NetSuite Estimates

NetSuite for Administrators

Do you need to provide estimates to your customers before creating a sales order? What does that process look like in NetSuite? Let’s take a quick look at NetSuite estimates and how they work.

Overview of NetSuite Estimates

An estimate (or quote, as some businesses call them) allows you to work out the details of a potential order before your customer fully commits to the sales order. When you create an estimate in NetSuite, you can easily send the estimate over to your customer for review. You can also convert the finalized estimate to a sales order with the click of a button. And when you no longer need a record of an estimate, you can delete the estimate record.

Creating a NetSuite Estimate Record

Before you are ready to start using estimates in NetSuite, first you must enable the Estimates feature, which you can do under the Basic Features section of the Transactions tab in Enable Features. Once this feature has been enabled, how do you create a NetSuite estimate record? There are two main ways to create an estimate record: from scratch or from an existing invoice.

Create an Estimate Record from Scratch

First, you could create an estimate record from scratch. To do that, navigate to Transactions > Sales > Prepare Estimates. Let’s take a look at the key fields you need to pay attention to when creating an estimate.
NetSuite Prepare a New Estimate

First, in the Primary Information field group, you’ll need to select the customer that this estimate is for. Optionally, you can also select a specific job for the estimate and provide an identifying name for the estimate in the Title field. The Expires field allows you to determine when the estimate will expire. Having an expiration date will give you a hard deadline to follow up with your customer on the status of the estimate.

The Date field identifies the posting date of the estimate, which defaults to the current day but can be changed if necessary. You can also select the Status of the estimate (for example, “In Negotiation,” “Proposal,” etc.). The Probability field allows you to identify a set percentage of likelihood that the estimate will be accepted and successfully converted to a sales order. And the Expected Close field allows you to set a date for when you anticipate the estimate will be closed.

Once you have everything set for your estimate at the header level, you can add items to the estimate on the Items subtab of the estimate record.

Create an Estimate Record from an Invoice

Another option you have for creating estimates is to create the estimate directly from an invoice. This option is especially helpful if you have a customer who frequently purchases the same items. On invoice records, users who have the permission to create new estimates will be able to see a “Renew” button at the tops of invoices. Selecting this button will open a new estimate record that is already populated with the items and prices listed on the invoice. Then, all you need to do is make any necessary adjustments to the estimate record and save it.

Other Estimate Details

Before we wrap up, let’s take a quick look at some other Estimate details.

Viewing Estimates

To view the list of estimates, navigate to Transactions > Sales > Prepare Estimates > List. On this page, you’ll see all your estimates. Note that expired estimates will also appear on this page. You will need to delete an estimate entirely in order to remove it from this page.
NetSuite List of Estimates

Printing Estimates

How would you print estimates? As with other transactions, you can print estimates from the estimate record. From the list of estimates, select View to open the estimate you wish to print. Then on the estimate record, hover over the printer icon at the top of the record and select Print from the dropdown.
Print NetSuite Estimate

If you need to print multiple estimates, you can do that from the Print Checks and Forms page. To access that page, navigate to Transactions > Management > Print Checks and Forms. On this page, select Estimates from the list. This will take you to the Print Estimates page, where you can put in the criteria for the estimates you wish to print and print estimates in bulk.

Print Multiple Estimates in NetSuite

Deleting Estimates

When you no longer wish to keep an estimate on hand, you can simply delete the estimate record. To do that, navigate to the list of estimates, hover over the icon in the New column to the far right of the estimate record you wish to delete, and select Delete Record from the dropdown list.
Delete NetSuite Estimate

Conclusion

The NetSuite Estimates feature provides you great flexibility in creating and managing your customer estimates. If you enjoyed this blog, be sure to subscribe below to our newsletter to keep learning more about key NetSuite features like this one.