> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bumara.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quotes and orders

> Quoting customers, converting accepted quotes to invoices, and raising purchase orders with vendors.

Quotes come before sales. Purchase orders come before purchases. Both let you agree a price before
money changes hands, and both convert into the real document in one action.

## Quotes

A quote is an estimate you send a customer. It commits you to a price for a period but does not
demand payment.

### Creating a quote

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Sales, then Quotes">
    Choose **New quote**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select the customer">
    From your directory, or create them as you go.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add your line items">
    Exactly as on an invoice — products from the catalogue or typed descriptions, with quantities,
    prices and tax rates.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set an expiry date">
    How long the price holds. Without one, a customer can accept a quote a year later at a price
    that no longer works for you.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add your terms">
    Lead time, what is included and excluded, payment terms on acceptance. Ambiguity in a quote
    becomes a dispute in an invoice.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save and send">
    Download the PDF or email it directly.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Converting to an invoice

When the customer accepts:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the quote">
    From Sales → Quotes.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Convert to invoice">
    A new sales invoice is created with every line, price and tax rate carried across.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the dates">
    The invoice date is today; the due date comes from the customer's terms. The quote's dates do
    not carry over.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Adjust if the scope changed">
    If the customer accepted a modified version, change the lines now while it is still a draft.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send the invoice">
    As normal. See [Create and send an invoice](/invoicing/create-and-send-an-invoice).
  </Step>
</Steps>

The quote remains in your records, linked to the invoice it produced.

### Quote statuses

| Status        | Meaning                             |
| ------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| **Draft**     | Being prepared                      |
| **Sent**      | With the customer                   |
| **Viewed**    | The customer has opened it          |
| **Accepted**  | Agreed — convert it                 |
| **Declined**  | Not proceeding                      |
| **Expired**   | Past its expiry date                |
| **Converted** | An invoice has been created from it |

### Getting more quotes accepted

* **Send them quickly.** A quote sent the same day beats one sent next week.
* **Set a realistic expiry.** Fourteen to thirty days creates useful urgency.
* **Be specific about what is included.** And explicit about what is not.
* **Follow up before expiry.** Most quotes are lost to silence, not to price.
* **Review declines.** A pattern of declines at a particular price point tells you something.

## Purchase orders

A purchase order is your formal order to a vendor. It records what you agreed to buy at what
price, before the goods arrive.

### Why use them

| Without a PO                       | With one                               |
| ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| No record of what was agreed       | The agreement is documented            |
| Vendor invoices whatever they like | You check the bill against the order   |
| No control over who commits spend  | Ordering is a deliberate, recorded act |
| Disputes come down to memory       | The order settles it                   |

### Raising one

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Purchases, then Purchase orders">
    Choose **New purchase order**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select the vendor">
    From your vendor directory.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the items">
    What you are ordering, quantities and agreed prices.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the expected delivery date">
    So you know when to chase.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add delivery details">
    Where the goods should go, and any special instructions.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send it to the vendor">
    Download the PDF or email it directly.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### When the goods arrive

<Steps>
  <Step title="Check what arrived against the order">
    Quantities and condition. Note any shortfall or damage before signing anything.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the purchase order and convert it">
    Choose **Convert to purchase invoice**. All the lines carry across.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Adjust for what actually arrived">
    If you ordered ten and received eight, change the quantity before saving.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter the vendor's invoice details">
    Their invoice number and date, so you can match it later.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check it against the vendor's bill">
    Prices and quantities should agree with the order. If they do not, query it before paying.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Purchase order statuses

| Status                 | Meaning                             |
| ---------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| **Draft**              | Being prepared                      |
| **Sent**               | With the vendor                     |
| **Partially received** | Some items delivered                |
| **Received**           | Everything delivered                |
| **Converted**          | A purchase invoice has been created |
| **Cancelled**          | Order withdrawn                     |

## Delivery notes

A delivery note documents goods dispatched to a customer without charging for them. Use it when
goods go out before the invoice, or where the customer requires a signed delivery record.

It carries the items and quantities but no prices. The invoice follows separately.

<Note>
  Related: [Purchases](/invoicing/purchases) for vendor bills and debit notes.
</Note>