Customers can accept or decline your SolaCount quotes online, and the answer is recorded on the quote with a timestamp. Today the customer responds inside the Customer Portal after clicking the link in your quote email. Older stand-alone quote links (/q/…) that were already sent still open a public quote page until they expire.
Where to find it
- In SolaCount: AR (Sales) rail → Documents → Quotes → open the quote. Use Send at the top of the quote, or the Send Email panel.
- The customer responds in the portal under Sales → Quotes (
/customer-portal/quotes).
You need the Send quotes permission.
Send a quote for a response
- Open the quote. It must be Draft or Sent. If your organization uses approvals, the quote must be approved first.
- Click Send at the top-right. The dialog asks "Send this quote?". Click to confirm.
- SolaCount emails the customer's address with the quote PDF attached and an Open Customer Portal button, sets the status to Sent, and shows "Quote sent successfully."
Sending again invalidates the previous response link for that quote and creates a new one. Only the latest email can be used.
You can also send from the Send Email panel (choose To, subject, message and PDF). This also marks a draft quote as Sent.
Responding in the portal
The customer clicks Open Customer Portal, lands on Quotes, and opens the quote. The quote page shows the document (lines, totals, issue and expiry dates), Download and print, and a Respond to this Quote section:
Accept Quote
- "You are about to accept this quote for {amount}."
- Tick I confirm I am authorized to accept this quote. (required).
- Optionally enter Your name (optional).
- Click Confirm Acceptance. The portal shows "Quote accepted. Thank you — the company has been notified."
Decline Quote
- Optionally give a Reason (optional) ("e.g. pricing, timing, requirements changed…").
- Confirm. The portal shows "Quote declined. The company has been notified." Declining cannot be undone.
When the quote has expired, the portal shows "This quote expired on {date} and can no longer be accepted. Contact {company} for a revised quote." instead of the buttons.
Older public quote pages
A /q/… link sent before the portal change opens a public quote page with the quote, Name (optional), Accept and Decline. Acceptance requires the confirmation tick ("Please confirm acceptance."). After responding, the customer sees "Thanks for accepting the quote — We will proceed with internal approval and follow up with you." or "Quote declined — We have recorded your response. Thank you."
A public link stops working when it is revoked (a newer send), expires (by default at the end of the quote's expiry date, or 14 days after sending when the quote has no expiry date), or reaches a maximum number of uses. The page then shows Quote Link Invalid — "This link is no longer valid. Please contact the sender to request a new quote link."
Quote statuses
| Status | Set when |
|---|---|
| Sent | You send the quote. |
| Customer Viewed | The customer opens the quote in the portal or from a public link. |
| Customer Accepted | The customer accepts. Your organization's active users are notified. |
| Customer Declined | The customer declines. |
| Expired | The expiry date passes. |
Only quotes in Sent or Customer Viewed can be accepted or declined, and not after expiry ("This quote has expired and cannot be accepted."). The quote's activity records who responded, when, and from where.
After acceptance, continue in SolaCount: convert the quote to a sales order or an invoice (see Quotes).
Worked example
Al Noor Trading LLC quotes Gulf Interiors LLC for office furniture: 20,000.00 AED + 5% VAT 1,000.00 = 21,000.00 AED, valid until 31 March 2026.
- The sales manager clicks Send → confirms. Status Sent.
- On 10 March, Gulf Interiors' buyer opens the portal from the email, ticks I confirm I am authorized to accept this quote., enters "Mariam Saeed" and clicks Confirm Acceptance.
- The quote shows Customer Accepted. The sales manager converts it to an invoice.
Sending and accepting a quote have no accounting effect. The accounting happens when the invoice is posted:
| Account | Debit (AED) | Credit (AED) |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts Receivable – Gulf Interiors LLC | 21,000.00 | |
| Sales income | 20,000.00 | |
| VAT Output Tax | 1,000.00 |
Tips and common problems
- "Customer email is required to send this quote." Add an email to the customer record.
- "Only draft or sent quotes can be sent." Accepted, declined, converted or cancelled quotes cannot be resent. Create a revision instead.
- The customer changed their mind after accepting. The customer cannot reverse a response. Handle it in SolaCount (for example, cancel the quote or create a revision).