Turn site-visit notes into a Yardbook estimate and send it

1. Open Estimates from the left navigation bar of Yardbook and create a new estimate, adding the customer on the spot if they are not in Yardbook yet.
2. Add each line item from the Yardbook product catalog and set its price; catalog items carry no price until you add one, either on the invoice or in My Catalog.
3. Email the estimate. With Enable Online Approval set in Yardbook Invoice Settings, the customer sees an Approve button on the online estimate.
4. Each estimate is retyped from notes on a phone, and one sent two days after the visit competes with quotes that went out the same afternoon.

Parker property, 7 Ridge Road: spring cleanup of all beds $220, 6 yards hardwood mulch installed at $45 a yard, trim 4 boxwoods $15 each. Draft the estimate and email it to them after I look at it.

1. 01

   Find the right record

   The agent searches list_customers with type all by name and address, so a prospect from the quote form counts. get_customer shows whether a draft or sent estimate already exists for that property; if one does, the agent asks whether this is a revision before writing a second one.

2. 02

   Add the prospect only when needed

   A brand new contact is created as a prospect, not a customer, so the record carries the prospect status until you convert them. Without an email address the agent can still draft, but it says up front that sending will not work.

3. 03

   Turn notes into lines, never invent a price

   Each note becomes one line with a quantity and a unit price: "6 yards of mulch at 45" is quantity 6 at 45.00. A line you gave no price for is not filled from guesswork; the agent lists it and asks, because the customer sees every number.

4. 04

   Show the draft before anything leaves

   The agent saves the estimate as a draft and shows you the lines, the total and the scope text. Edits happen on the draft. send_estimate waits for your OK, with a short note in your words if you want one.

5. 05

   Leave the follow-up to Yardbook

   If you run estimate reminders in Yardbook, they start when the estimate is emailed and stop on approval, so the agent schedules no follow-ups of its own. It reports that the estimate went out and to which address.

Customer: Parker Property, 7 Ridge Road (existing, no open estimates)
Draft estimate 51802: Spring cleanup 1 x 220.00, Hardwood mulch installed 6 x 45.00, Boxwood trim 4 x 15.00
Total 550.00 before tax
You approved the draft at 7:42 pm
Sent to office@parker.example.com with the online Approve link

• Yardbook online approval is switched on under Sitemap > Company Profile > Settings > Update Invoice Settings, in the Estimate Approval Method field, with or without a signature.
• When a Yardbook customer approves online they enter their name and email, and both you and the customer get an email with a PDF of the approved estimate.
• Yardbook estimate reminders are created only for estimates sent by email, under Sitemap > Reminders > Set Up Estimate Reminders, and are cancelled when the estimate is accepted, rejected or turned into an invoice.
• Yardbook can collect a deposit at approval with an "Approve and Pay Deposit" button, a beta feature that needs a linked Stripe account; the deposit becomes a customer credit for a later invoice.
• To change an estimate the customer already approved in Yardbook, use the "change status to pending approval" link at the bottom of the estimate and send it again for approval.

send_estimate asks for your OK by default. To run it on a schedule without you, switch confirmation off for that tool in your dashboard.

Sources: Yardbook: Online estimate approval · Yardbook: Auto estimate reminders · Yardbook: Estimate approvals with deposit payments · Yardbook: Add a product or service to the catalog

curl https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/yardbook/create_estimate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"customer_id":"284230","description":"Spring cleanup, mulch and shrub trimming","line_items":[{"service":"Spring cleanup","description":"Leaf removal and cleanup of all beds","quantity":1,"unit_price":"220.00"},{"service":"Mulch","description":"Hardwood mulch, installed","quantity":6,"unit_price":"45.00"},{"service":"Shrub trimming","description":"Boxwoods along the walk","quantity":4,"unit_price":"15.00"}]}'

{
  "estimate_id": "51802",
  "customer_id": "284117",
  "status": "draft",
  "line_items": [
    {
      "service": "Spring cleanup",
      "quantity": 1,
      "unit_price": "220.00",
      "amount": "220.00"
    },
    {
      "service": "Mulch",
      "quantity": 6,
      "unit_price": "45.00",
      "amount": "270.00"
    }
  ],
  "total": "490.00"
}

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

• Add a new Yardbook customer and schedule recurring lawn jobs
• Record check and cash payments against Yardbook invoices
• Yardbook API and MCP server: every tool
• All use cases