Estimate and quote software
Estimate software that turns quotes into invoices, in full or in stages
Write an estimate with your items, quantities and rates, and when the customer says yes, turn it into an invoice in one click. For bigger jobs, bill it in stages with progress invoicing, by a percentage of the whole or line by line, and AcboBooks keeps track of how much is left to bill.
Estimates are part of AcboBooks, the desktop accounting program bought once for $399.99.
No card, no account. Windows 10 and 11. United States and Canada.
What it means
In practice
A quote that does not touch the books
An estimate posts nothing. It sits on the estimates list with its status (open, accepted, closed or invoiced) and an expiry date if you set one, until you invoice it or let it go.
One click to an invoice
Create Invoice copies the customer, lines and tax onto a new invoice. Nothing is retyped, and the estimate is marked invoiced so it does not get billed twice.
Bill a big job as it goes
Progress Invoice bills a percentage of the whole estimate, or chosen lines and amounts. The estimate shows what has been billed on each line and the percentage billed so far.
The invoice comes from the estimate, line for line.
Quote on Monday, deposit on Tuesday, first invoice at the first milestone
Take a deposit when the customer accepts: it is held as a customer deposit, not income, and applied to the invoice when the work is billed. Hold back retainage on construction work and release it when the job is accepted.
Add custom fields to estimates for a job site or the customer's reference, so the details stay with the quote.
What is in the licence
The whole job, in one price
Estimates
To invoice
Around the job
Follow-through
Income lands when the work is billed, not when it is quoted.
What it does not do
· No estimates-versus-actuals report: compare the estimate with the Job Profitability figures yourself.
· Estimates are not converted into purchase orders.
· No customer portal for accepting a quote online; send it and record the answer.
· Windows 10 and 11 for now (a Mac version is coming soon); no phone app.
· One company per file; open as many files as you have businesses.
Questions people ask
Before you download
What is the difference between an estimate and an invoice?
An estimate is an offer: it posts nothing and the customer owes nothing yet. An invoice is a bill: it posts to accounts receivable and income. In AcboBooks, the invoice is made from the estimate so the two always agree.
How does progress invoicing work?
Open the estimate and choose Progress Invoice. Bill, say, 30% of the whole estimate, or pick the lines and amounts completed. Each progress invoice reduces what is left to bill, shown on the estimate.
Can I take a deposit against an estimate?
Yes. Record a customer deposit when the customer pays up front. It is held in a Customer Deposits liability account and applied to the invoice later, which pays it without new cash.
Can I change an estimate after sending it?
Yes, until it is invoiced. Edit the lines or rates, and the next invoice uses the changed figures.
Coming from something else?
How it compares to what you use now
Get started
Send the quote, bill the job.
Write an estimate in the trial and progress-invoice half of it.
No card. No account. Nothing to cancel.