NirmaanOne Help
TroubleshootingReviewed 2026-09-29

Opportunity cannot be deleted, marked lost, reopened or worked: its stage decides

Only a Lead with no estimates can be deleted; anything further along is marked lost instead. A booked opportunity is closed only by cancelling its booking, a lost one must be reopened before it can be priced or booked, and a buyer who comes back is reopened rather than entered again.

Messages this explains

  • “Only a Lead without estimates can be deleted. Mark the opportunity as lost instead.”
  • “This opportunity is booked. Cancel the booking to close it.”
  • “This opportunity is already marked as lost.”
  • “Only a lost opportunity can be reopened.”
  • “This opportunity is closed (booked or lost). Reopen it first.”
  • “The opportunity is <booked/lost>; nothing can be booked.”
  • “This opportunity already has a booking.”
  • “This buyer already has a lost opportunity on this project (lost on <date>: <reason>). If they are back, reopen it instead of creating a new one: its history stays together, and the new estimate starts fresh.”
  • “Reason is required”

Opportunity cannot be deleted, marked lost, reopened or worked: its stage decides

You tried to delete, close, reopen, price or book an opportunity and the app refused, or the button you expected is missing. What you can do with an opportunity depends on its stage: Lead, Estimate, Approval, Booked or Lost.

What you see

  • Delete on the Opportunities list or the opportunity header: "Only a Lead without estimates can be deleted. Mark the opportunity as lost instead." The Delete icon is shown only on a Lead, and on the opportunity page only while it has no estimates.
  • Mark lost: "This opportunity is booked. Cancel the booking to close it." or "This opportunity is already marked as lost." In the Mark as lost? dialog, pressing Mark lost with the Reason empty shows "Reason is required".
  • Reopen: "Only a lost opportunity can be reopened."
  • New estimate on a closed opportunity, or Book on a lost one: "This opportunity is closed (booked or lost). Reopen it first."
  • In the booking wizard, red alerts "The opportunity is booked; nothing can be booked.", "The opportunity is lost; nothing can be booked." or "This opportunity already has a booking.", with Continue and Book greyed out.
  • On New opportunity, after you pick an existing contact and the project, an amber warning: "This buyer already has a lost opportunity on this project (lost on <date>: <reason>). If they are back, reopen it instead of creating a new one: its history stays together, and the new estimate starts fresh." with Reopen it and Open the lost opportunity. It is a warning only; you can still create the new opportunity.

Why it happens

The pipeline keeps a record of every enquiry, so opportunities are closed rather than erased once work has started on them:

  • Delete exists for mistakes: a Lead typed in twice or on the wrong project. Once an estimate has been priced on it (even one later cancelled or expired), the opportunity carries history, so it is marked lost with a reason instead.
  • Booked is closed by the booking. The booking holds the unit, the termsheet and the money, so the only way to close it is to cancel the booking, which marks the opportunity Lost.
  • Lost releases everything: marking lost cancels every live estimate, withdraws pending approvals and puts held units and parking slots back in stock. A lost opportunity therefore has nothing live to price or book until it is reopened. Reopening brings it back as a Lead with its whole history, and the next estimate is priced fresh on a unit that is free at that time.
  • One booking per opportunity. An opportunity that already has a booking cannot be booked again. This includes a booking that was later cancelled: after the cancellation the opportunity is Lost, and even once reopened the booking wizard still answers "This opportunity already has a booking."

How to fix it

  1. To remove a Lead typed in by mistake, delete it while it is still a Lead with no estimates (the Delete permission on Opportunities). If an estimate was ever made on it, click Mark lost instead and give a reason such as "Duplicate entry" (the Edit permission on Opportunities; the Reason is required, up to 255 characters). If a Lead whose estimates were all cancelled still shows Delete on the list, the refusal is expected: mark it lost.
  2. To close a booked opportunity, open the booking and use Cancel booking (Cancel booking); it needs the Edit permission on Bookings, and finishing it also needs the Edit permission on Demands and the Create permission on Payments. The opportunity becomes Lost.
  3. When a lost buyer comes back, click Reopen on the opportunity (or the Reopen icon on its row in the list, or Reopen it in the New opportunity warning); this needs the Edit permission on Opportunities. Then price a new estimate. See Reopen a lost opportunity.
  4. "Already marked as lost" or "Only a lost opportunity can be reopened" mean someone changed the stage while your page was open. Refresh; the header shows the stage it is in now, and the History tab lists each move with its date and note.
  5. A buyer whose booking was cancelled and who wants to buy again cannot be booked on the same opportunity. Start a new opportunity for them on the project (the lost-opportunity warning can be ignored in this case) and price and book on it.

Related

  • OpportunitiesScreen

    The sales pipeline as a list or a stage board: every buyer enquiry with its stage, owner and current estimate, with filters, search and shortcuts to open, edit, delete or reopen 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.

  • New opportunityScreen

    Start a lead: the project, the buyer (a new person or an existing contact), where the enquiry came from, who works it, any channel partner to credit, and what the buyer is looking for.

  • Book <unit> for <name> (booking wizard)Screen

    The three-step wizard that turns an approved estimate into a booking: review exactly what was approved, add co-applicants and their shares, set the booking date and book the unit.

  • 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.

  • Cancel bookingScreen

    The four-step wizard that cancels a booking: it shows the demands and receipts that will be reversed, suggests the forfeiture and charges from the rule in force, sets the refund and posts everything in one go, releasing the unit and parking and marking the opportunity lost.

  • Stage historyScreen

    Every move of an opportunity through the pipeline, newest at the top: the stage it left, the stage it entered, when, and the note that explains why.

  • Opportunity stages, lead sources and system activitiesConcept

    An opportunity moves through Lead, Estimate, Approval and Booked (or Lost) only through the actions taken on it; every move is written to its stage history and its timeline, where locked system activities sit beside the calls and visits the team logs.

  • Mark an opportunity lostHow-to

    Close a buyer's enquiry with a reason when they drop out: every live estimate is cancelled, the unit and parking slots held for them go back to stock, and the opportunity can be reopened if they return.

  • Reopen a lost opportunityHow-to

    Bring a lost buyer back as a Lead with their history intact, from the opportunity, the list or the new-opportunity notice, and price a fresh estimate on a unit that is free now.

  • Capture and work a leadHow-to

    Create an opportunity for a buyer's enquiry on a project, assign it an owner, log the calls, site visits and follow-ups on its timeline, and keep the requirements up to date until it is ready to be 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.