How to create an estimate

An estimate is how you put a number in front of a client and get a yes. In Fee-Lion an estimate is a living document: you build it from line items, choose how it looks, set how long it’s good for, and send it to the client’s portal — where they approve it with one click. This walkthrough covers the whole flow.

Create the estimate

1. Open Estimates from the sidebar and choose New estimate.
2. In the Project tab, pick the client it’s for. Optionally link a project and set a reference number.
3. Choose a template style — Classic, Modern, Minimal, Bold, Editorial, or Compact — to control how the printable estimate looks. Leave it on your workspace default if you’re not sure.
4. Set a Valid until date if the price should expire. As that date approaches the estimate flags “expires soon,” and once it passes it reads “expired” — so a number you priced in spring isn’t honored, awkwardly, in autumn.

Add your line items

Estimates total themselves from three kinds of line items, each on its own tab:

• Tasks — hourly work. Each row is hours × rate.
• Fees & units — flat fees, itemized services, or hardware. Each row is quantity × rate.
• Discounts & surcharges — a reduction subtracts from the total; a surcharge adds to it. Either can be a flat amount or a percent of the subtotal.

As you edit, the running subtotals update so you can see where the number is heading. The backend recomputes the authoritative totals every time you save.

Set tax, deposit, and terms

1. In Details, set your tax percentages and a deposit percentage if you want to collect money up front. The deposit due is calculated for you.
2. In Terms, your greeting email, terms & conditions, disclaimer, and notes are pre-filled from your workspace defaults (Settings → Preferences → Estimates). Tweak them per estimate as needed.
3. Attach any supporting files in Details → Attachments.

Tip: Set your boilerplate once in Settings → Preferences and every new estimate starts populated — no re-typing terms each time.

Review and send

Save the estimate and Fee-Lion drops you on the Review page so you can see exactly what the client will. When it looks right, submit it to the client. The estimate moves from drafted to submitted, and the client gets a link to their portal.

From there the status tracks itself: submitted → opened → viewed → approved (or denied). You’ll see each step on the estimate and in your activity feed.

What happens after approval

Once a client approves, the estimate locks (the numbers are settled) and you can convert it — turn the approved estimate into an invoice to bill it, or into a project to start the work. The work plans the billing; the billing tracks the work.

What’s next

• Pick an estimate template style
• Set a validity window so quotes don’t linger
• Convert an approved estimate to an invoice or project
• See everything estimates can do