Turn signed Joist estimates into invoices

1. Open the Estimates list and look for the pen in hand icon, which Joist shows once the client signs; the opened envelope icon only means they opened the email.
2. Open the signed estimate and click Generate Invoice at the top of the screen on the web (Invoice on iPhone, the green circle then Invoice on Android).
3. Check the new invoice, which Joist fills with every detail from the estimate, and edit it if the scope changed.
4. Click Email, check the To field, subject and body, and click Send.
5. Joist Auto-generate Invoice skips these clicks only on estimates where it was turned on in the Online Payments section of the estimate; every other signed estimate waits for Generate Invoice.
6. Signature alerts are phone push notifications on Joist Pro only, so a signature from Saturday can sit unnoticed until someone opens the list on a computer.

Every morning, find the Joist estimates clients signed since yesterday, turn each into an invoice and email it to the client.

1. 01

   Pick only real signatures

   The agent reads list_estimates and keeps estimates that carry the signed marker. An Approved status alone proves nothing, because Joist also sets it on conversion and when you change the status by hand. Opened but unsigned estimates are only listed.

2. 02

   Read what the client signed

   get_document shows the line items, tax and Deposit Due of each signed estimate. If you told the agent the scope changed for a job, or the total differs from what you expected, it stops on that estimate and asks before converting.

3. 03

   Convert once, never twice

   Before converting, the agent searches list_invoices for the client. An invoice with the same total means the estimate was already invoiced, by an earlier run or by Joist Auto-generate Invoice, so it is skipped. Otherwise convert_estimate_to_invoice creates the invoice, and each new invoice number is matched back to its estimate in the report.

4. 04

   Send or hold

   send_document emails each invoice to the address on the client card and waits for your OK by default. A client card without an email is reported with the invoice number, so you can text the link from the Joist app yourself.

4 signed estimates found, 2 already invoiced earlier (skipped)
Estimate #318 Dana Lee, $757.75 -> Invoice #1051, Deposit Due $378.88, emailed to dana@example.com
Estimate #322 Henderson family, $4,180.00 -> Invoice #1052, not sent: no email on the client card
Opened, not signed: #320 Priya Nair, $2,160.00, expires in 3 days

• Converting in Joist changes the estimate status from pending to approved and keeps the original in the Estimates section; a deleted Joist estimate cannot be recovered.
• Joist also lets you approve an estimate yourself by changing its status from Pending to Approved, so an Approved estimate is not proof of a client signature.
• An invoice made by Joist Auto-generate Invoice shows ISSUED once it was emailed to the client and DRAFT when it was not sent.
• Joist clients sign by clicking Sign on the emailed document and typing their name, while signing on your own screen works only in the Joist mobile app.

send_document asks for your OK by default. To run it daily without you, switch confirmation off for that tool in your dashboard.

Sources: Joist Help Center: convert an estimate to an invoice · Joist Help Center: know if a client viewed or signed · Joist Help Center: how a client signs an estimate or invoice · Joist Help Center: automatically generate an invoice from an approved estimate · Joist Help Center: what happens to my estimate when I convert it

curl https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/joist/convert_estimate_to_invoice \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"estimate_id":"est_20418"}'

{
  "invoice_id": "inv_58300",
  "number": "1051",
  "from_estimate": "est_20418",
  "total": 700,
  "deposit_due": 350,
  "sent": false,
  "estimate_status": "approved"
}

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the tool is joist_convert_estimate_to_invoice. Example data.

• Create Joist estimates from a job description
• Record check and cash payments on Joist invoices
• Follow up on unpaid and overdue Joist invoices
• Joist API and MCP server: every tool
• All use cases