Tracking your jobs in JobNimbus is useful, but the ability to create, send, manage, and report on estimates takes your workflow to the next level. JobNimbus provides a simple, versatile estimate builder that allows you to create estimate templates, arm an estimate from existing products and services, and send to a customer in a jiffy.
Getting Started with Estimates in JobNimbus
Both contacts and jobs have a Financial tab. This tab contains estimates, invoices, and documents related to that contact or job.
Estimates allow you to enter a list of line items that will be automatically totaled and can be presented to your customer as a quote or estimated price for your products & services.
Adding an Estimate
To add an estimate, click the Add Estimate button.
You can also add an estimate using the Add Estimate menu option on the action menu at the top right corner of a contact or job.
Clicking the button will take you to the estimate creation screen. The top part of the estimate allows you to load an existing template, select the contact this estimate is for, and set the date of the estimate.
Fields: Template – When an estimate is created, you have the option of saving that estimate as a template. Any templates you have previously saved will appear in the drop down list to choose. Choosing a template will automatically fill all the line items with those line items previously saved in that template. Contact – This is the contact that you are doing the estimate for. They will be designated as the contact on the estimate and if you choose to email the estimate, it will be sent to this contact’s email address. Note: If this estimate is being created on a job, only Related Contacts will be shown in the Contact drop down for this estimate. Estimate Date – The date when the estimate is being created. Defaults to the current date. At the bottom left of the estimate is the comments box. If there are any special instructions to your customer, you can enter them here and they will appear on the saved estimate.
Entering Line Items
Enter a line item by first typing its name. Immediately a popup will appear prompting you. Options: Add new product – If this is a line item you will use often, use the Add new product option to save this line item as a choosable option for future estimates. Custom product – If this is just a one-time custom line item, choose this option and the line item will not be saved for future estimates.
Clicking the Add new production option will open a dialog where you can enter the details of the line item to save for future estimates. Fields: Item Name – The name of the item Description – An optional description about the item Cost – Your own internal cost for the item or service. Note: Cost is never shown to your customer but it is here so that you can optionally track your margins on an estimate. Price – The price of the item each (will be multiplied by quantity) Tax – You can apply a custom tax rate. Tax rates must be set up in your Account Settings before they become options to choose from here. Click the Add Product button to save this item for future use. Once the item is saved, you can easily change any part of the item to override the details by changing its fields. It works very similar to an Excel Spreadsheet. There is an unlimited number of items that can be added to the estimate. Change the quantity field and the amount & total immediately update. To enter more line items, click the Add Item link.
Once a line item has been saved, you can easily pull it up later to by entering any part of the item’s name. For instance, in the example we created a line item called Hourly Work. To pull up this item again, start entering the name. As soon as we enter “h”, JobNimbus automatically searches your line items and shows a list of options that match. Click the option and it will automatically enter that line item.
To manage your list of available line items you have previously entered and also add new items, go to Account Settings and click on the Products & Services tab. Only Admin users have access to Account Settings.
Click the Save Estimate button to commit all your changes and attach this completed estimate to the contact or job.
Viewing Your Estimate
Once the estimate is saved, you will be taken to the view estimate screen where all of the estimate details are shown. The top section provides an overview of the estimate. The job and contact that this estimate is for, the estimate number, the overall totals, and the estimate date are displayed.
Below the overview is a list of the line items for this estimate. At the bottom is an area where specific notes can be added to this estimate.
At the top right corner is the action menu for the estimate.
Menu Items: PDF View – Opens a new window to display the estimate as a PDF. Download PDF – Downloads the estimate as a PDF. Edit – Changes the estimate back into edit mode so that line items and other details can be changed. Email Estimate – Sends an email to the contact selected on this estimate with the estimate PDF attached. Note: The contact selected on the estimate must have an email address or an error message will be displayed when attempting to email the estimate. Change Status – Changes the status of an estimate. Statuses: Draft – The estimate is not completed yet and is being worked on. Sent – The estimate was sent to the customer. Denied – The customer denied the estimate or asked for other changes invalidating it. Approved – The customer approved the estimate. Invoiced – The estimate was converted to an invoice. Convert to Invoice – Creates an invoice, using the estimate’s line items automatically populated on the invoice. Duplicate – Creates a duplicate estimate with the exact line items and settings as the estimate selected. Delete – Deletes the estimate. Note: Only Admin users have the option to delete. All other users will not see this option on the menu.
Estimate PDF Each estimate automatically generates a professional-looking PDF that can easily be downloaded, viewed, and automatically emailed to a customer.
You can change the JobNimbus logo shown on the estimate to your own logo by going to Customize Portal in the upper right corner menu of JobNimbus. This is a Pro-only feature not available to Basic subscribers.
Editing an Estimate
To edit an existing estimate, click the Edit link on the action menu.
If the estimate has already been approved (status changed to Approved), then a warning message will display letting you know you are about to edit an estimate that was already approved as-is by the customer.
Estimate Templates
If you want to save the list of line items you created for a future estimate, check the Save as Template box. You must enter a new name for the estimate template to save.
Once the template is saved, it will appear as an option to choose the next time you create an estimate.
List of Estimates
On the job or contact, the estimates you have created will be listed. Each estimate is automatically assigned a unique number on this job or contact. Hovering over the estimate will display the action menu where you can easily access all of the estimate menu options.
