Estimates Overview

When repairing a customer's equipment, first setup an Estimate of the job.
This is identical to the Work Order, except that inventory is not relieved. The Estimate is useful for faxing to the customer, in order to get a Purchase Order or the customer's go-ahead.
The Estimate can be converted into a Work Order, while the work is in progress.
When the job is completed, the Work Order is closed and invoiced.

As a shortcut, the Estimate can also be closed out directly to an invoice, skipping the Work Order step.
The shortcut approach relieves the inventory when the invoice is created.

The Back Order Parts And Ignore Labor flag in the Company Estimate and W.O. Parameters can be set so that when an Estimate is converted to a W.O. any labor on the estimate is NOT converted to the W.O., and any parts to be used are converted but with a Backordered quantity status.
Refer to Work Order Estimates for information on other parameters that can be used to control how the Estimate is processed, and for the step by step guide to entering the Estimate data.