When your customer accepts or declines online
When you send a quote or estimate, your customer gets a private link to view it online and either Accept or Decline it. This guide explains what the customer sees, what happens when they respond, and how you can record a response yourself.
Note: This applies to quotes and estimates only. A proforma invoice is send-only and has no online accept or decline.
What the customer sees
Opening the link shows the document on a simple web page: your business name and branding, who it's prepared for, the date, the valid-until date, the lines and totals, and a Download PDF button.
While the document is still awaiting a response and hasn't expired, the customer also sees a Respond section with two options:
- Accept — the customer enters Your name (required) and an optional Note, then selects Accept.
- Decline — the customer can add an optional Reason, then selects Decline.
The page shows a friendly status at the top: Awaiting Response while it's out with the customer, then Accepted, Declined, Expired, Invoiced (once you've converted it) or Superseded (once you've replaced it with a newer version).
[Screenshot required: The public quote page showing the document, the Download PDF button and the Accept / Decline forms]
What happens when they respond
- If they accept, the document's status becomes Accepted. Its details page records who accepted it, when, and the note they left — you'll see this in the document and its timeline.
- If they decline, the status becomes Declined, along with any reason they gave.
You don't get a separate email when a customer responds, so check the document (or its list) to see where things stand. An accepted quote or estimate is ready to convert into an invoice; you can also Record Customer PO… from its details page to log the customer's purchase order pre-filled with the quote's lines, or revise it if the customer asks for a change before you invoice.
Recording a response yourself
If the customer replies by phone, email or in person, you can record it yourself instead of waiting for them to use the link. On the document's details page, in the Actions panel:
- Select Mark Accepted…, enter the name under Accepted by (required) and an optional Note, then Confirm Accepted.
- Or select Mark Declined…, add an optional Reason, then Confirm Declined.
These options appear while the document is Sent (and, for accepting, not yet expired).
When the link stops working
- The link expires at the end of the valid-until day. After that, opening it shows a Link Expired page asking the customer to contact you for an up-to-date version.
- The link also stops working if you withdraw the document (Cancel), replace it with a newer revision, or convert it to an invoice.
- A customer can't accept an expired quote or estimate — even if they had the page open, the response is re-checked when they submit it.