Quote a made-to-order job, track the order and take the deposit

Some work does not fit a time slot in the diary: a custom piece, a made-to-measure item, anything you build or order for one client. For that, Zelun has quotes and orders.

You write a quote for a client: one or more line items, each with a description and a price. When the client approves it, Zelun turns it into an order and follows it from measuring to delivery, against a lead time you set. A quote does not need an appointment, and its line items are free text, not stock items, so nothing is taken out of your inventory.

Quotes and Pipeline (the board of orders) are in the Orders group of the side menu, and the deposit setting is in the Payments and deposits section of My business. If you signed up as Made-to-order projects, these sections (with Inventory) are already visible and the menu group is called Projects; for other business types they may be hidden until you show them. The screens are for businesses that quote a custom job before pricing it, not for the appointment diary. If you are sent to a Forbidden page, your account does not have access to that part of the company, so ask the account owner. The steps below describe the screens as they exist.

1. A client. They do not need to be on file beforehand: in the quote form you search by name or phone, or create them right there. See the article on clients and records.
2. The location the work belongs to. Both screens have a location selector at the top.
3. If you want a partial deposit instead of the full amount at approval, decide it before you approve any quote (see the steps below).

Create the quote from a visit

1. In the diary, open the client's appointment, for example their Measuring visit. If the appointment has a client and is not cancelled, the sheet shows Create quote. Only the owner and people allowed to see quotes get it.
2. Press Create quote. New quote opens with that client already chosen and the visit linked; you only add the lead time and the line items.
3. After you save, the appointment sheet lists the quotes made from it, each with its status (for example Draft), and you can open them from there. On the quote's detail, Linked visit shows that visit's service and date.
4. The visit must be the same client's and the same branch's, and not cancelled; otherwise Zelun does not create the quote. The link is set when the quote is created and does not change afterwards.

Build a quote

1. Open Quotes and pick the location. The list of Open quotes shows how many are open and how many are awaiting the client's approval.
2. Press New quote and choose the client in the client search. Type at least two letters of the name or two digits of the phone; results show the name and the last four digits of the phone. Once you pick one, it shows as chosen with their name and you can press Change to pick someone else. Create quote stays disabled until a client is chosen.

• If the person is not listed, press New client and type their Name and Phone (with their country). Once saved, they are chosen on the quote. If that phone is already on file, Zelun picks that client instead of creating a duplicate. The rest of their details are filled in later on the clients screen.

1. Set Lead time (days). This is how long you expect the work to take. It becomes the order's target date later.
2. For each line item, fill in Description and Price (MXN) (your company currency). Press Add line item for more. Put measurements, materials and colors in the description.
3. Press Create quote. It appears in the list as Draft. Amounts follow your company's currency.
4. Pick a quote in the list to see its detail: the lines with their spec text, the Total, and Revisions with the current one tagged current.

Give your designer or another team member access to quotes

1. The owner can do everything. To let someone else quote without handing them the rest of the company, turn on Can create and edit quotes from Permissions on their Team page, for all branches or some. The article on roles and policies explains what it includes.
2. With access, the person sees Quotes in the menu, finds or creates the client in the form, and can create, revise and send quotes. They cannot see or touch orders, payments, refunds, cancellations or invoices: those stay with the owner.
3. Their list opens on My quotes, the ones they created. Switch the filter to All at this location to see everyone's too. Under each client's name, every quote says who created it (Created by you, Created by and the teammate's name, or Created by a team member when there is no name). The detail shows the same words plus the creation date. It never shows the creator's email or phone.
4. If the person opens a location where they do not have the permission, they see a notice that they have no access to quotes there; ask the owner to turn it on for that location.

Revise a quote

1. Pick the quote and press Add revision.
2. In New revision, edit the lines (name, price and spec, measurements, materials or colour; + Add line and Remove), then press Save quote. Saving replaces the lines the client sees. Earlier revisions stay in the history.

Optional: AI help with line items (only if it is switched on for your account)

• From consultation notes. Use Paste consultation notes and Generate draft. Suggestions are labeled "AI-suggested, pending review" and carry no price. Press Accept to move one into the form or Discard to drop it. Then type the price yourself.
• From a photo. On a draft quote, press Attach inspiration photo and choose the client's picture. The result is labeled "AI-suggested from photo, pending review". Press Accept, check the description, add the price, then Add as line item. Or press Discard photo or Cancel. This one is not available on the lowest subscription band, even when it is switched on elsewhere.
• Both are suggestions only: a person must read them, and nothing is added or priced until you accept it. If a suggestion is unavailable you will see a message and you simply add the items by hand. If you leave without accepting, the photo suggestion is discarded.

Send it to the client

1. When the quote is right, press Submit for review. Its status becomes Pending review.
2. The client is notified automatically with a summary of the items. The notification always includes the client's link to approve or reject.
3. To send it yourself, pick the quote and press Send to client. The window Send quote to client shows the link, which shows the current revision only. Press Copy, or tick Also send on WhatsApp and press Send. The client approves or rejects on that link, not in Admin, and needs no account.
4. If you revise a quote that is already Pending review, the client gets a new message saying what changed. Revising a Draft sends nothing. An approved quote cannot be edited; it needs a new quote.

When the client answers

• Approved: an order is created at once, with the same items and price, in the Measured status.
• Rejected: no order is created.

Take the deposit

1. By default the full quote total is due as the deposit. To ask for less, open My business, go to Payments and deposits and open the Custom quotes row of the location (press Edit). Its summary reads "Full amount on approval" until you change it.
2. Type Deposit percent (1–100) and press Use a partial deposit. To go back, press Use full amount. The setting is per location, and only quotes approved after it is saved follow it.
3. The order's deposit starts as due. Open Pipeline and press the order's card. In the order sheet, Payments lists Deposit and Balance with their amounts and dates, marked Paid, Pending or Not created yet.

Follow the order

1. Open Pipeline. Orders sit in five columns, Measured, Confirmed, In production, Ready and Delivered. Each card shows the client, the item, when it is due and a payment tag: deposit due, deposit paid, balance due or paid in full.
2. Press a card to open the order sheet, then Move to next stage. Steps cannot be skipped or reversed.
3. You cannot leave Measured while the deposit is due, and you cannot deliver while the balance is due. The sheet then shows Deposit due or Balance due. The balance is created when the order reaches Ready. If the deposit already covered everything, the balance is created already paid.
4. To record money taken at the desk, press Record payment (or Mark payment received) in the order sheet. Choose How was it paid?: Cash, Card terminal or Bank transfer. A transfer needs its Transfer reference. The Amount received must equal what is outstanding. Press Confirm payment received. The payment then shows as Paid with the date, the method and the reference.
5. To send the crew to the client's address, open the order and use its Visits section with Schedule a visit: measuring, delivery or installation, with the order's address and the travel. They are not charged on their own. The article on order visits has the steps.
6. An order past its target date and not yet Delivered gets an Overdue tag. Tick Show overdue only to list just those.
7. With two or more overdue orders and the feature switched on for your location, an AI-generated observation summarizes them. It is only a reading aid and changes no order.

• A message when their quote goes to Pending review, listing the items and the amounts in the company currency, with the link to approve or reject. If the AI wording is off or fails, they get a plain message with the same facts.
• They approve or reject from that link, without booking a time slot. Rejecting ends it, and approving starts the order and the deposit. If you ask for the client's signature, before approving they read your terms, type their name, draw their signature and accept, and they receive a signed PDF; the article on quote signatures explains it.
• When the order status changes, they get a message naming the items and the target date. This message is only sent where Zelun has switched it on for your location. Where it is off, the status still changes but the client is not messaged, so tell them yourself.
• Clients never see the staff screens, the AI suggestions or the link between their visit and the quote.

• Expecting the partial deposit by default. Until you opt in, the whole total is due at approval.
• Changing the deposit percent after approval. Orders already created keep the amount set at approval.
• Recording a payment for a different amount. The amount received has to match what is outstanding, and a bank transfer needs its reference.
• Trusting AI suggestions without reading them. They can be wrong, and the price is always yours.
• Looking for Create quote on an appointment with no client, or a cancelled one. It does not appear. Assign the client to the appointment, or create the quote from Quotes.
• Searching for a client with one letter. The search waits for at least two letters or digits. If you cannot find them, create the client from the same form.
• Granting the permission at one location and expecting it at another. Quote access applies only where it was granted.
• Expecting a person who quotes to see orders. Orders, payments, refunds and invoices are for the owner only.
• Editing an approved quote. It is locked. Make a new quote instead.
• Waiting for the client message on every step. Order status messages may be off for your location.
• Putting a stocked product in a quote and expecting stock to drop. Quote and order items never change inventory.

The articles below cover deposits, client records and message costs.