2023 - still much needed feature! Many of us depend on GnuCash for small business bookkeeping...

Much needed feature.

I'm hoping to switch away from Q-books, but the ability to provide quotes/estimates which can convert to invoices is a necessary item for me.

This is something I too am interested in. I like to stay simple with Linux applications and GnuCash is something I would like to use, but honestly as a motorcycle repair shop, it would be too time consuming to use if estimates weren't included.

I could not agree more. A quotation facility is needed.

But also the option to call it "Proforma Invoice", as some companies want, instead of a quotation or an invoice.

I'm in the UK, but 90% of what my company sells is exported, so we tend to deal with customers from many countries, that might have different practices. We generally deal with small companies or individuals, and require advance payment.

I find what typically happens with my customers is

1) An engineer inquires about our calibration kits.
2) We provide a quotation, offering different models, with different options to those kits. There might often be a lot of technical details, which the engineer wants. We do not put a "total" amount on the quotation, as not everything offered will be wanted, and in some cases they are mutually exclusive.
3) The engineer decides what he thinks his/her company should purchase, but the accounts department want a "Proforma Invoice" to allow them to make an advanced payment, NOT an invoice, and NOT a quotation. The proforma invoice lists just what is wanted by the engineer, so frequently this is a subset of what was on the quotation.This has a "total" on it.
4) Payment is hopefully made - but there's no guarantee this will happen.
5) We issue an invoice, IF payment is made.

Other products like Kashflow, offer this
https://www.kashflow.com/proforma-invoice/

I'm not currently using GnuCash as part of my business, but are thinking of it, although my accountant has recommended Kashflow. As stated on the Kashflow website

"Only after a proforma invoice is converted to a true invoice will its value be registered in your accounts; this is because, until that point, there is no guarantee that the customer will agree to your terms."

I've been using OpenOffice in "Word mode" to generate quotes. If the customer needs a proforma invoice then I just change the wording from "Quotation" to "Proforma Invoice". If payment is received, I remove the word "Proforma", and just call it "Invoice".

I'm not happy about issuing invoices, and all this being recorded in the accounts, if nothing is actually paid for, and nothing sent.

Dave

I have merged these two ideas into one because in code they are essentially the same thing. Implementing quotes for customers is about the same code as implementing purchase orders for vendors.

It would also be nice to be able to convert the estimates to POs to email to vendors.

There are several duplicated items for this request. Perhaps they should be amalgamated to collect the votes in one plase?
http://gnucash.uservoice.com/forums/101223-feature-request?query=estimate%20quotation

As a small business owner/service provider, the only major feature lacking from GnuCash (for my needs) is the ability to create a job estimate(quote). I would create an entry for a job in GnuCash, and then an estimate of services (by line item). When the job is approved, I would want to be able to convert this estimate document to an invoice - before posting the invoice through the current process.

I need it so much...

This addition would be a real time saver for me too

A purchase order to a vendor is only a step away from the vendors bill (received invoice), except that it is only printed but not posted.

Fortunately my ignorance of programming and databases allows me to suggest that this is simple as the bills received code can be recycled.

When I receive the bill, the purchase order can be called up as a received bill, edited to match the bill, and posted.

See also credit notes <http://goo.gl/FR76A > and quotations <http://goo.gl/FwmRK >.

This could also be used for estimates.

That would be a brilliant addition!

The quotation can then be used to create an invoice once customer accepts the terms.