Online quote acceptance – known as eQuote sends a quote to your client as a secure online page, where they can review, accept or decline it without needing access to WorkflowMAX. On acceptance, WorkflowMAX records an audit trail of who accepted, when, and any optional items chosen. Your client receives an email confirmation and the accepted quote moves to the Pending Quotes list, ready to be converted into a job.
This article is for administrators and sales staff who create and send quotes. It also explains what your client sees and does at each step.
eQuote is available on the Pro and Advanced plans. If your organisation isn't subscribed, an administrator can start a free 14-day eQuote trial from the quote preview page (see Availability and access).
Terms used in this article
- eQuote (Online Quote Acceptance) – sending a quote as a secure online page your client can accept or decline.
- Magic link – the secure link your client receives by email to open the eQuote. Each recipient gets their own link, and the recipient must verify their email address before they can view the quote.
- eQuote status – the progress of an eQuote, shown on the quote as Sent, Viewed, Accepted or Declined.
- Pending Quotes – the list an accepted quote lands in, ready for a staff member to review and convert into a job. The accepted quote shows an Accepted badge with the tooltip Pending job creation.
Availability and access
eQuote is available on the Pro and Advanced plans. If you don't see the eQuote options, your plan may need upgrading.
To send an eQuote, you need the Quotes privilege – the same privilege you need to create and send quotes. There is no separate eQuote permission – if you can send quotes, and your organisation has eQuote, you can send eQuotes.
Starting the free trial
If your organisation is on a lower plan, the Generate & Send eQuote button on the quote preview page appears with a crown icon and is disabled. An administrator can start a 14-day trial from there:
- Open an issued quote and select View PDF to open the preview page.
- Click the disabled Generate & Send eQuote button to initiate a free trial.
- Select the option to start the free 14-day trial.
- The eQuote actions become available immediately
Only an administrator can start the trial. There is one trial per organisation, lasting 14 days. On completion of trial period, eQuote actions are disabled, however, any eQuotes you sent during the trial stay accessible to your clients.
Send an eQuote
You can start an eQuote in two places:
- From the quote – open an issued quote, select Send, then choose eQuote from the dropdown.
- From the quote preview page – select View PDF to open the preview, then select Generate & Send eQuote.
Sending from the quote preview page allows selection of the relevant custom quote template (if using).
To send an eQuote:
- Open an issued quote.
- Select Send > eQuote, or select View PDF and then Generate & Send eQuote.
- In the Generate & Send eQuote window, choose how to deliver the link:
- Generate eQuote link & send from WorkflowMAX – emails the secure link to your recipients.
- Generate eQuote link only – creates the link and approved-viewer list, but doesn't send the email. The link can be pasted into an email, outside of WorkflowMAX.
- For the send from WorkflowMAX option, complete the email by adding the following information:
- To – enter one or more recipient email addresses. (note that only the specified recipients will have access to the secure eQuote link. Recipients will be automatically added if a contact person has been added to the quote, or the client has a default cc contact listed.)
- Cc – optionally add addresses to copy.
- Subject – enter the email subject.
- Message – enter your covering message.
- Attach PDF copy of the quote and attachments to the email – select this if you also want the client to receive a PDF copy by email.
- Select Send eQuote (or Create eQuote link in link-only mode).
A confirmation confirms the eQuote has been sent successfully and shows the secure eQuote URL with a Copy option, so you can share or keep the link.
Only one recipient needs to accept. Once the first person has accepted, the quotation moves to the status of Accepted - pending Job Creation.
Choosing a PDF template
The eQuote uses selected quote PDF layout. The print, layout and folder choices set on the preview page are carried into the eQuote your client sees and the PDF they can download.
Attaching additional files
If the quote has files on its Documents tab, you can include them when you send the eQuote. Your client can open these from a Review documents tab on the eQuote page, and they must confirm they've reviewed the quote and any attached documents before they can accept (see What your client sees and does).
Track the eQuote status
Once you've sent an eQuote, its progress is shown on the quote with a status badge, both in the quote list and on the quote itself:
- Sent – the link has been generated and sent. (In link-only mode the quote shows as eQuote created.)
- Viewed – a recipient has verified their email and opened the eQuote.
- Accepted – a recipient has accepted the quote.
- Declined – a recipient has declined the quote.
When a quote is accepted, its status badge changes to Accepted with the tooltip Pending job creation, and the quote moves into the Pending Quotes list (see Convert an accepted eQuote into a job). A declined quote moves to Declined and drops out of your active quotes.
Reviewing the response history
Each eQuote records its activity – when it was sent, viewed, accepted or declined, and by which email address. You can see the outcome on the quote, including the accepting person's name and email and the date and time of their decision, plus any comments they left or, for a declined quote, the reason they gave.
Getting notified
You can be notified by email when an eQuote is accepted or declined. This is controlled by the eQuote Accepted / Declined notification in your notification settings. There is no separate notification for when a client merely views or forwards an eQuote – those activities are recorded against the quote but don't trigger a notification.
Manage who can access an eQuote
After you've sent an eQuote, you can control who can open it and switch the link on or off from the eQuote preview, using Manage Access.
- Open the eQuote from the quote preview page.
- Select Manage Access in the header.
- From here you can:
- Add approved viewers – enter email addresses to give more people access. Each new viewer gets their own secure link and must verify their email to open the quote.
- Remove a viewer – remove an email address so that person can no longer open the eQuote.
- Enable eQuote link – deselect this to make the link unavailable to everyone, or select it again to restore access. Deselecting the link doesn't permanently destroy the existing links, so you can re-enable it later.
- Select Save.
Resending an eQuote
To send the eQuote again – for example to a different person, or after a reminder – use Send eQuote again on the preview page. This generates a fresh eQuote and link.
Resending generates a new eQuote and deactivates the previous link. Anyone holding the old link will no longer be able to open it, so make sure your client uses the most recent link you send.
Convert an accepted eQuote into a job
Accepting an eQuote doesn't create a job automatically. Instead, the accepted quote lands in the Pending Quotes list so a staff member can review it and create the job – a deliberate human-in-the-loop step. Every accepted eQuote goes through this step.
- Go to Business menu > Quotes > Pending Quotes.
- Open the accepted quote. It shows an Accepted badge with the tooltip Pending job creation.
- Select Convert to Job.
- Review the pre-filled job details. You may need to:
- complete any mandatory custom fields required on a job, and
- enter a job number, if your organisation uses manual job numbers.
- Save the job.
The optional items your client chose when they accepted are carried straight onto the job – you don't re-select them. Once the job is created, the quote drops out of the Pending Quotes list.
Every accepted eQuote goes through Pending Quotes first, including a quote that's already linked to a job. This makes sure a staff member confirms the details before the work is created.
What your client sees and does
You don't need to do anything for these steps – this is what happens on your client's side once you've sent the eQuote.
Receiving and opening the eQuote
Your client receives an email with the secure link. When they open it, they're asked to verify their identity by entering the email address the quote was sent to. This confirms they're an approved recipient before any quote details are shown. After verifying, they see the quote, any attached documents, and any optional items.
Accepting the quote
To accept, your client selects Accept and completes the Confirm Your Acceptance form:
- Full Name – their name, which forms their electronic signature.
- Email – pre-filled from the address they verified.
- Comments (Optional) – any note they want to add.
- Two confirmations, both required:
- I have reviewed this quote and any accompanying documents
- I agree to the terms and conditions in this quote and authorise my electronic signature for this acceptance
When they confirm, records the acceptance (name, email and the date and time), keeps an unchangeable copy of the accepted quote, and emails your client a confirmation. You're notified, and the quote moves to Pending Quotes.
Choosing optional items
If the quote includes optional line items, your client picks which ones to include, from the Select Optional tab, before accepting. The items chosen are carried through to the job on conversion from quote to job.
Declining the quote
To decline, your client selects Decline and can add feedback explaining why. records the decline, emails them a confirmation, notifies you, and moves the quote to Declined.
Forwarding to a colleague
Your client can forward the eQuote to colleagues using Share on the eQuote page. Each new person gets their own secure link and must verify their email to open it. Only one person needs to respond.
What your client sees if a quote is unavailable
An eQuote link can stop working for several reasons. When that happens, your client sees a Quote unavailable page asking them to contact your business, rather than the quote. This can happen when:
- You've turned the link off – using Manage Access to disable the link, or removing that recipient.
- You've resent the eQuote – the previous link is deactivated when you send a new one.
- The quote has been revised, deleted, or has expired – the eQuote stops being available because the underlying quote is no longer valid. Send a new eQuote from the current quote if you still want the client to accept it.
- The quote has already been accepted or declined – the eQuote becomes read-only and shows the recorded decision. Your client can still download a copy.
"Your session has expired"
For security, a client's verified session lasts for 24 hours. After that, they're asked to verify their email again to reopen the eQuote. They don't need a new link – they can re-verify using the one you already sent.
Related articles
- About quotes and estimates
- About quote manager
- Print, email or export quotes and estimates
- Accept a quote or estimate (for recording acceptance manually, without eQuote)
- Mark or unmark a quote or estimate as sent