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Quotes

A quote is an order that has not been placed yet. It holds no stock until the customer says yes.

The Quotes screen

Quotes lists every quote you are writing or have sent, and the ones withdrawn before they were placed. A quote moves to Orders when it is placed, and keeps its number. The two lists never mix.

A quote goes draft → issued → order. You can skip a stage: place a draft without issuing it, or place an order without ever quoting it.

Statuses

Draft
Being written. Prices can still change. Nothing is held.
Issued
Prices locked and ready to give the customer. Nothing is held.
Cancelled
Withdrawn before it was placed. It stays under Quotes.

Manifold does not email or print quotes yet. Send the customer the quote number and lines yourself.

What a quote does not do

A quote reserves no stock, cannot be shipped and takes no payments. It is not counted as a sale in reports, on your bill or in the books. All of that starts when it is placed.

Writing a quote

  1. Press New quote.
  2. Choose the customer, their addresses and the catalog it is Priced from.
  3. Under Products, press Add line for each item. Prices fill in from the catalog. Type over a price to quote something else, with a reason if you like.
  4. Add any shipping charge and order-level discount.
  5. Press Save draft quote.

A draft can have lines with no price. Price every line before you issue or place it; zero counts. From New order, Save as draft makes a draft quote too. While a new order or quote has unsaved changes, Manifold will not let you leave: press Discard or Save in the bar at the top. Save keeps it as a draft quote.

Changing a quote

Once a draft is saved, the admin can change its prices only. On the quote, press Change price on a line, enter the new unit price and a reason, and press Save price. The line shows an edited badge; hover it to see who changed it, when and from what.

To change items or quantities, cancel the quote and write a new one, or send the change through the edit API while the quote is a draft.

Once the quote is issued or placed, prices are locked. To change an issued quote, press Reopen to edit. It goes back to draft, so prices (and edits through the API) are open again. Issue it again when ready.

Issuing a quote

  1. Press Issue quote….
  2. Optionally set Valid until, the date the prices hold to.
  3. Press Issue quote.

The date is shown on the quote and in the Valid until column. It is a record for you and the customer; Manifold does not stop you placing the quote after it.

Placing a quote

When the customer accepts, press Place order. This works from a draft or an issued quote, as long as every line has a price.

  • The order has the same number, lines and prices as the quote.
  • Tax is worked out again at today's rates, so the total can differ from the quote if a rate changed.
  • Stock is held straight away, and the order starts its pipeline.
  • It runs the workflow as set under Settings › Workflow at the moment you place it, not when the quote was written.
  • To set payment terms on a quote, press Ship before payment or Hold until paid on its Payment card. If you changed them, the order keeps them. Otherwise they are set again from the customer and your settings, as for a new order. See Orders › Payment terms.

The order page then says when it was placed from the quote, and when the quote was issued.

Cancelling a quote

Press Cancel quote. It takes effect straight away, with no confirmation step, and cannot be undone. A cancelled quote cannot be placed.

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