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Create and send invoice estimates

Who is this article for?
  • Sellers that are subscribed to Square Invoices.
  • Team members with Full Invoices Access permission that want to create, edit, and send invoice estimates to customers. Set permissions in Square Dashboard.

    About Square Invoice estimates

    ​​With Square Invoices, you can send clients an estimate so they can review a quote before moving forward with the goods or services. Once accepted, you can quickly convert an estimate to an invoice.

    Before you begin

    • Estimates will not show up as a transaction in any of your Reports. An estimate does not involve any money transferred and should only be used to provide an estimate of the cost and scope of a service to be rendered.

    • To download a CSV file of your invoice estimates, click Export from the Estimates section of your Square Dashboard.

    Create and send estimates

    Square Dashboard

    1. Sign in your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Invoices > Estimates > Create estimate.
    2. Add a new or existing customer from your Customer Directory. You can also enter up to nine additional recipients. Click Next.
    3. Enter the estimate details, including an optional message or attachment details. You can also add an optional personal message and attachments.
      • Attach up to 10 files totalling 25 MB. Supported file types: JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, and PDF. Do not attach sensitive personal information or illegal content. Square may use content you upload to fight chargebacks on your behalf.
    4. Toggle on Automatically convert estimate to invoice when customer accepts, if applicable. Click Next.
    5. Add the due and service date.
    6. Add items through search or barcode scanning, then apply modifiers, notes, or taxes.
    7. Click Add Discount to add any applicable discounts to the entire invoice.
    8. Add shipping fee or service charge, if applicable.
    9. Click Add payment schedule to request an initial deposit or split balance into milestones.
    10. To create a multi-packaged estimate, click (+) next to Add package to add up to nine packages. Click Next.
    11. Review the invoice details, including communication preferences.
    12. Tap Send invoice or tap (•••) to Save as Draft. If you’re scheduling the recurring invoice for a future start date, click Schedule invoice.

    Square Invoices app

    1. From the Home screen, tap (+) > Send Estimate or from the Estimates tab, tap (+).
    2. Add a new or existing customer.
    3. Add an estimate title with an optional custom estimate ID, attachment, or Square contract.
    4. Tap Automatically convert to toggle on Automatically convert estimate to invoice when customer accepts, if applicable. Tap the back arrow.
    5. Tap Add estimate.
    6. Add line items or discounts (if applicable).
    7. Add a payment schedule to request an initial deposit or split balance into milestones.
    8. Add the date of service (if applicable) and due date.
    9. If applicable, add up to nine packages to give options for your clients to choose from.
    10. Tap Preview & create.
    11. Review the invoice details, including communication preferences.
    12. Tap Send invoice or tap (•••) to Save as Draft. If you’re scheduling the recurring invoice for a future start date, click Schedule invoice.
    Sending an estimate is not yet available on the Square Point of Sale app. To create and access your estimates, use the Square Invoices app or Square Dashboard.

    Create and send estimates with multiple packages

    With Square Invoices Plus, you can send an estimate with multiple packages that include groupings of items or services at accompanying prices, allowing a customer to choose which package they prefer to purchase. 

    • You can send a minimum of two and a maximum of nine packages. 

    • Estimates over $50,000 cannot be converted into invoices.

    To create a multi-package estimate:

    1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Invoices > Estimates.

    2. Click Create estimate.

    3. Fill out the customer information and estimate details. Click Next.

    4. Enter the payment details and line items for the estimate.

    5. Under Add package, click the (+) icon. Fill out an optional title and description. You can also duplicate or delete the package. Click Next.

    6. Fill out communication options and preview the estimate. Click Send.

    Multi-package estimates have limited functionality on the Square POS app. The feature is not available on the Square Invoices app at this time. For full usage, use your Square Dashboard.

    Convert estimates

    Once an estimate is accepted by the customer, you'll need to convert the estimate to an invoice so the customer can pay.

    Manually convert estimates

    Square Dashboard

    1. Sign in your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Invoices > Estimates.
    2. Next to the relevant invoice, click (•••) to Edit, Mark as Accepted, Convert to invoice, Share, Cancel, Duplicate, or Archive.

    Square Invoices app

    1. Tap Estimates and select the relevant estimate.
    2. Tap Edit to make changes or tap (•••) to Convert to invoice, Mark as accepted, Duplicate, Share, Cancel, or Archive.
    Estimates will not show up as a transaction in any of your reports. An estimate does not involve any money transferred and should only be used to provide an estimate of the cost and scope of a service to be rendered.

    Auto-convert estimates

    With Square Invoices Plus, you can auto-convert an estimate to an invoice once your customer accepts your estimate. When an estimate is auto-converted to an invoice, the converted invoice will use the same delivery method as the estimate. So, if an estimate is sent via SMS, the auto-converted invoice will also be sent via SMS.

    1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Payments > Invoices > Estimates

    2. Under Estimate details, toggle on Automatically convert estimate to invoice when customer accepts.

    Your default invoice template preferences will be used to convert your estimate to an invoice. You may change the invoice template preferences through the drop down. You may edit or create new invoice templates in your Square Dashboard.

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