"A Draft estimate already exists": one draft estimate (or draft payment plan) at a time
An opportunity can have only one Draft estimate, and an estimate only one Draft payment plan; the New estimate and New version buttons hide while a draft exists, and the draft has to be finished, deleted or (for a plan) edited before another one can be started.
Messages this explains
- “A Draft estimate already exists for this opportunity. Edit that draft instead of creating another.”
- “A Draft payment plan already exists; edit it instead”
"A Draft estimate already exists": one draft estimate (or draft payment plan) at a time
You want to price the opportunity again, but the app points you back at a draft that is already open: New estimate and New version are missing, saving a new estimate is refused, or a new payment plan version cannot be started.
What you see
On New estimate, when you press Save & continue to payment plan or Save & close: the banner "A Draft estimate already exists for this opportunity. Edit that draft instead of creating another." with a link Open draft vN underneath.
On the opportunity header, its Current estimate card and the Estimates tab, and on the estimate page: New estimate / New version are not shown while a Draft exists. In their place you see Edit draft vN (header and tab) or Continue draft vN (card).
On the Payment plan step of Edit estimate (opened from Draft payment plan or New version on the estimate's Payment plan card), and in Regenerate schedule on a booking's Termsheet & schedule tab: saving a new plan version is refused when the estimate already carries a Draft plan. On the plan step this happens only when someone else drafted a plan after you opened the page, because the step edits an existing draft rather than starting another. The server's message is "A Draft payment plan already exists; edit it instead", but because the two refusals share one code the screen shows the estimate wording, "A Draft estimate already exists for this opportunity. Edit that draft instead of creating another." Read it as "a draft payment plan already exists".
Why it happens
An estimate is versioned: a Draft is edited in place, and every later change of price is a new version that supersedes the current one the moment it is saved. Allowing two drafts at once would mean two people pricing the same buyer on possibly two different units, with no way to say which one is the offer. So the opportunity keeps one Draft at a time, and the buttons that would start another are hidden while it exists.
The payment plan works the same way on the estimate: one Draft plan, edited in place; a new version supersedes the finalized one on save. A booking's Regenerate schedule saves the next plan version on the booked estimate, so it too is refused while that estimate still carries a Draft plan.
How to fix it
- Open the draft. Click Open draft vN in the alert, or Edit draft vN / Continue draft vN on the opportunity. This needs the Edit permission on Estimates (in the default roles: the Administrator, the Sales Manager and the Sales Executive).
- Finish it or drop it. Change the unit, plan or charges on the draft and save it; there is no need for a second draft. If the draft is not wanted, use Delete draft on the draft's estimate page (the Delete permission on Estimates: the Administrator and the Sales Manager). A Sales Executive cannot delete a draft and Cancel estimate is not offered on a Draft, so ask a Sales Manager to delete it.
- For a draft payment plan, refresh the estimate page, then use Edit draft on the estimate's Payment plan card and change the plan there, or Delete draft on that card (the Delete permission on Estimates); deleting a draft plan puts the previously finalized version back in force.
- On a booking, when Regenerate schedule is refused, open the booked estimate (the Estimate link on the booking's Money card), delete or finalize its draft plan, then regenerate again.
- Once no draft remains, New estimate / New version reappear on the opportunity.
Related
Related
- New estimateScreen
Price a unit for a buyer: pick the unit and optional parking slots, load a unit pricing plan or add charges by hand, override rates with a reason, set the validity, and save the draft before moving on to the payment plan.
- 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.
- Opportunity (Overview tab)Screen
One buyer's enquiry on one project: who they are, what they want, the current estimate, the latest activity, documents and tasks, with the pipeline actions (estimate, assign, book, mark lost, reopen) in the header.
- 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.
- Edit estimate (estimate wizard)Screen
Continue an estimate in three steps: edit the draft pricing, draft or re-version the payment plan (lumpsum, installments, custom dates or construction-linked), then review and finalize, which locks price and plan and requests approval.
- Termsheet & scheduleScreen
The buyer's termsheet: the agreed charges and the installment schedule with GST, the TDS the buyer deducts and what is payable to the developer, plus the actions to issue, accept, sign, reopen or regenerate it and to re-date an installment.
- 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.
- Payment plans: lumpsum, cadence, custom and construction-linkedConcept
A payment plan says how the buyer's total is collected: all at once, in equal installments on a cadence, on agreed dates, or as construction stages are achieved; it lives on the estimate as numbered versions, is finalized with the price for approval, and becomes the booking's schedule.
- 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.
- Revise an estimate after a rejection or a change of termsHow-to
Change a locked estimate the right way: a new version for a different price, unit or parking (the old version is superseded), a new payment plan version when only the terms change, or a fresh approval request on the same version.
- Agree the payment planHow-to
Draft how the estimate's amount is collected (lumpsum, installments on a cadence or on agreed dates, or construction-linked), check the schedule preview and save the plan as a draft version on the estimate.
- Re-date an installment or regenerate the scheduleHow-to
Move one pending installment to a new date, or rebuild the open part of a booking's payment schedule from a changed payment plan, keeping every paid, waived or hand-edited row.
- 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.