How do I go from an estimate to a payable invoice in RoofCRM?

Build the estimate in the Money section, attach it to a customer, and send it — the customer gets an email with a link to review and e-sign their acceptance, with an audit trail recorded. From an accepted estimate you can convert it to a job or create an invoice from it directly. If your RoofCRM deployment has Stripe configured, a saved invoice shows a 'Create pay link' button that mints a payment link you can send the customer. That button only appears when the deployment reports Stripe payments are available — without it, invoices still work, but there is no pay-link button rather than a dead one.

From estimate to invoice to a pay link

The chain is: build an estimate → send it for e-signature acceptance → convert it to a job or create an invoice from it → and, when your deployment has Stripe configured, mint a pay link from the saved invoice. Each step has a real gate, and the app tells you when a gate is closed instead of showing a button that goes nowhere. Here is the whole path.

1. Build the estimate

Estimates live under Money. Create one, attach it to a customer, and add your line items. Every new estimate starts as a draft. Nothing goes to the customer until you send it.

2. Send it for acceptance

Sending needs two things: the estimate must be attached to a customer with an email address, and your RoofCRM deployment must have email sending enabled. When both are true, the send button emails the customer a link where they can review the proposal and e-sign their acceptance — the signature is recorded with an audit trail you can view on the estimate. The estimate moves through its statuses (draft, sent, viewed, accepted, rejected, expired, converted) as the customer acts.

If email sending is not available on the deployment, the app says so plainly — "email delivery is not available yet" — instead of letting you fire a send that fails silently.

3. Convert it

From a sent or accepted estimate you have two bridges:

Convert to job — pushes the accepted work onto the schedule so the crew can run it.
Create invoice — generates an invoice from the estimate, so what the customer agreed to is what they get billed.

Invoices have their own lifecycle: draft, sent, then partial, paid, overdue, or void.

4. The pay link — only when Stripe is configured

On a saved invoice that is not yet paid or voided, you may see a Create pay link button. It mints a payment link you can send the customer, who pays online.

This button does not exist on every deployment. RoofCRM deployments report their own capabilities, and pay links appear only when the deployment has Stripe payments configured. If Stripe is not set up, the button is not rendered at all — you never get a dead button. Everything before this step (estimates, e-signatures, invoices) works regardless.

Questions

Can I send an estimate without email capability?

You can build and manage the estimate, but emailing it to the customer requires the deployment to have email sending enabled and the customer to have an email address on file. The UI tells you which of those is missing.

Why don't I see the pay-link button?

Because your deployment does not have Stripe payments configured, or the invoice is already paid or voided. Check with whoever administers your RoofCRM deployment — capability is a deployment-level setting, not a per-user one.