Where control turns projects into profit

You’ve just finished a scoping call, the budget is pencilled in, and now you need to get a formal proposal in front of the client before the momentum fades. But a quote is more than just a price tag; it’s the commercial foundation of your project, and if the terms are vague or the versioning is messy, your margins are at risk before the work even begins.

Commercial Certainty from the First Click

In AtomicSam, quotes are designed to close the gap between what you promised and what you actually bill. Instead of hunting through sent folders to find out which version of a PDF the client actually signed, the system maintains a rigid lifecycle that ensures you and your client are always looking at the same numbers.

💡 Tip: Use Quote Templates to pre-fill common task sets and cost structures. This keeps your pricing consistent across the firm and prevents junior team members from forgetting standard line items.

Managing the Quote Lifecycle

Every quote moves through a specific set of statuses. This isn't just for organization—it’s how AtomicSam protects the integrity of your data. Once a quote moves from Draft to Sent, it becomes a locked record of your offer.

Status	What it represents	When to use
Draft	Work in progress; visible only to your team.	Internal scoping and margin checking.
Sent/Issued	The formal offer shared with the client.	When you are ready to commit to the price.
Accepted	Legally approved by the client.	Triggers the conversion to an active Job.
Declined	Rejected by the client.	When the scope is dead or requires a fresh start.

⚠️ Heads up: If you need to edit a quote after it has been Sent, AtomicSam will automatically create a new version. This prevents the "moving target" problem where a client signs a quote that you've secretly updated.

Digital Acceptance and Tracking

When a client receives your quote, they can accept it digitally. AtomicSam doesn't just record a "yes"—it captures a forensic audit trail including the timestamp, IP address, and user agent. This gives you absolute revenue confidence if a billing dispute arises later.

At the point of acceptance, the client is also prompted to confirm their Invoice Mode Preference (such as fixed fee vs. time and materials). Capturing this detail early prevents friction during the first billing cycle of the project.

The Terms Hierarchy

You shouldn't have to copy-paste your "Standard Terms of Business" every time you send a proposal. AtomicSam uses a cascading logic for your legal and payment terms. The system checks for terms in this order, stopping at the first one it finds:

Quote-specific: Bespoke terms for this specific deal.
Client: Agreed terms unique to this specific requester.
Billing Profile: Terms specific to an entity or currency.
Organisation: Your firm’s global default.

Turning Quotes into Revenue-Generating Jobs

Once a quote is Accepted, the transition to delivery is immediate. All your quoted line items, estimated hours, and costs are preserved to form the project budget. If you are quoting additional work for a client who already has an active project, you must choose a Merge Strategy:

Strategy	Action	When to use
Replace Budget	Overwrites the existing budget but keeps recorded time.	When a project has been re-scoped entirely.
Add as Variation	Appends the new quote items to the existing budget.	For "Change Requests" or scope creep.
Create New Job	Starts a fresh job container for the work.	When the work is a separate commercial engagement.

✅ Did you know: You can configure your Quote Numbering in System Settings to include an optional client code prefix, making it easier to search for proposals in your accounting software later.

Pro Tips for Commercial Control

Capture the "Why" on Declines: When a client clicks Decline, AtomicSam prompts them for a reason. Don't ignore this data; use it in your monthly management meetings to identify if you are losing work on price, timing, or fit.
Standardise your PDF Identity: Spend ten minutes in Templates to brand your PDF output. Professional, consistent proposals suggest a professional, consistent delivery, allowing you to defend higher margins.
Lock the Invoice Mode: Ensure your team sets the preferred Invoice Mode during the quoting phase. Changing this mid-project is one of the leading causes of revenue leaks and delayed payments.