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“Can you send me an invoice so I can approve the budget?” — clients ask for the wrong document all the time, and sending it can genuinely hurt you: an invoice issued before work exists is a tax document for income you haven't earned, and it starts a payment clock on a job that hasn't been agreed. The quote and the invoice are two ends of the same job. Here's the clean picture.
A quote agrees the price — before any work
A quote (also called an estimate or proposal) says: here is what I will do, here is what it will cost, here are the terms. The client accepts it, and that acceptance is your green light and your protection. Quotes carry no tax-invoice status and request no payment — they create agreement. In Invoicekin the Estimate Generator is the quote tool: it costs 1 tool credit (Free plan: 50 a month) and never touches your invoice allowance.
An invoice requests payment — after the work
An invoice says: the work is done (or a milestone is reached), here is the amount now due, here is the due date. It is a formal, numbered, tax-relevant record, tracked as Draft, Sent, Viewed, Paid or Overdue. Sending an invoice is a financial act; sending a quote is a sales act. That is the whole difference — and it is enough to matter.
Estimate vs quote — the fine print
A quote is usually a fixed price: the client can hold you to it. An estimate is a good-faith range that can move if the work genuinely changes. Say which one you are sending, in the document title — Invoicekin lets you rename the fixed labels per document (Custom labels in the editor), so an estimate can read “Estimate” honestly instead of pretending to be fixed.
The workflow that connects them
Quote first, always in writing, with terms and a late-fee note included. Client accepts. Do the work. Then convert: in Invoicekin, Convert to invoice turns the approved estimate into the invoice in one click — the converted invoice counts against the invoice allowance, not credits. Same lines, same totals, no re-typing, no “but you said…” — the accepted quote is attached to the job's history.
When a client asks for an invoice first
Some companies need a document for their purchase-order process. What they usually need is a proforma invoice — an invoice-shaped preview that is explicitly not a tax invoice, used for deposits and approvals. Invoicekin's Proforma Generator exists for exactly this. Send the proforma, get the PO or the deposit, do the work, then issue the real invoice.
Quick reference
Agreeing a price: quote/estimate. Client's finance team needs paperwork before committing: proforma or their purchase order. Work delivered, money due: invoice. Money received: receipt. Overbilled: credit note. Five documents, five moments — and one editor in Invoicekin that produces all of them with your logo, signature and terms already on.
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FAQs
Invoice vs quote — which one comes first?
The quote, always. You agree the price with a quote (in Invoicekin, an Estimate) before work starts; the invoice asks for the money after the work is done. Then the quote to invoice step is one click — Convert to invoice carries the accepted lines and totals into the invoice, so the client is never surprised by the bill. One editor handles both documents: invoice and estimate software without the switch.
Is a quote legally binding?
An accepted quote generally forms part of your agreement — which is why it should state scope, price, terms and validity (e.g. “valid 14 days”) clearly.
Can a quote become the invoice?
Yes — in Invoicekin, Convert to invoice does it in one click, keeping the accepted lines and totals. The client can never be surprised by the bill.
Should I invoice before starting work?
For a deposit, invoice the deposit amount (or send a proforma). Don't invoice the full job before it exists — it distorts your records and the client's.
What's the difference between an estimate and a quote in Invoicekin?
They're the same document type (Estimate) — you choose the wording. A fixed price reads as a quote; use Custom labels or your notes to say “estimate” when the price can move.