The Quotations module lets you prepare quotes, proposals and price estimates for your customers and turn accepted quotes into invoices. Built for Zambian businesses by Essence IT Consulting Limited, it helps you:
All money values are displayed in your company's selected currency (e.g., ZMW).
The Quotations module is available from the sidebar under:
Before you create your first quotation it is worth registering your customers and products so that you can select them quickly and have prices and tax rates auto-filled.
Where: Sidebar → Customers
The Customers page lists every saved customer with their Name, Email, Phone, Tax Number, Tax Type (with its rate, e.g. VAT 16%) and Address. Use the search box to find a customer by name, email, phone or tax number.
ZX0000001234Where: Sidebar → Products
The Products page lists your catalogue with Name, SKU, Description and Unit Price. Search by name, SKU or description.
To edit or delete, use the pen or trash buttons next to a product.
Where: Sidebar → Quotations → New Quotation
QTN-YYYY-0001. You cannot change it.The summary panel on the right shows Subtotal, Discount, Tax and the final Total, all updated live.
Click Save Quotation. You are taken to the quotation's detail page. Choose Cancel to go back to the list without saving.
Each quotation has one of four statuses. Use them to reflect where the quotation is in real life.
| Status | Meaning | Used for invoicing? |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Still being prepared — not sent to the customer | ✘ |
| Sent | Sent to the customer, awaiting their decision | ✘ |
| Accepted | The customer has accepted the quotation | ✔ |
| Declined | The customer declined the quotation | ✘ |
Where: Sidebar → Quotations
The list page shows summary cards for Total, Draft, Accepted and Total Value. You can search by quotation number, customer name or email, and filter by status. Quotations marked Invoiced have already been converted to an invoice.
Each row offers these actions:
| Action | Button | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Create invoice | File icon (green) | Only for accepted quotations with no invoice yet. See Creating Invoices from Quotations. |
| View | Eye icon | Opens the quotation detail page. |
| Edit | Pen icon | Opens the edit form. |
| Delete | Trash icon | Deletes the quotation (asks for confirmation). |
The detail page shows your company header, the Bill To customer block, issue and expiry dates, status badge, a line-item table, a totals breakdown (Subtotal, Discount, Tax, Total) and any notes. From here you can Print, Edit, Delete, and — when the quotation is accepted and not yet invoiced — Create Invoice.
On the quotation detail page, click Print. A print-ready view opens showing a clean, customer-facing document with:
Click Print (or press Ctrl + P) to print or save as PDF. The sidebar and navigation are hidden automatically when printing.
An invoice is created from an accepted quotation. The invoice copies the customer details, items, discount, tax and totals so the figures always match the accepted quote. Invoice numbers follow the format INV-YYYY-0001 and are assigned automatically.
Afterwards you will be told how many invoices were created and how many quotations were skipped (e.g. not accepted or already invoiced).
Where: Sidebar → Invoices
The Invoices page shows summary cards for Total Invoices, Unpaid, Paid and Outstanding (the total value of unpaid invoices). Search by invoice number, customer name or email, and filter by status. Due dates that have passed on an unpaid invoice appear highlighted in red as overdue.
Invoice statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Unpaid | Issued, awaiting payment |
| Paid | Payment received — the paid date/time is recorded automatically |
| Cancelled | Written off / voided |
Shows the company header, Bill To block, issue and due dates, From link back to the originating quotation, paid date if any, status badge, the line items, totals and notes.
Use the Payment status card at the bottom of the detail page:
Click Print on the invoice list row or detail page to open a clean, print-ready invoice document with your company branding, customer details, item table, totals and payment status. Use Print or Ctrl + P to print or save as PDF. The app's sidebar and navigation are hidden automatically when printing.
Where: Sidebar → Quotation Reports
The Quotation Reports page summarises your quotations and is the place for bulk invoicing and exports.
Filter by Status, Customer, and an issue-date range (From / To). Click Filter to apply and Reset to clear. The table lists each quotation with its number, date, customer, status, item count, subtotal, discount, tax and total, with a totals row at the bottom.
Use the Excel or CSV buttons in the top-right. The export respects your current filters and produces a file named like quotation-report-2026-09-14.xlsx (or .csv) with the same columns plus a totals row.
Where: Sidebar → Invoice Reports (or the Invoice Reports button on the Quotation Reports page)
The Invoice Reports page works like the Quotation Reports page but for invoices. You can filter by Status (Unpaid / Paid / Cancelled), Customer and an issue-date range.
Export with the Excel or CSV buttons. The export respects your filters and includes a totals row.
Access to quotations is controlled by three permissions managed by your Owner or Admin:
| Permission | Controls access to |
|---|---|
| Manage Quotations | Quotations, Invoices, and both report pages |
| Manage Customers | The Customers section |
| Manage Products | The Products section |
The sidebar menu adjusts automatically to show only the sections your role can access. If a section is missing, ask your company admin to grant the relevant permission.
Q: How do quotation numbers work?
A: Quotations are numbered automatically as QTN-YYYY-0001, QTN-YYYY-0002 and so on. The number cannot be edited.
Q: Why is my tax rate already filled in?
A: When you select a saved customer, the tax rate is picked up from their tax type (for example VAT 16%). You can still change it for the quotation.
Q: How do I set a different tax rate?
A: When creating a quotation, overwrite the value in the Tax Rate (%) field, or pick a customer whose tax type matches what you need.
Q: How do I add a customer who isn't in the list?
A: Use the Register a new customer link on the quotation form (opens in a new tab), save the customer, then refresh and pick them from the dropdown.
Q: Why can't I create an invoice for my quotation?
A: Invoices can only be created from quotations with the status Accepted, and only once. Set the status to Accepted first, and check that an invoice has not already been created for it.
Q: Can I delete a customer or product that is used on existing quotations?
A: Yes. Existing quotations and invoices keep their own saved details, so deleting a customer or product does not change historical documents.
Q: How do I mark an invoice as paid?
A: Open the invoice and click Mark Paid in the Payment status card. The paid date and time are recorded automatically.
Q: What does "overdue" mean?
A: An unpaid invoice whose due date has passed shows the due date in red with "(overdue)" so you can follow it up with the customer.
Q: Which formats can I export?
A: Both Quotation Reports and Invoice Reports can be exported as Excel (.xlsx) or CSV, respecting your current filters.
Q: How do I get support for the Quotations module?
A: Use the Support section in the sidebar to create a ticket. Your message goes straight to the Essence IT support team.
End of manual. For support, contact Essence IT Consulting Limited.