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Managing Quotes

A quote is the fee proposal you send a client before work starts. It lists your services in stages, with pricing and terms. When the client accepts, Arkata can turn the quote straight into a project with the billing stages already filled in.

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Quote statuses

Each quote version moves through these statuses:

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Creating a quote

  1. Navigate to Quotes from the sidebar, or open a client’s profile
  2. Click New Quote
  3. Select the client and optionally enter the property value
  4. Add stages and line items (see below)
  5. The quote starts in Draft status

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Stages and line items

A quote is split into stages — the natural chunks of the job. If the client accepts, these become your billing stages. For example:
  • “Design & PA Submission” — covering architectural design and planning fees
  • “Construction Supervision” — covering site visits
Each stage holds line items. A line item has a service name, a pricing method (fixed or hourly), a rate, a quantity and a total. To save typing, pull line items from your firm’s service catalogue — or type your own. Mark a line item as a pass-through cost when you’re only passing on someone else’s charge (a PA Application Fee, say). These are billed at cost and are usually VAT-exempt.

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Quote numbering

Arkata numbers quotes for you, like QUO-2025-001 — prefix, year, then a running number. Change the prefix in Settings → Billing. Numbers run in order and are never reused.

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Sending a quote

When your quote is ready:
  1. Click Send on the quote
  2. Choose who it goes to — the client, the client plus other people, or other addresses only
  3. Check the preview of recipients and the email itself
  4. Send. Arkata attaches the PDF and emails it
The quote moves to Sent once the email goes out. CC and BCC come from your firm’s defaults under Settings → Billing, not from this dialog.
Already sent it yourself — printed, or from your own email? Use Mark as Sent in the dropdown next to the Send button. It updates the status without emailing anything.

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Validity and expiry

Each quote has a validity period (configurable, default 30 days from the quotation date). After this date:
  • The quote is still accessible but shows a visual Expired indicator
  • You can still accept or supersede an expired quote
  • The validity period is shown on the PDF sent to clients

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Accepting a quote

When a client agrees to your proposal:
  1. Open the quote and click Accept
  2. Optionally create a project directly from the accepted quote
  3. If a project is created, its billing stages are pre-filled from the quote’s stages and line items
Only one version of a quote can be accepted. Accepting a version finalises the quote.

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Superseding (revisions)

Client wants changes? Don’t start again — make a new version.
  1. Open the quote
  2. Click New Version at the top of the versions list (declined quotes also show a Supersede button)
  3. Arkata copies everything into a fresh draft
  4. The old version becomes Superseded
  5. Edit the draft and send it
Nothing is lost — you can always look back at what you first proposed.
Only the newest version can be superseded, and only once it’s been sent or declined. You can’t supersede a draft — just edit it.

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Property value

Some fees are worked out as a percentage of the property value, so you can set that value on the quote.
  • It drives any percentage-based pricing
  • It’s locked in the moment you send the version — changing it later won’t alter a quote the client already has
  • It’s shown on the PDF
If a line item uses percentage pricing and no property value is set, Arkata won’t let you send the quote until you add one.

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Downloading PDFs

Click Download PDF on any version, at any time. The PDF carries your firm’s branding, the stages and line items, terms, exclusions and the validity period.
Editing a draft? The Download and Send buttons say Save and Download / Save and Send while you have unsaved changes — Arkata saves first so the PDF matches what’s on your screen.

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Deleting a quote

Delete a quote from the Quotes list — click the bin icon on its row. Deleting removes the quote and all its versions.
You can’t delete a quote once a project has been created from it. Only Founders can delete quotes.

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Settings

Configure quote defaults in Settings → Billing:
  • Quote prefix — the prefix for quote numbers (default: QUO)
  • Validity days — how long quotes remain valid (default: 30 days)
  • Default notes — boilerplate text added to new quotes
  • Default terms — standard terms and conditions
  • Default exclusions — standard exclusions text
  • Default CC/BCC — email addresses always copied on quote emails