Online estimate approval means you send a customer a private link, they open it on their phone, choose their options and approve by typing their name, and you see the answer without a phone call or a signed sheet of paper. It works when the estimate is clear, arrives the same day, and carries a good-until date.
This guide walks through the flow, what to put in the estimate, when to follow up, and how deposits fit in. The steps use Fasite as the worked example, and the advice applies to any tool.
How does online estimate approval work?
The sequence is short, and each step removes a reason for the customer to put it off.
- You write the estimate. In Fasite you pick a service from your price list and its price and unit fill in, including a special price for that address. You add a discount, tax and your own terms.
- You mark what is optional. Lines can be add-ons the customer ticks. Required lines stay all-or-nothing.
- You send a link. The customer gets a private link by email. They do not need an account, and they can download a PDF.
- The customer opens it on their phone. They read it, tick the add-ons they want, and the total follows their picks.
- They decide. They approve by typing their name, decline with a reason, or ask for a change instead of going quiet.
- You hear right away. A bell shows in your dashboard the first time they open it, and you get an email and a bell when they decide.
- The yes becomes a job. Approval creates the job with every line they chose, on the day you planned, or in a Needs a day list so it is never forgotten.
What they approved is locked. If the job changes, you revise it into a fresh estimate, so there is no argument later about what was agreed.
Is a typed name a valid signature?
Under federal law an electronic signature can count. The ESIGN Act says a signature, contract or record about a transaction in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce cannot be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is electronic (15 U.S.C. 7001). It defines an electronic signature as a sound, symbol or process attached to a record and adopted by a person with the intent to sign it (15 U.S.C. 7006). Typed-name approval is built to fit that definition. Fasite keeps the typed signature on file.
That is the general rule, not legal advice, and whether a particular estimate holds up is a question for a lawyer, not a software vendor. Check with your licensing board or a lawyer about the rules for your trade and state before you rely on any approval for a large contract.
What should an estimate include so people say yes?
A customer who cannot tell what they are buying stalls. In the Modernize 2025 Homeowner Insights Report, a confusing quote was the second most common reason homeowners gave for being least likely to hire a contractor, at 32.6%, behind pushy sales tactics at 37.9% (Modernize).
Put these in every estimate:
- The scope in plain words. What you will do, where, and what is not included.
- Line items from your price list. Quantities and units, so the total can be checked.
- Choices. Good, better and best, or required lines plus optional add-ons, so the customer shapes the job instead of accepting or rejecting one number.
- Tax and any discount, shown on the page, not buried.
- Your terms. Payment timing, what a change costs, how long the price holds.
- A good-until date. In Fasite each estimate has one, so an old price cannot be approved.
- A deposit, if you take one. See the section below.
- A way to reach you.
If you have not set up a price list yet, start with your most common jobs and a good, better and best option for each. To check that your prices cover your real costs, use the labor rate calculator and read what a service hour really costs.
How fast and how often should you follow up?
Fast on the first send. In the same Modernize report, 40.96% of homeowners planned to compare two contractors' quotes, 25.72% three and 14.41% four or more, while 18.90% planned to get one (Modernize). That is about four in five planning to compare at least two. The report's own advice to contractors is to differentiate early with transparent pricing and fast response times, so send the estimate the day you visit. More sourced numbers on quoting and getting paid are in our 2026 home service statistics.
On follow-up, no source we could verify gives a magic number of days, so treat this as a sensible default, not a measured result:
- Send the estimate the day of the visit, with a short message that says what to do next.
- If it has been opened and not answered, a short reminder a couple of days later.
- A second nudge about a week after that, and a call if the job is large.
- Let the good-until date do the last push, instead of chasing.
In Fasite you set reminders once. An email goes out on estimates nobody has answered. A customer with no email address on file is one you follow up with yourself. The bell on first open tells you whether they have seen it, so you can ring a customer who read it and said nothing.
Should you ask for a deposit?
It is your call. Many owners ask for one when they must buy materials or hold a date on the calendar. Check your state's rules on deposits and cancellation periods for your trade before you set an amount.
In Fasite you set a deposit as a percentage or an amount. When card payments are on, the customer can pay it by card on the estimate link, and the charge goes to your own Stripe account. If card payments are off, the link shows your own words on how to pay, and you record the deposit when it arrives. Either way the deposit carries onto the final invoice, so nobody pays twice. Card payments work only when you have turned them on.
Where does Fasite fit, and where does it not?
Fasite is one plan that includes estimates, a done-for-you website, the AI receptionist, scheduling and invoices, all in one login. See current pricing and the estimates page. The first subscription starts with a 30-day free trial that needs no card, and no contract.
It fits a small crew that sends estimates from its own price list and wants the approved estimate to turn into a job on the calendar. The finished job then waits in Ready to bill until you draft the invoice in one tap, and any deposit carries onto it.
Know the limits. Estimates and their reminders go by email, not text. Card payments work only when you have turned them on. There is no QuickBooks or Xero sync, though invoices and reports download as spreadsheets. If you only want to send estimates and nothing else, you would pay for a platform you will not use.
If you are comparing field service tools first, the prices differ a lot, and Jobber pricing and Housecall Pro pricing lay out two of them from their own pages.
Frequently asked questions
Do customers need an account to approve an estimate?
Not in Fasite. They open a private link from the email on any phone or computer, and can download a PDF.
Can a customer approve with just a typed name?
Yes. In Fasite they approve by typing their name and you keep that typed signature. See the ESIGN section above for the general rule, and check your state's requirements for your trade.
What if the job changes after the customer approves?
What they approved is locked. You revise it into a fresh estimate, so there is a clear record of what was agreed each time.
Can I take a deposit on the estimate?
Yes. Set it as a percentage or an amount. The customer can pay by card on the link only if you have turned card payments on, and the charge goes to your own Stripe account. Otherwise you record the deposit when it arrives.
What if the customer ignores the estimate?
Reminders go out on estimates nobody has answered, and the good-until date stops an old price from being approved. For a large job, add a call. Customers with no email and no mobile number are a call you make yourself.