Estimates, invoicing and payments
Quote while the customer is still on the line, get the yes and the signature on their phone, and turn it into a job without retyping a thing. When the work is done, the invoice is ready, and every payment goes into the books on its own.
The intro, in words
From the quote to the money in
This is estimates and invoicing in CrewBarn, followed through one water heater, from the first call to the money in the books.
At Harlow and Finch, Kim books and quotes the work, Sam does it, and Dana makes sure it gets paid.
The quote: Quote while she's on the line
Monday. Mrs. Rivera calls. Her water heater is twelve years old, and she wants a price before she decides.
Kim presses New estimate while she's still on the line. It's the same form as a job, set up for an estimate.
Customer comes first, and Mrs. Rivera's main service location fills in by itself.
The quote: Priced from the book, not from memory
Kim types a title Mrs. Rivera will understand: Water heater replacement. For a phone quote, she leaves the schedule Unscheduled.
Search catalog pulls in the tank and the haul-away, already priced, with their tax. Add fee adds the permit.
And what she types is kept as a draft on this device, so a dropped call doesn't lose it.
The quote: Some jobs need a look first
Another way it goes: Marcus at Bayside wants a rooftop unit replaced, and Kim can't price that blind.
She picks Scheduled and books a walkthrough. On dispatch it shows as an Assessment, Jo goes up, and BarnCam holds her photos so the office can price what she saw.
The quote: Let her choose
Back to Mrs. Rivera. Kim presses New tier. What she has becomes Good, and Better is added as a copy, so she only changes what's different.
Better gets a fifty gallon tank and a longer warranty. She adds Best, a tankless unit, and marks Better as recommended.
Create Estimate saves it as a Draft. Nothing has gone to the customer yet.
Sent and signed: Sent, with nothing left blank
Kim presses Text estimate. Her template fills itself in from the estimate. Anything it can't fill is listed in yellow, and it won't send until every blank is filled.
She sends it. The estimate turns Sent.
Sent and signed: Signed on her phone
Mrs. Rivera opens the link on her phone. It opens in her customer portal, with three options and Recommended on Better.
She picks Better, signs with her finger, and taps Sign and approve, sixteen ninety.
In the office, the estimate turns Approved, and its history shows when.
Sent and signed: A yes on the phone, a no, or nothing
Another way it goes: she says yes on the phone. Kim presses Mark Approved, and it asks which tier she took.
If she says no, Mark Rejected closes it, so it stops asking for a follow up.
And if she says nothing, Sent estimates with no answer lands on the office's to-do list after three days. Past its expiry date, it moves to Expired on its own.
Sent and signed: Into a job, without retyping
Approved, so Convert to Job is showing. Kim presses it. Only the lines Mrs. Rivera said yes to come across.
She picks Thursday at ten fifteen, Sam as lead tech, and presses Convert and schedule job.
The tank on the estimate was held from stock when she approved, so nobody else takes it.
Sent and signed: A deposit, before the work
Before ordering anything, Kim takes a deposit. On the job, the button says Take down payment, and Mrs. Rivera pays five hundred by card.
It waits on her account as a credit, and comes off the invoice once it's made.
Sent and signed: Quoted, approved and booked by lunch
So by lunchtime Monday, the quote is signed, the job is booked, the tank is held, and the deposit is in, without a line typed twice.
The invoice: The invoice comes from the work
Thursday. Sam finishes and checks out, and the job is Complete.
Kim opens the job and presses Invoice Job. The invoice is made from the job's line items, and the button becomes View invoice.
The deposit comes off on its own. Balance due: eleven ninety.
The invoice: Nothing goes out by itself
A new invoice starts as a Draft, and nothing reaches the customer until it's sent.
Kim opens View slash Print invoice, and presses Email. Mrs. Rivera gets it, with a link to view and pay online. The invoice turns Sent.
Getting paid: Paid from the link
Mrs. Rivera opens the link in her portal and pays by card through Harlow and Finch's card processor.
A card payment marks the invoice Paid by itself. Nobody in the office touched it.
Getting paid: Every way they pay
Another way it goes: Sam takes it on site, with Tap to Pay on his phone, or a GoDaddy Smart Terminal.
Or Priya at Bayside sends one check for three invoices. Dana opens Receive payment, ticks each one it covers, and types the check number.
If the check is short, that invoice shows Partial, with the rest still owing.
Getting paid: Nothing slips past due
And if an invoice goes past its due date, it turns Overdue. On the Money desk, Late lists it, and Remind sends a reminder with a pay link.
Payment reminders also go out on their own, seven and thirty days after the due date.
Getting paid: In the books, on its own
Every payment posts to the books on its own. Card charges the processor sends that don't match an invoice land in Card processor, to match.
And the money goes straight to Harlow and Finch. CrewBarn never holds it.
Getting paid: Invoiced and paid the same day
Invoiced before Sam reached his next job, and paid by lunch, with nobody chasing a check.
The whole way: The call to the books
That's the whole way: a new estimate, three tiers, sent, signed, converted, invoiced, paid, and in the books.
And every branch had an answer: a walkthrough first, a yes on the phone, a no, no answer at all, a check for three invoices, a late payer.
Estimates & invoicing: Quoted, signed, invoiced, paid
That's estimates and invoicing in CrewBarn.
CrewBarn is in beta, and free for life for trades that help test it.
Quotes from your price book
An estimate uses the same form as a job. Pick the customer and their main address fills in. Add services and products from your catalog, fees and discounts, and see your margin as you price. Open your supplier's PDF price book beside the form, or order parts from a catalog at your sell price. Attach photos, a document to sign, or the customer's own work order or PO.
New tier turns the estimate into options, like good, better and best, and you can mark the one you recommend. Book a walkthrough if you need to see the job first, or leave it unscheduled for a phone quote. What you type is kept on the device, so a dropped call doesn't lose it.
Sent, signed and turned into a job
Send the estimate by email or text. Your templates fill themselves in from the estimate, and anything they can't fill is listed for you to type. The customer reviews it on their phone, picks an option, and approves and signs. If they approve only some of the lines, only those carry over to the job. Did they say yes on the phone? Record it yourself.
An approved estimate becomes a job in one press, ready to book. The parts on it are held from your stock once the customer approves. Estimates have an expiry date, and a re-quote starts a fresh one. If a sent estimate gets no answer, the office gets a follow-up on its to-do list, after three days unless you change it. For ongoing work, build a service agreement straight from the estimate.
Invoices made from the job
When the tech sets a Complete status, the invoice is made from the job's line items on the spot. Email it or text it, or open it as the customer sees it to take a payment. Take a down payment before the work starts, and it comes off the invoice later by itself. Part payments are fine. Receive one payment across several invoices, put customer credits toward a bill, issue refunds, and preview a statement of what a customer owes.
Every way to pay
- Card in the field: Stripe Tap to Pay on a tech's phone, or a GoDaddy Smart Terminal.
- Card online: customers pay in their portal or from a payment link, through Stripe or GoDaddy Payments.
- Bank transfer: customers see your bank details in the portal, with no card fee. You can print them on invoices too.
- Cash and check: recorded on the job and tracked until it's taken to the bank.
The money goes straight to you. CrewBarn never holds it.
Getting overdue invoices paid
An overdue invoice goes on the billing owner's to-do list, and a reminder with a pay link usually does it. CBI can draft a polite reminder for a person to read and send. Every payment posts to the books on its own, and card sales that don't match an invoice are flagged.
How it works
- Build the estimate from your price book, with good, better and best options.
- Send it by text or email. The customer approves and signs on their phone.
- Turn it into a job in one press. Quoted parts are held for it.
- Finish the job, and the invoice is made from the line items.
- Get paid by card, link, bank transfer, cash or check. It posts to the books.