QuickBooks Estimates, Progress Billing, and Projects - Unlock Small Business Success!

Small businesses often face challenges managing their sales process from initial proposal to final invoice. Keeping track of estimates, approvals, and payments can be time-consuming and prone to errors. QuickBooks Estimates offers a practical solution that helps businesses stay organized, improve communication with customers, and monitor their financial progress clearly. This post explores how QuickBooks Estimates and progress billing features support small businesses, the subscription levels that include these tools, and how integrating estimates with QuickBooks Projects can simplify project management and job costing.

QuickBooks estimate form on laptop screen

How QuickBooks Estimates Help Small Businesses Track Progress

Estimates in QuickBooks allow businesses to create detailed proposals for customers before any work begins. These estimates serve as a clear outline of the services or products offered, along with pricing. Once sent to the customer, the estimate can be approved or modified, ensuring both parties agree on the scope and cost.

Using estimates helps businesses track how much they have invoiced compared to the original proposal. For example, if a project is expected to cost $10,000, but only $6,000 has been invoiced so far, QuickBooks provides a clear view of the remaining balance. This visibility helps business owners manage cash flow and plan resources effectively.

Benefits of Using Estimates

• Clear pricing and scope: Sending estimates to customers reduces misunderstandings and scope creep by setting expectations upfront.

• Easy approval process: Estimates can be emailed directly from QuickBooks, allowing customers to approve or request changes quickly.

• Progress tracking: Businesses can see how much has been invoiced against the estimate, helping monitor project progress.

• Improved cash flow management: Knowing the invoiced amount versus the estimate helps plan billing cycles and payments.

  
  

Emailing Estimates to Customers for Approval

One of the standout features of QuickBooks Estimates is the ability to email estimates directly to customers. This feature speeds up the approval process and keeps communication professional and documented. Customers receive a clear, itemized proposal that they can review and approve online, which helps avoid delays and confusion.

By having a formal approval process, businesses reduce the risk of scope creep—when additional work or costs are added without agreement. This clarity protects both the business and the customer, ensuring that pricing remains consistent and agreed upon.

QuickBooks Online Subscription Levels That Include Estimates and Progress Billing

Not all QuickBooks Online plans offer the same features. Estimates and progress billing are included in certain subscription levels, so choosing the right plan is important for businesses that want to use these tools fully.

• QuickBooks Online Plus: Includes estimates and allows progress invoicing, making it suitable for many small businesses managing projects or multiple jobs.

• QuickBooks Online Advanced: Offers all Plus features plus enhanced reporting and automation, ideal for growing businesses with complex needs.

• QuickBooks Online Essentials: Does not include estimates or progress invoicing, so it’s less suitable for businesses relying on these features.

  
  

For businesses that want to manage projects, estimates, and invoicing all in one place, QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced are the recommended plans.

Using Estimates with QuickBooks Projects for Streamlined Management

QuickBooks Projects is a feature available in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced that helps businesses manage the entire lifecycle of a project—from estimate to invoice and job costing. When combined with estimates, Projects provides a comprehensive view of each job’s financial health.

Here’s how the integration works:

• Create an estimate within a project to outline the work and pricing.

• Track expenses, time, and invoices related to the project in one place.

• Monitor profitability by comparing costs against the estimate and invoices.

• Use progress invoicing to bill customers in stages based on completed work.

  
  

This integration reduces manual tracking and errors, giving business owners real-time insights into project status and profitability.

QuickBooks report showing the estimates vs actuals

Choosing the Right QuickBooks Subscription for Estimates and Projects

To access the full range of features for estimates, progress billing, and project management, businesses should consider:

• QuickBooks Online Plus: Best for small businesses that need estimates, progress invoicing, and basic project tracking.

• QuickBooks Online Advanced: Suitable for businesses with multiple projects, complex reporting needs, or those wanting automation features.

  
  

Both plans support the use of estimates and projects, but Advanced offers more scalability and control.

Support from A Bigger Bottom Line Platinum Services

Managing estimates, invoicing, and projects in QuickBooks Online can be straightforward with the right guidance. A Bigger Bottom Line Platinum services provide full support for businesses wanting to implement these features effectively. Their experts help set up estimates, progress billing, and project tracking tailored to each business’s needs. This support ensures businesses get the most from QuickBooks Online, saving time and reducing errors. Tired of entering estimates yourself? Leave the data entry to A Bigger Bottom Line in our Platinum program. We enter your estimates for you and do your progress billing so you can clearly see your estimated total vs the actual invoiced to date. Already have another proposal/estimate creation tool? We can integrate it with QuickBooks Online and ensure your customer project proposal mirrors what you created in another system, or we will integrate as much as possible. We can handle the entire project accounting from start to finish, so you and your project managers always know how your projects are progressing. Need help selecting a more robust Estimating and Proposal tool than what QuickBooks offers? We get it, QuickBooks Estimates may not be the best fit if you have complex Phases and Tasks that need to be tracked at %'s complete and with subcontractor costs and other T&M variables. You may also need the estimate or proposal styled a certain way for your customer so it meets your sales guidelines or even customer requirements. We have solutions to help your business clarify and streamline this proposal process, tailored to your specific industry needs. If you are in architecture, engineering, design, or construction, there is a software solution that we have worked with that we can implement for you and compare to the Estimate and Project features QuickBooks Online already has. We can help you decide if the QuickBooks Estimates feature is enough, or if it's time to implement a more robust solution that integrates with QuickBooks so you can spend less time working in your business and more time closing deals.

Final Thoughts on Using QuickBooks Estimates for Small Business Success

QuickBooks Estimates and progress billing features give small businesses a clear way to manage proposals, approvals, and invoicing, especially if they have simple needs at first and don't have anything else in place when they get started. By tracking how much has been invoiced against the original estimate, businesses gain better control over cash flow and project progress. Emailing estimates for customer approval reduces misunderstandings and scope creep, keeping projects on track. Need more details and customizations? We can help steer you toward the right options for you and your clients' needs.

Choosing the right QuickBooks Online subscription level is key to accessing these tools, with Plus and Advanced plans offering the best options for estimates and project management. For businesses looking for expert help, A Bigger Bottom Line Platinum services provide valuable support to make the most of these features. Book a free 20 minute strategy call with us to learn more.