NirmaanOne Help
How-toReviewed 2026-09-29

Send an estimate and hold the unit

Mark a draft estimate as sent so the unit and its parking slots are held for the buyer until the validity date, print or email the cost sheet from a published template, and extend the validity when the buyer needs more time.

Send an estimate and hold the unit

Marking an estimate as sent records that the buyer has the offer in hand and puts the unit on hold for them: the unit (and any parking slots on the estimate) becomes Reserved For Buyer until the validity date, so no other estimate can be sent on it. From the same page you print or email the cost sheet, and you extend the validity when the buyer needs more time.

Before you start

  • The estimate exists and is Draft: Price a unit for a buyer. Its unit must be Available, or already held for this buyer by an earlier version.
  • Valid until may be left blank on the draft: sending fills it with today plus the validity days (7 unless your organization or the project set another number under Organization or the project's Settings tab). A date typed on the draft is kept, but a date in the past is refused.
  • You need the Edit permission on Estimates: in the default roles the Administrator, the Sales Manager and the Sales Executive. Without it Mark sent and Extend validity aren't shown.
  • To print or email the cost sheet: the Create permission on Generated Documents to generate it and the Edit permission on Generated Documents to email it (the Sales Executive role has Create but not Edit by default), plus a published Cost Sheet template. The starter "Cost estimate sheet (standard)" ships as a Draft; publishing it needs the publish permission on Document Templates (the Administrator, the Sales Manager and Legal & Documentation by default).
  • Nothing is emailed by Mark sent itself. The seeded rule "Estimate sent: email the cost sheet (system)" ships switched off; an administrator can switch it on under Rules so the "Cost sheet sent to buyer" email goes out on every send. The email is a text summary; it does not attach the generated cost sheet.

Steps

  1. Once per organization, if you want to print or email the cost sheet: open Settings > Documents > Templates (Document templates), open "Cost estimate sheet (standard)", review the wording in the designer and click Publish (if you changed anything, Publish saves the draft first; Save draft stays greyed out until you do). The dialog "Publish template" asks for optional Notes ("What changed in this version"); click Publish. You see "Published as version 1." and the status reads Published. Until then the estimate's generate dialog says "No published template for this record type".
  2. Open the estimate from the opportunity's Estimates tab (click the version, or the Open icon), from Open estimate on the opportunity's Overview, or from Estimates in the sidebar (Estimate). The header reads "Estimate v<n>" with a Draft badge. On the Unit & plan card, Valid until reads "Set when sent (project / organization default)" (or the date typed on the draft) and Unit hold reads "Starts when the estimate is sent".
  3. Click Mark sent. You see "Estimate v<n> marked as sent." The badge reads Sent, Sent shows the date and time, Valid until shows the hold's end date, and Unit hold reads "Held for this buyer until <date>; no other estimate can be sent on it." The Unit line on the card now shows Reserved For Buyer in brackets, and the parking slots on the estimate are held for the buyer the same way.
  4. To print the cost sheet, click Generate document on the Documents card. The dialog "Generate document for Estimate v<n> · <buyer>" opens: choose "Cost estimate sheet (standard)" under Template (the note under it reads "Cost Sheet numbered CS-…"), leave Format on PDF ("Either format can be downloaded later; this one is stored.") and click Generate. You see "<number> generated." and the document appears in the card's list with the status Generated.
  5. On the document's row, click Email. The dialog "Email <number>" opens with To (placeholder "buyer@example.com, cc@example.com"), Subject (the document title), Message and Attach as (PDF or Word). Type the buyer's address and click Send. You see "Sent to <addresses>." and the status reads Sent. To hand it over yourself instead, click Download PDF or Download Word; Preview shows it on screen.
  6. If the buyer asks for the summary again later, open the Workflows menu in the header and choose Resend cost sheet. The dialog offers "Note to the buyer (optional)"; click Run. The progress dialog reads "The engine is working on it. You can close this and check run history later." and then "Finished in …". The buyer receives the "Cost sheet sent to buyer" email (subject "Cost sheet for <unit>, <project>") with your note. The menu shows only if you have the View permission on Workflow Runs. On an estimate that is no longer Sent, choosing the item opens a note instead: "This workflow cannot run right now: the record does not meet its conditions."
  7. When the buyer needs more time, click Extend validity. The dialog "Extend validity" reads "Version <n> is valid until <date>; unit <no> stays on hold for this buyer until the new date. The reason goes on the opportunity's timeline." Set New validity date and type a Reason (for example "Buyer travelling; loan sanction awaited"); Save new date stays greyed out until both are filled. You see "Estimate v<n> now valid until <date>." and the card shows the new date.

What happens next

  • The hold lasts until the validity date. Every hour the app expires estimates whose validity date has passed: on the day after Valid until the estimate becomes Expired, the unit and its parking slots go back to Available, the opportunity's stage drops back, and the rule "Estimate expired: re-quote or close (system)" notifies the creator and the Sales Managers and adds a task to re-quote or mark the opportunity lost. Two days before, the rule "Unit hold expiring in 2 days (system)" warns the creator ("Unit <no> hold ends on <date>") with a high-priority task; this warning covers only estimates still Sent. Both rules are switched on by default.
  • The hold also ends when the estimate is cancelled, the opportunity is marked lost, or a new version is drafted on another unit. Booking the estimate turns the hold into Booked.
  • Finalize pricing from Sent (once a payment plan is in place) locks the price and keeps the hold; finalizing the payment plan then requests approval: Finalize an estimate and request approval. Extending the validity works in every status up to Approved, so the hold survives the approval round.
  • Every generated document keeps the template version it was made with and is listed under Generated documents.

If something goes wrong

  • "Unit <no> is held for <name> until <date>" when you click Mark sent: another buyer's estimate holds the unit. Wait for that hold to lapse, or price a different unit. See Unit held for another buyer (trouble.sales.unit-held-for-another-buyer). "Unit is <status>" (for example "Unit is Booked") means the unit is no longer available at all. A parking slot held by another buyer's estimate gives "Parking slot <no> (<parking>) is held for <name> by a sent estimate".
  • "The estimate's validity date <date> has passed; set a later date before sending it": the draft carries an old Valid until. Edit the draft's date, or clear it so the default applies. See Validity date has passed (trouble.sales.validity-date-has-passed).
  • "Cannot send a <status> estimate": someone moved the estimate on while your page was open. Refresh and follow the buttons it now shows. See Estimate not current or in the wrong status (trouble.sales.estimate-not-current).
  • "No published template for this record type" in the generate dialog: publish the cost sheet template first (step 1). See No published template (trouble.documents.no-published-template).
  • "MAIL_SERVER is not configured; the message was logged" after Send, or the buyer never gets the mail: the mail server is not set up. See Email not delivered (trouble.documents.email-not-delivered).
  • Mark sent or Extend validity is missing on a Draft or Sent estimate: your role lacks the Edit permission on Estimates. See No permission (trouble.common.no-permission).
  • Resend cost sheet opens a dialog saying "You lack the permission it needs": running a workflow by hand needs the Create permission on Workflow Runs, which only the Administrator holds by default.

Related

  • EstimateScreen

    One estimate version: its charges by group, payment plan, approvals, unit and parking hold and validity, with the lifecycle actions to send, finalize, request approval, approve or reject, extend, cancel, version and book.

  • Estimates (opportunity tab)Screen

    Every priced version of one opportunity, newest first, with its status, unit, pricing plan, total and validity, and shortcuts to open a version, continue the draft or start a new one.

  • EstimatesScreen

    Every priced offer across projects, with an approvals inbox where approvers accept or reject estimates awaiting a decision and an all-estimates view with status and version filters.

  • Document templatesScreen

    The list of your organization's document templates (demand letters, offer letters, termsheets, agreements, allotment letters, receipts, cost sheets), with filters and the actions to create, duplicate, open or delete one.

  • Document templateScreen

    The template designer: write a template's wording with merge fields, set its letterhead, title and page layout, preview it against a real record, and publish, retire or restore its versions.

  • Generated documentsScreen

    The organization-wide log of every document generated from a template or uploaded against a record, where you preview, download, email, void or delete them.

  • RulesScreen

    Every automation rule in your organization, system and custom, with filters, the switch that turns each rule on or off, and shortcuts to edit, test, clone, see the run history of or delete a rule.

  • OrganizationScreen

    Your organization's profile and policies: name and invitation expiry, the two-factor requirement, the AI connectors switch, the help-assistant recording switch, the project defaults every project inherits (RERA gate, estimate validity, the two chargeable areas, carpet area offered, revenue method and trigger) and the effective-dated rules: the RERA escrow share that splits every sweep of a project's collection account, TDS on sales and booking cancellation.

  • Edit projectScreen

    Change a project's facts on one page: basics, site address, land survey details and expected possession, and, on a redevelopment, the development agreement date and the fair value of the development rights. The settings the project inherits from the organization live on its Settings tab.

  • Price a unit for a buyerHow-to

    Create the first estimate on an opportunity: pick the unit on the availability grid, any parking slots, a unit pricing plan or hand-added charges with overrides and GST, set the validity and save it as a draft.

  • Finalize an estimate and request approvalHow-to

    Lock the estimate's price and finalize its payment plan so an approver sees both together: from the wizard's Review & finalize step in one go, or from the estimate page with Finalize pricing and Finalize plan.

  • Approve or reject an estimateHow-to

    Find an estimate that is awaiting approval from the approvals inbox or your task, review its price and payment plan, and approve it so it can be booked or reject it with comments for the team to revise.

  • Book a unitHow-to

    Turn an approved estimate into a booking: review what was approved, add the co-applicants and their shares, set the booking date and book, then record the agreement details and any co-applicant who joins later.

  • Estimate validity and the unit holdConcept

    A sent estimate holds its unit (and the parking slots it picked) for that buyer until its Valid until date; the hold starts on sending, can be extended with a reason, and an hourly job expires the estimate and frees the unit the day after the date passes.

  • Estimate versions, price lock, overrides and the approval gateConcept

    Every priced offer to a buyer is a numbered version of the opportunity: a Draft is edited in place, any later price change is a new version that supersedes the current one, the price is locked when finalized, and every estimate must be approved before it can be booked.

  • Unit status lifecycle: available, reserved, allotted, held, booked, soldConcept

    Where a unit stands right now, from Available through the rehab path (Reserved For Tenant, Allotted) or the sales path (Reserved For Buyer, Booked, Sold), who moves it and what each status blocks.

  • Parking areas and parking slotsConcept

    A parking area (basement, podium, stilt) holds numbered parking slots that are inventory like units: held by a sent estimate, booked with the unit, or allocated to an allottee from the project.

  • Unit or parking slot is not free: held for another buyer, not for sale, or taken before bookingTroubleshooting

    An estimate can be priced, sent or booked only on a Saleable unit that is Available or already held for this buyer, with parking slots that are free or held for this buyer; a unit or parking slot held by another buyer's sent estimate, allotted, booked, blocked, or of PAP or Common designation is refused, including when someone else takes it between the estimate and the booking.

  • Estimate expired or its validity date has passed: the unit hold was releasedTroubleshooting

    An estimate holds its unit only until its Valid until date. A draft whose date has already passed cannot be sent or finalized, a new validity date cannot be in the past, and once the date has passed the hourly job marks the estimate Expired, releases the unit and parking slots and tells the team; an expired estimate cannot be revived, so a new one is priced.

  • Estimate action refused: not the current version, or the wrong statusTroubleshooting

    Estimate actions apply only to the current (highest live) version and only in certain statuses: a Draft is edited, a Draft or Sent version is finalized, a Pending Approval one is approved, the current Approved one is booked; anything else is refused and usually means the page is stale or an older version is open.

  • Generate document has nothing to offer: no published template for this record typeTroubleshooting

    Documents are generated only from published document templates of the record's type; the starter templates (cost sheet, allotment letter, offer letter and others) ship as drafts, so until someone publishes one, Generate document has nothing to pick, offers issue without a letter and workflow rules that generate the template fail.

  • Email shows as logged or refused: the mail server is not configured or rejected the messageTroubleshooting

    Outgoing mail is sent through a mail server set up for the installation, not inside the app; while none is configured every email (document, campaign, workflow, invitation, verification) is only logged and reported as not delivered, and when the server refuses a message the recipient is marked failed; the person who runs the installation configures mail, then you resend.

  • "No access" or "You do not have permission": your role lacks a permissionTroubleshooting

    Every screen, button and picker is gated by a permission on a module; your role decides which you hold, so a missing one shows as a No access card, a refused action, a greyed-out button with a hover reason, or a picker that explains which permission it needs.

  • SellGuide

    The sales flow from lead to handover: readiness, opportunities, estimates and payment plans, approval, booking, termsheet, schedule changes, possession, and email campaigns.