Client approval of an estimate

With approval, the client link leads to a decision: your client approves the estimate or requests changes, and you get a confirmed answer. The client confirms their identity with a code from an email, so the decision comes from exactly the recipient you named.

Before you start

• The client link is already created (see Share an estimate with a client)
• You know the name and email of the person who will approve

Note

Without an approver, the client can open the report but cannot approve it. The hint in the app says the same: Without an approver the client can view the report but cannot formally approve it

How to assign an approver

1. Open the estimate and click Configure client link
2. In the Sections group, click Edit next to Approval
3. Fill in Approver name and Email

   Tip

   The confirmation code goes only to this email. You can add Company (optional) and Role (optional)
4. Click Save approver
5. Send the public link to your client

The Before sending checklist then shows Approver: with the approver's name, and the section summary shows the address the code goes to. You can change the approver later with Update approver or remove them with Remove approver.

What the client sees and does

On the client link page, the header shows the Approve step, and the approval section sits below. The form is built into the page, no separate window opens. On a phone, the Approve button in the bottom bar leads to it.

Works with a password-protected link too

Approval is available on both open and password-protected links. On a protected link, the recipient enters the password first, then sees the same approval section and confirms the decision with a code from the email in the same way.

1. If the page shows two options, the client picks the standard or the accelerated one in Which option are you approving
2. They enter Name and Email, and optionally Company (optional)
3. They check I have reviewed the estimate and approve the offer terms and click Get code
4. A 6-digit code arrives at the approver's email. The client types it in the code field
5. The client clicks Approve. To ask for edits instead, they click Request changes, write a Comment and confirm with a code the same way

The code goes only to the approver's email

The confirmation code is sent only to the address from the Approval section. This is how the system checks that the decision comes from the right recipient. You can resend the code after a short pause, and the number of attempts is limited. If the code fails several times, the client needs to request a new one

Both outcomes are final. After the client approves the estimate or requests changes, they cannot respond by this link again. After a successful approval, the page shows the Estimate approved mark, the Approve step in the header is checked, and if payment details are on, Pay becomes the next step (see Payment details).

When approval is not possible

Approval is blocked if:

• the offer validity period has ended: the client sees the Offer has expired mark
• you revoked the link: revoking overrides any other status
• you published a new version: the old link gets the The author updated the offer mark

Note

If the client tries to approve in one of these cases, the button is disabled with the hint: Approval is unavailable: the offer has expired or a newer revision exists

Approval statuses

The current state of the link is shown in the Approval section of the link editor. Possible statuses:

Status	What it means
Recipient not set	No approver yet, the client can only view
Awaiting response	The approver is set, the client has not answered yet
Approved	The client approved the estimate (final)
Changes requested	The client requested changes (final)
Offer expired	The offer validity period has ended
Link expired	The link itself has expired
Link revoked	You closed access
A newer version exists	A newer version is published, a new link is needed

Approval history

Every approval event goes to History in the link editor (the Access and sending group): Approver set, Verification code requested, Code attempt failed, Estimate approved, Changes requested. The history shows who made the decision and when.

Notifications for the author

You see what the client does on the link in the app.

Event	What you get
The client opens the link for the first time, including a password-protected one	The notification Client opened your estimate and an email
The client approves the estimate	The notification Client approved your estimate
The client requests changes	The notification Client requested changes

An open counts once per link: repeat visits give no new notifications.

Where to look

The app header has a bell, and the number on it counts unread notifications. Click it to open the list: an entry leads to the estimate, and Mark all as read marks the whole list as read.

Email about an open

You can turn the email about an open off. Open the user menu, choose Profile and in the Notifications block switch off Email when a client opens an estimate. The setting is saved at once, no button needed.

The in-app notification always arrives. Notifications about approval and change requests cannot be turned off: the switch affects only the email about an open.

Reminder about the next estimate

After the first approval you get one email: 7 days later, if you have not created a new estimate in that time. It goes only to people who agreed to the mailing. To unsubscribe use the link in the email, and no more reminders will come.

Next estimate after approval

When the link status is Approved, the Approval section of the link editor shows the Create next estimate button. It makes a copy of the estimate in the same project and opens its editor. What goes into the copy is described in Estimate copy.

See also

Share an estimate with a client Create a client link before you assign an approver

Export to PDF and Excel Download the approved estimate for your records or an invoice

Estimate copy What is copied when you create the next estimate after approval