Your customer answers an estimate online. The link in your estimate email opens the online estimate, with Approve and Reject buttons at the top.

Your customer doesn't need an Avaza login. The link opens the estimate for anyone who has it, so a colleague they forward the email to can answer too.

The online estimate EST 1027 from Aurora Studio to Fernleaf Media, with the amount due and PDF, Approve and Reject buttons at the top, and the estimate details and line items below

Approve or reject online

  1. Your customer clicks View & Respond Online! in your email.

  2. They check the estimate, its notes and any attachments. PDF downloads a copy.

  3. To accept, they click Approve, add a comment if they like, and click Approve again. The comment is optional.

  4. To decline, they click Reject, type a reason and click Reject again. The reason is required.

The page reloads and shows the new status: Accepted or Rejected. Avaza doesn't email your customer a confirmation. If you've renamed the buttons or statuses in your estimate template, your customer sees your wording.

What happens next

  • The estimate's status changes to Accepted or Rejected, and it moves to the Accepted / Rejected list on the Quotes/Estimates page.
  • Avaza emails everyone in your team with the Administrator or Finance Manager role, including the customer's comment. See estimate notifications.
  • The answer and comment appear in the estimate's Activity History as Estimate Accepted or Estimate Rejected "with Comments", and in your Administrators' and Finance Managers' activity feed. An answer given through the link shows as Anonymous. A customer contact who's signed in to Avaza is shown by name.
  • Once it's accepted, you can create an invoice or a project from it.

Changed minds and expired estimates

The Approve and Reject buttons stay on the online estimate until it's invoiced. Your customer can approve an estimate they rejected earlier, or the other way round. The latest answer sets the status, and your team is emailed each time. Once an invoice is linked, the buttons disappear and your customer sees the estimate as Accepted.

An expiry date doesn't lock the estimate. After it passes, the estimate shows as Expired, to you and to your customer, but they can still approve or reject it. An expired estimate they approve becomes Accepted, and it's up to you whether to go ahead. To make a new offer, edit the estimate, set a new Expiry Date and send it again.

Revert to Draft doesn't take an estimate back from your customer either. The link you sent still works, and they can still answer.

Record an answer yourself

If your customer answers by phone or email, open the estimate and choose Actions › Mark as Accepted or Mark as Rejected. A comment is optional when you accept and required when you reject, up to 500 characters. Administrators and Finance Managers can do this once an estimate has been sent, until it's invoiced.

The Actions menu on a sent estimate, with Mark as Rejected and Mark as Accepted under the greyed-out Mark as Sent
The Estimate Approval popup from Mark as Accepted, with an optional comments box and the Approve and Cancel buttons

Marking an estimate doesn't email your team. The Activity History shows Estimate Marked as Accepted or Estimate Marked as Rejected, with who marked it and when, so you can tell it apart from your customer's own answer. Use these options rather than the buttons on Web View: those record the answer as your customer's and email your team.

Customers who sign in to Avaza

A customer contact with the Customer Finances role can sign in and find their company's estimates under Quotes/Estimates in the left menu. Drafts aren't listed. Opening an estimate shows the same page, with Approve and Reject. Only Administrators can give this role. See the customer portal and managing contacts.