Estimates and sales orders sit in front of an invoice. Skip them if you bill as soon as the work is done. You still need a customer and usually a product. The invoice is what posts; see Create and send an invoice.
Use these for a quote or a locked order. Revenue, AR, Output VAT, and COGS wait until you finalize an invoice.
Typical path: customer and product → estimate (optional) → sales order (optional) → invoice → customer payment. You can start at any step. The invoice editor pulls from a sales order, not from an estimate — so a quote that should become an invoice goes through a sales order first.
Estimate vs sales order vs skip both
| Use this | When |
|---|---|
| Estimate | The customer needs a quote (price, tax, expiry). Numbers seed as EST-00001 |
| Sales order | You want to lock quantities or terms before you bill. Numbers seed as SO-00001 |
| Neither | Bill as soon as the work is done. Create the invoice directly |
Prefixes and padding are Settings → Sales → General. Creating estimates and sales orders counts toward your plan (Free is 20 of each after the Beta trial). Details are in Plan and billing.
Choose the customer. Set the estimate date (required). Expiry defaults to 30 days after that date if you leave it empty. Location, sales person, and reference number are optional. Use Add address & contact and Add notes & terms only if you need them on the PDF.
Add lines the same way as an invoice: pick a product (copies price and tax) or type a description. On VAT workspaces, a taxable line needs a tax type. Tax price basis (inclusive or exclusive) seeds from the org Tax tab.
On an existing estimate, Update keeps the current status. Change status from the badge on the list or the editor.
How to open it
| Step | Click |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sales → Estimates |
| 2 | New Estimate |
Save on a new estimate
| Button | Status it creates |
|---|---|
| Save | Open. Needs at least one line. Editable. You can generate a sales order from Open |
| Save as Draft | Draft. Lines can be empty. Editable. Email later will move it to Sent |
Estimate status
| Status | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Draft | Edit freely. Badge can move it to Open or Sent |
| Open | Edit. Generate a sales order, or mark Sent. Email from preview also sets Sent |
| Sent | Still editable. Badge: Accepted, Rejected, or back to Draft. Emailing a Draft or Open estimate sets Sent automatically |
| Accepted | Not editable. Generate a sales order (that marks it Converted) |
| Rejected | Not editable. Badge can return it to Draft |
| Converted | Not editable. Terminal. Set when a sales order is saved with this estimate as its source. You cannot convert it twice |
Choose the customer, or generate from an estimate. Order date is required. Expected delivery, due date, payment terms, location, and sales person are optional. Lines and tax work like the estimate.
To copy an estimate: on a new sales order, use the source-estimate control and pick an Open or Accepted estimate. That replaces customer, addresses, notes, tax, and lines. Confirm if the form already has data. From the estimate list, Generate Sales Order does the same and opens the new order as a draft.
Saving a sales order that is linked to an estimate marks that estimate Converted. One estimate can feed one sales order. If that estimate is already linked, Seedflow blocks a second order.
How to open it
| Step | Click |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sales → Sales Orders |
| 2 | New Sales Order |
Save on a new sales order
| Button | Status it creates |
|---|---|
| Save | Open. Needs at least one line. You can pull this into an invoice |
| Save as Draft | Draft. Lines can be empty. Email later moves Draft to Open. The invoice picker does not list drafts |
Sales order status
| Status | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Draft / Open / Pending | Editable. Open (and Confirmed / Partially Fulfilled) can be pulled into an invoice. Badge moves Draft → Open or Pending |
| Confirmed | Not editable. You can still invoice it, or mark Partially Fulfilled, Fulfilled, or Cancelled |
| Partially Fulfilled | Not editable. Still available to invoice. Badge: Fulfilled or Cancelled. This is a status you set — it does not ship inventory by itself |
| Fulfilled | Not editable. Terminal. The invoice picker does not list it |
| Cancelled | Not editable. Terminal |
Open a new invoice. Use the source sales-order control and pick an Open, Confirmed, or Partially Fulfilled order. That copies customer, lines, tax, payment terms, and due date. One sales order can feed one invoice; a second invoice from the same order is blocked.
Then Save or Save & Finalize on the invoice as usual. Finalizing is what auto-post can journal. Details are in Create and send an invoice.
What converting does — and does not
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Estimate → sales order | Copies header and lines. Estimate becomes Converted. No journal |
| Sales order → invoice | Copies header and lines onto a new invoice (draft or finalized). No journal until the invoice is finalized |
| Delete the sales order later | Does not reopen the estimate. Converted stays converted |
Open Preview from the document or the list. Download PDF or Excel. Send email needs a saved document (it needs an id). The message goes to the address you type, or to the customer’s email if you leave it blank. Seedflow includes a share link so the customer can view or download.
Emailing a Draft or Open estimate sets it to Sent. Emailing a Draft sales order sets it to Open. Email does not create a journal and does not create the invoice.
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