How do I create an estimate in quick books online? This was very easy in desktop version. Is there a function that I am not seeing?

From the instructions to this question you have me totally lost.  I'm in the self employed part of QB and the icons seem different or not there.  

I have to qet a quote / estimate off to a customer tonight so I need help....... NOW!!

Hi Smoke detectors plus,

Creating estimates is a great way to let your customers know the cost of an order or project before finalizing it in an invoice. I'd be happy to go over this with you.

QuickBooks Self-Employed has many features that can help a business grow and invoice out products and services. At this time creating an estimate is not available in the Self-Employed edition. If this is a feature you want included for Self-Employed I recommend sending feedback to our engineers to request it's added. You can submit feedback by following these steps: Click on the Assistant icon in the top-right and type in "submit feedback" then select Add a feature.

You can also switch to QuickBooks Online to get access to the estimates feature and many more. To switch from QuickBooks Self-Employed to QuickBooks Online I suggest following the steps in this article.

Hope this helps!