Click Main Menu < File Menu, then click:
To convert an estimate into an invoice in QuickBooks Desktop:
Click Main Menu < File Menu, then click:
In the Amount of Detail dialog box, select what you want to appear in the QuickBooks invoice.
Construction estimates and invoices commonly have a different format. Estimates are for internal use and should show every cost, tax, overhead and profit. Invoices are customer-facing documents. Most customers don’t need to see every cost in the job. Customers certainly don’t need to see your markup. Use the Amount of Detail dialog box to set the level of detail in invoices created for customers.
For material, labor, equipment and subcontract costs, click a selection under each of the three column headings:
Show All
Subtotals Only
Omit Entirely
Show All -- All the work descriptions and all costs in your estimate will be in the invoice. Most customers don’t need this much detail.
Subtotals Only -- All the work descriptions in your estimate will be in the invoice. But the only costs in the invoice will be for subtotals you inserted in the estimate. If the estimate includes no inserted subtotals, only the job subtotal will appear. Subtotals Only will usually be a better choice if the estimate includes inserted subtotals and is longer than a page or two.
Omit Entirely -- All the work descriptions in your estimate will be in the invoice. But you can delete costs in any category. Use this option, for example, to delete all material costs when an owner is furnishing materials for the job.
Show Only Item Totals -- Hides the breakdown of labor, material, equipment and subcontract costs, leaving only total costs.
Omit Work Descriptions -- Removes all work descriptions in your estimate, leaving only subtotal descriptions and costs.
For Markup and Tax, click a selection under the heading:
In Every Cost Item
Tax.
In Every Cost Item -- Distributes markup or tax proportionately among all costs in the invoice. Use this selection to remove any mention of overhead, contingency, profit or tax from the invoice. The total may be slightly different from your estimate total due to rounding of unit costs.
At End of Estimate – Markup and tax will appear at the end of the invoice as in your estimate.
Omit Entirely – Removes markup or tax from the invoice. Use this option if you prefer to add markup or tax manually.
Select the program you use to send invoices. Choices are either:
QuickBooks Online or
Excel or
QuickBooks Desktop.
Select either Full Invoice or Progressive Invoice. Full invoice creates a bill for the entire job, 100% of all costs in the estimate. Use a progressive invoice to bill for any part of the job, such as the portion of work completed during the pay period.
If you select Progressive, see Progressive Invoices for setting percentages of completion.
If you select Full Invoice, your invoice will be written to your Downloads folder under the estimate file name and current date. To import the invoice into QuickBooks Desktop:
Open your QuickBooks Desktop company.
On the horizontal menu bar, click File, Utilities, Import, IIF Files.
Click OK to close the window and import the IIF.
Navigate to the Download folder and file name.
Double-click the estimate name to open your imported invoice.
Click Done when the import is complete.
Click Home on the vertical My Shortcuts menu.
At the Home Page, click Create Invoices.
Intuit Service Invoice is probably the best Template.
On the Main tab, click the left Find arrow.
Review the invoice to be sure it’s correct. Make changes if needed.
On the menu bar, click Print or Email and Invoice.
Click Save to add these values to your QuickBooks Desktop company.
Tips:
QuickBook Desktop invoices will add your customer’s name and address to your QuickBooks company if entered in National Estimator Cloud. On the Tools Menu, click Edit Customer Info.
Creating a QuickBooks Desktop invoice for the job doesn’t change the original estimate in any way.
If the scope of work changes during construction (change orders), just add the changes to your original estimate. The QuickBooks Desktop invoice you create for the job will reflect all changes made during construction, either additions or deletions.