**. On a company that has never sent or printed a document, a window first asks how its documents look (layout, font, colours): keep the proposed layout and click **Continue**; the choice is kept for every later document.
2. The message is ready: the client in **To**, a **Subject**, a short text and the quotation attached as a PDF. Click **Send**.

![The message to the client, with the quotation attached as a PDF.](https://jaah.app/web/image/10860-c328e31c/quotations-first-quotation-send_dialog-en.png)

The status at the top of the form becomes **Quotation Sent**, and the message is kept in the chatter.

![The quotation is now marked as sent.](https://jaah.app/web/image/10864-bc5c4d5e/quotations-first-quotation-quotation_sent-en.png)

## Step 6: what the client sees {#client-view}

Open the **Actions** menu and choose **Preview**. The page is the one the client opens from the e-mail: the total, an **Accept & Sign** button, and under **Quotation Details** the opening text, followed by the services and the totals.

![What the client sees online, with the opening text above the prices.](https://jaah.app/web/image/10868-a636eb5b/quotations-first-quotation-portal_preview-en.png)

Click **Back to edit mode** in the banner at the top to return to the quotation.

## Step 7: confirm the order {#confirm}

When the client signs online, the quotation confirms itself; [Get the client's signature](get-the-client-signature) follows that path. When the client agrees by phone or by e-mail, open the **Actions** menu and choose **Confirm**. The status becomes **Sales Order**.

![Confirmed, the quotation becomes a sales order.](https://jaah.app/web/image/10872-3f821be3/quotations-first-quotation-order_confirmed-en.png)

## Step 8: prepare the invoice {#invoice}

1. Open the **Actions** menu and choose **Create Invoice**.
2. Keep **Regular invoice**, which bills the whole order, and click **Create Draft**.

![A regular invoice bills the whole order.](https://jaah.app/web/image/10876-557a5838/quotations-first-quotation-invoice_wizard-en.png)

The draft invoice opens with the client and the two services. Checking, posting and sending it, then recording the payment, are explained in [Customer invoices](/docs/customer-invoices).

![The draft invoice, ready for the accountant.](https://jaah.app/web/image/10881-06fcb2d8/quotations-first-quotation-draft_invoice-en.png)

## What you have seen {#what-you-have-seen}

A quotation moves from **Quotation** to **Quotation Sent** when it is sent, and to **Sales Order** when it is confirmed; the invoice is made from the order. The user guide takes each part in turn: [Write the quotation body](write-the-quotation-body), [Build a quotation template](build-a-quotation-template), [Give a discount on a quotation](give-a-discount-on-a-quotation), [Get the client's signature](get-the-client-signature), [Invoice a sales order](invoice-a-sales-order) and [Quotation settings](quotation-settings).

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/quotations/first-quotation
- Updated: 2026-10-23
- Version: Quotations 19.0.1.1.1
- Verified: 2026-10-23