2. Getting Started
2.1 Accessing a Quote
- Open the project or estimate you want to turn into a quote.
- Click the Quote icon in the toolbar to open the Quote screen — its title bar shows the project name.
- Use the Estimate / Job Cost toggle at the top of the preview to switch between the two pricing sources (Section 2.2).
- Use the HTML / PDF toggle above the preview to switch between an editable on-screen view and a paginated, print-ready PDF preview (Section 6.1).
- Use the share, chat and apps icons in the top-right corner of the screen for quick access to sharing, comments and other Methvin apps without leaving the quote.
Every toggle and field you change in the side panels updates the centre preview immediately, so you’re always looking at what the client will actually receive.
2.2 Estimate View vs Job Cost View
The tabs at the top-left of the preview — Estimate and Job Cost — determine where the quote’s figures come from.
Estimate
Pulls pricing straight from the project’s estimate. Use this view for the initial client bid or proposal, before work has started.
Job Cost
Pulls figures from the project’s Job Costing app and is used for progress claims once work is underway. When Job Cost is selected, the document title changes to reflect the claim, for example “Progress Payment 3”, and two extra options become available in the Design panel:
- Current Claim — shows the value being claimed in this specific progress payment.
- Progress claim summary — shows a running summary of the progress claim (claimed to date, retention, previous payments, etc.) instead of, or alongside, the standard estimate summary.
Job Cost view, showing the Progress Payment title, Current Claim and Progress claim summary toggles in Design, and the expanded Standard Summary panel.
Switching between Estimate and Job Cost does not change your Commercials or Options settings — only the pricing source and the Design options relevant to that source.
2.3 The Quote Screen at a Glance
The screen is laid out in three columns:
Panel | What it contains |
|---|---|
Left panel | Share, Design, Standard Summary, Commercials and Options — everything that controls what appears in the quote and how it’s formatted. |
Centre preview | The quote itself, built live from your Design, Commercials and Options choices. This is what you edit to scope of work, inclusions and exclusions text directly into. |
Right panel | Actions, Section Order and Table Columns — whole-document actions plus control over the order, visibility and shape of every section and column. |