When the client has to pick
Let the client choose: comparison quotes in one link
The usual move when a job has more than one shape is three PDFs and a phone call to talk the client through them. The trick here is one link with the choice already built in: a Budget and a Premium quote, two full quotes the client picks between. Most PSAs give you one quote per link - this tenant's Bluebird Dental job pushed a real comparison quote through end to end, plus the plain optional-line door that looks similar but isn't, to see exactly where each one starts and stops.
What you will have
- Connect a mailbox first at Integrations > Microsoft 365. Quotes are emailed from that mailbox.
- Turn one quote into a real choice between two full, separately priced quotes with Compare, and watch accepting one automatically decline and lock the other.
- Send that choice as one link and see the two quotes render as cards the client picks between, terms and all.
- See what a client's real acceptance does on its own: the quote converts to an invoice without anyone clicking Convert to Invoice.
- Tell the plain optional-line tick-box apart from a comparison group - a different door that cannot be mixed with it.
Why it works this way
A comparison quote is several complete, independently priced quotes sharing one comparison group; the client's link renders them as cards, and accepting one server-side marks every other quote in the group Rejected in the same stroke.
A plain optional line item is a separate door: its tick-box is refused on a quote already in a comparison group, so a required line and an optional line never mix with a comparison group on the same document.
A real client acceptance through the comparison door converts the quote to an invoice on its own. Convert to Invoice as a manual click is only needed after an admin-recorded acceptance (Mark Accepted), not a genuine one.
A comparison sibling created without its own typed label displays as "Option A" rather than blank - the label field on Create Comparison Quote is optional, but the fallback name isn't.
Steps
Open a quote and find Compare in its actions menu.
Q-2026-09-1010 for Bluebird Dental carries one required line, Workstation Replacement x4 at $1,150, for a $4,600 total. The "..." menu beside Save lists Send, Compare, Mark Accepted, Mark Rejected, Print, Download PDF and Delete - Compare is the door into a comparison quote, sitting right next to the ordinary Send.
Open a quote and find Compare in its actions menu. Give the new sibling its own label.
Compare opens Create Comparison Quote: "Create an alternative quote for the client to compare against this one. They will only be able to accept one." A Quote Label field takes a name - Premium here - before Create & Edit spins off the second quote.
Give the new sibling its own label. Price the sibling and watch the Comparison Group banner appear.
Q-2026-09-1011, the new sibling, carries Workstation Pro x4 at $1,650 ($6,600) plus a Docking Station line x4 at $65 ($260), for a $6,860 total. Both quotes now show a Comparison Group: Premium banner - named after this quote's own label - cross-linking the other one as "Option A ($4,600.00) DRAFT": the original quote, never given a label of its own, defaults to that name rather than showing blank.
Note: Add optional item disappears from a quote the moment it joins a comparison group - optional lines and comparison quotes are two different doors, never both on the same document.Price the sibling and watch the Comparison Group banner appear. Send the whole group as one link, not two.
Send Comparison Quotes replaces the ordinary Send action on a comparison quote: "Send all 2 comparison quotes to the client. They will choose one." A Quotes in this group panel lists both by label and total - Premium $6,860.00, Option A $4,600.00 - underneath the recipient's email, confirming one link is about to carry both documents.
Note: The client's email comes from the mailbox connected at Integrations > Microsoft 365. Without one, nothing is sent.Send the whole group as one link, not two. Open the client's link and see both quotes as cards.
The public accept page renders a Quote Comparison chip, the client's name, and the two quotes side by side as cards - Option A at $4,600.00, Premium at $6,860.00 - each with its own line items, its own total, and its own Download PDF, before anything is picked.
Open the client's link and see both quotes as cards. Pick a card, read the terms, and tick the acknowledgement.
Clicking the Premium card outlines it and puts a checkmark in its corner. A Terms & Conditions block appears underneath the moment a card carrying terms is selected - "I have read and agree to the terms above" - with its tick-box still unticked.
Pick a card, read the terms, and tick the acknowledgement. See what the client's real accept did on its own.
Back in admin, Q-2026-09-1011 now reads Premium / Converted, with a lock banner: "This quote is converted and cannot be edited." Its Comparison Group panel shows the sibling as "Option A ($4,600.00) REJECTED." Nobody clicked Convert to Invoice - a genuine client acceptance through the public link converts the accepted quote to an invoice by itself and declines every other quote in the group in the same stroke.
See what the client's real accept did on its own. Compare both to the plain optional-line door.
An older quote, Q-2026-09-005, shows a different shape: a required AV Cabling and Mounts line at $3,200, and a separate Optional items section below it with its own OPTIONAL tick-box column carrying Extended 3-Year Warranty at $650. This tick-box marks one line as optional on an otherwise ordinary quote - not a client choosing between quotes. It is the door quote-to-invoice's own walkthrough already covers, kept here only to show it is not this one.
Compare both to the plain optional-line door.
The pages behind each click
Other ways to do this
More than two choices
Compare can be run again from either sibling to add a third quote to the same comparison group.
Record acceptance for a yes given by phone or email
Mark Accepted, in the same actions menu, records an out-of-band acceptance on a comparison quote the way it does on a plain one - but Convert to Invoice still has to be clicked by hand afterward, because there was no real accept transaction to trigger it.
If it did not work
- If Compare or Add optional item is missing from a quote's actions menu, check whether it is already a comparison sibling - a quote can carry optional lines or belong to a comparison group, but never both at once.
- If an unlabeled comparison sibling reads "Option A" instead of a name you typed, that is the default label, not a bug - only a quote given a label through Create Comparison Quote shows one.
- If Convert to Invoice never had to be clicked after a client's real acceptance, that's expected - a genuine accept through the comparison link converts on its own; the manual click is only for an admin-recorded acceptance.
Questions this page answers
What is a comparison quote?
A comparison quote gives the client a choice. You send two or more quotes together and the client picks one. Open a quote that is still Draft or Sent, then click Compare in its actions menu. Give the new one a label, such as Budget Option. A quote with optional lines cannot be compared. When the client accepts one quote, the rest are declined.
Can I add optional items when I accept a quote?
Some quotes come with extra items you can choose. They show as check boxes under the items you must take. Tick one and the total goes up right away, so the total always shows what you agree to. If tax applies, the tax on your picks is worked out when you are invoiced. A short note on the page says so. Only the items you tick are added to the quote.
How do I respond to a quote?
When your IT provider sends you a quote, it shows up in Billing under Quotes with its number, total, status, and expiry date. If you are the Owner or the Primary Contact, each sent quote has Approve and Decline buttons. Approve opens a review page. It shows the line items and the total, any optional items as checkboxes that update the total as you tick them, and, if the quote has Terms & Conditions, the terms plus a box you must tick before Approve turns on. Decline just asks you to confirm. If the quote offers several options, accepting one declines the rest.
What does the client see when they accept a quote?
They see the required lines and the total first. That is the same on the public link and in the portal. If the quote has optional items, they tick the ones they want. The total updates before they commit. If the quote has terms, they must tick a box saying they have read and agree to them. The Accept Quote button stays off until they do. That tick gets its own time stamp. You can see it on the quote, in the Quote Details card, on a row called Terms acknowledged. It sits beside Accepted by and Accepted On.
What do draft, sent and accepted mean?
A draft is yours to edit. Send emails it to the client with a link they can accept from. Most sends go out right away. If the mail queue cannot get it out at once, this page says so instead of claiming it was sent, and Logs > Email Log shows how it ends. A sent quote can still be edited, but the client only sees your changes after you save and send it again. An accepted quote is locked, and Convert to Invoice takes the place of Save. Mark Accepted and Mark Rejected are for a yes or a no the client gave you outside the portal. A rejected quote reopens when you edit and resend it.
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