Change orders

Hi Sudbury builders!

It's a good idea to notify and let clients approve changes to their orders before starting a project. I'm happy to walk you through emailing a change order without having to use the other platforms you mentioned.

I understand that you know how to make a change order. Therefore, all you need to do is open the estimate that has the change order note and send it like sending a regular transaction. I've added a screenshot for your visual reference.

On the other hand, an estimate is part of the accounts receivable workflow in QuickBooks. That said, I'm glad to share this article for your additional reference: Get started with customer transaction workflows in QuickBooks Desktop.

I'm just right here if you need more help sending your change order or if you have any other questions related to estimates. My colleagues will also continue to assist if I'm out of office.

Step 1: create an estimate

Job starts change orders come in

Step 2: go into existing estimate and add changes, this creates the change order.

After that how do I extract only the change order from the estimate to send to the client without creating an invoice?

Hi there, Sudbury builders. Allow me to share additional information about managing change orders to the estimate in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

When you make changes to your estimates, the Add Change Order box will pop up after the Recording Transaction window appears. 

I've added screenshots for your reference. 

Once done, you can now open the estimate that contains the change order you want to extract. Then, click on the email icon to send it to your client. 

You can have this article handy for more information about creating estimates in QuickBooks Desktop: Create an estimate.

Feel free to come back if you have other concerns about managing estimates. I'm always here to help. Have a great day.

This makes no sense.  When you click on the email icon, you can't edit the template, therefore, how do you email just the portion of the estimate you want them to see for approval without deleting all the information in the estimate except the change order information?

Thank you but I only want to email them the estimate with ONLY the change order portion for them to approve. It would only be an invoice if they approve it and they don't need to see all the information before the change order in many cases.

Thank you

[email address removed] 

Tolly 

Hello there,

I can see how convenient it is for you and your business. Currently, this is the design configured in QuickBooks Desktop. As we value your suggestions, I recommend sending your feedback to our Product Development Team. Here is how:

1. In your QuickBooks account, click the Help option.
2. Select the Send Feedback Online option.
3. Choose Product Suggestion.
4. Enter your feedback.
5. Click the Send Feedback button.

Also, feel free to visit our Feedback forum page to see a list of other QuickBooks users who have already suggested this feature and for the recent updates in QuickBooks.

You can utilize this article for future reference: Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

For additional QuickBooks-related concerns, don't hesitate to post them here in the Community. We're always available and willing to lend a hand to your queries. Have a great day ahead!

Thank you for that but I still don't understand how the customer will only see the change order portion of the estimate if I send the estimate ?  I know that change order portion will be visible on the estimate but so will all the other information on the estimate.  If you could provide me with the steps after the change order is entered and before the estimate is emailed, that would be helpful. The invoice can be revised but the estimate is not a form that can be edited before emailing.

Thanks again

Tolly

[email address removed]

Thank you but I'm still missing the step after you click the email icon. It won't let me edit the information on the estimate so the client only sees the change order portion with all the same header details (,est number, date, rep, job address, etc). How do I hide everything on the estimate except the header and change order info?

I am wondering if anyone has this answer too

I appreciate you getting back here, @totallytol. I know a way you can email estimates to your customer with the details you need. 

Before that, I'll share details about this. In QBDT, the option to edit the estimates when emailing is unavailable. Additionally, you're unable to modify the estimate's template to only include the headers and the change order portion. This is the reason you're advised to send feedback to our product developers (just refer to the steps of my colleague above).

With that said, you can consider editing the form outside your QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) as a workaround. To do so, you can download and convert it into an editable file (using an online file converter) and email it to your customer once done. Here's how:

1. Select the Customers tab in your QBDT company and click Customer Center.
2. Locate the customer where the estimate is assigned and double-click to open the form.
3. Next, click the Print dropdown and choose Save As PDF.
4. Enter the name you can easily remember and Save.
5. Once done, open the file on your computer and convert it to an editable one.
6. From there, remove the information you don't need and keep only those you want your customers to see (Change Order and the Headers).

When finished, you can now email this to your customers. 

For reference, read this article: Create an estimate in QuickBooks Desktop.

In case you need to modify the email templates of your other forms, you can refer to the steps in this link: Create custom email templates in QuickBooks Desktop.

Should you have any other questions or things you want to discuss about emailing estimates to your customers, please don't hesitate to comment below. It's my priority to ensure your goals are achieved. 

Thank you, I am glad someone finally was able to answer my questions.  My problem is not being able to trun the PDF into a workable document.  If there is no way to save as a workable document like word doc, any other suggestions?  I was thinking of duplicating the estimate, making the changes to email then deleting the duplicate.  I really think that would be the best way unless I can find a workaround of the pdf documents.

Thanks again

Tolly

I too have lost the change order in my estimates and have tried every fix that I can find.  Nothing works.  Is there another solution that I may not have tried yet?

I appreciate you for joining the thread, Kcardone, and for all the steps you have taken.

Have you had a chance to verify and rebuild your data? These steps can help identify and fix common problems in your company file. If not, let me show you how:

To Verify:

1. Go to the Window menu and select Close All.
2. Then, go to the File menu.
3. Select Utilities.
4. Click Verify Data.

To Rebuild:

1. Go to the File menu.
2. Select Utilities.
3. Click Rebuild Data.

If the issue persists after performing the above steps, I recommend contacting our Customer Care support team. They can closely investigate the issue and perform further troubleshooting. Here are the steps to reach out to them:

1. Open QuickBooks.
2. Go to the Help menu, then select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
3. Click Contact Us.
4. Type in a short description of your concern, then Continue.
5. Choose a way to connect with support.

For more details about our support availability, refer to this article: Contact Support.

If you're interested in sprucing up your reports in QuickBooks Desktop, you might find this article helpful: Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop. It offers detailed information on personalizing reports to suit your needs.

You're always welcome to post a reply here if there's anything else you need apart from managing estimates. We'll be around to help. Take care and stay safe.

I have performed all "fixes" and suggestions that are posted.  I was hoping for a new fix that I have not tried