Getting started with QuoteCloud

Approved quotes into your workshop system and accounts

Signed quotes and paid deposits can update your workshop management system or DMS through Zapier or the API, and your accounts in Xero or QuickBooks.

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QuoteCloud connects to workshop management systems and dealer DMS platforms through Zapier, Make or the QuoteCloud API, from the Essentials plan, where your system has a connector or an API. Triggers include a signed quote and a payment. Xero and QuickBooks Online are native on Business, otherwise through Zapier; HubSpot connects through Zapier.

The cover of a sample service quote from a fictional workshop, Kettlebrook Auto Service, behind a panel headed 'After Nadia signs' that ticks off what an automation can pass on: the signed quote and the paid deposit as Zapier triggers, the job card updated in the workshop system where it has a connector, the customer and amount sent to Xero or QuickBooks (native on Business, or through Zapier) and a row added to an approved-jobs sheet in Google Sheets.

The signed quote, handed to the workshop system

Your workshop management system or DMS already holds the job cards, the parts orders and the invoices. QuoteCloud's job is to win the approval, then hand it over without anyone retyping it.

When Nadia signs, Zapier's Recipient Signed Document trigger fires; when the deposit lands, Document Payment Event fires. A Zap can then find the job in your system and update it, if your system has a Zapier connector or an API.

  • Triggers: first viewed, signed, payment, status changed, comment
  • Actions: send a document, create a PDF link, update its status
  • Your system.s own Zapier app decides what it can update

Zapier, Make and the API: Essentials and up

QuoteCloud on Zapier
Activity · KA-24817Kettlebrook Auto Service Sample data

Activity

  1. Quote openedNadia Haddad, on her phone
  2. Wheel alignment ticked+$140.80 inc tax
  3. Approved & signedCertificate of authenticity attached
  4. Deposit for parts paid$655.38 via Stripe
  5. Job card updatedIn the workshop system, through Zapier

Set up the hand-off once

A typical Zap from a signed QuoteCloud quote to a workshop system. Your system's own Zapier app decides which steps are possible.

  1. Pick the trigger

    Recipient Signed Document, or Document Payment Event if the job should wait for the deposit.

  2. Find the job

    Look up the customer or job card in your workshop system by plate number or quote number.

  3. Update it

    Write the approved total, the deposit and a PDF link of the signed quote to the job.

  4. Log it

    Add a row to an approved-jobs sheet in Google Sheets, so the floor sees what is next.

  5. Test and turn on

    Sign a test quote, check the job card, then switch the Zap on for every quote.

What workshops connect QuoteCloud to

Workshop systems and DMS platforms through Zapier, Make or the API where they have a connector or an API. Xero and QuickBooks Online are native on Business, or through Zapier; HubSpot through Zapier.

Four ways to connect a workshop

Pick the route that fits your system and who will build it.

  • Zapier

    No code. QuoteCloud's triggers and actions with your system's Zapier app, if it has one. Essentials and up; documents created through Zapier carry a per-document fee.

  • Make

    Scenarios for more complex flows, built in Make with QuoteCloud as a step. Essentials and up.

  • The QuoteCloud API

    Your developer or your DMS provider creates documents from templates, with data items and price rows. A per-document creation fee applies.

  • Professional services

    QuoteCloud's team scopes and builds the integration with you. See professional services.

Try the hand-off during your free trial

Free for 14 days, no credit card required. Zapier, Make and the API are on Essentials and up.

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A quote started from your DMS

It works the other way too. When a booking or a job is opened in your DMS, the API (or a Zap) can create a QuoteCloud document from your service template, fill data items such as the customer, plate and odometer, and add price rows for the service kit at creation.

The template supplies the cover, the inspection layout and the wording. The automation adds rows and fills fields; it doesn't tick options or choose blocks. The advisor checks the quote and sends it, and the customer ticks the extra work themselves.

  • Create from a template, fill data items, add price rows
  • Rows can carry label, note, price, quantity, tax, discount and cost
  • Illustrative: no public API reference is linked here

API and Zapier: Essentials and up, per-document creation fee

Document automation API, Zapier and Make
Kettlebrook Auto ServiceService & repair quote KA-24817 Illustrative · created through the API

Your vehicle

Vehicle
2019 mid-size SUV · 2.0 L petrol, automatic
Plate
KTB·482
Odometer
90,412 km
Service due
90,000 km scheduled service
Technician
Hamish Boyd · Bay 3

Vehicle details typed by our service team from your booking.

Your quote

ItemQtyRateAmount
90,000 km scheduled service · labour$400
Scheduled serviceTo the 90,000 km schedule, includes the multi-point inspection
2.5 h $160 $400.00
90,000 km scheduled service · parts$351
Engine oil, full syntheticTo the oil specification for your engine
5 L $18 $90.00
Oil filterFrom our price book
1 ea $26 $26.00
Air filter
1 ea $48 $48.00
Cabin filter
1 ea $39 $39.00
Spark plugsDue at 90,000 km
4 ea $29 $116.00
Brake fluidFlush and replace
1 L $32 $32.00
Urgent · fix before driving far Tick to add
 1 job $629 $629.00
1 job $478 $478.00
Recommended · within a month Tick to add
 1 job $128 $128.00
1 job $182 $182.00
1 pair $58 $58.00
Can wait · check next service Tick to add
 1 job $188 $188.00
1 job $184 $184.00
Subtotal
$1,986.00
Tax (10%)
$198.60
Total
$2,184.60
Deposit for parts, paid on signing (30%)
$655.38

What stops being retyped

The value of connecting QuoteCloud to the systems a workshop already runs.

The jobWithout a connectionConnected once
Approved work Read off a signed PDF and typed into the job card. A Zap updates the job card when the quote is signed, where your system has a connector.
Deposits Checked in Stripe, then noted on the job by hand. The payment event can mark the deposit on the job, where your system has a connector.
Accounts The customer and amount typed into the accounting system again. Xero or QuickBooks, native on Business or through Zapier.
New quotes Customer, plate and odometer copied from the booking into a blank quote. Created from your template with those fields filled, through the API or Zapier.

Integration questions

Does QuoteCloud integrate with our workshop management system?

Through Zapier, Make or the QuoteCloud API, from the Essentials plan, where your workshop management system or DMS has a Zapier connector or an API. There is no native integration with any workshop system or DMS, so check what your system's connector or API can do before you plan the hand-off.

What can trigger an automation in QuoteCloud?

QuoteCloud's Zapier triggers include Recipient First Viewed Document, Recipient Signed Document, Document Payment Event, Document Part Paid, Document Status Changed, Form Submitted on Document and Document Comment Event. Actions include Send Document, Generate PDF Link and Update Document Status, so a Zap can also send a quote it created.

Does QuoteCloud connect to Xero and QuickBooks?

Yes. Xero and QuickBooks Online are native integrations on the Business plan. On Essentials, connect them through Zapier instead. Either way, QuoteCloud passes on what a signed quote or a payment contains; it doesn't keep the two systems in two-way sync, and it doesn't replace your accounting software.

Can our DMS create quotes in QuoteCloud?

Through the API or Zapier, a document can be created from one of your templates, its data items filled and price-table rows added with label, note, price, quantity, tax, discount and cost. The automation doesn't tick optional items or choose content blocks. API and Zapier documents carry a per-document creation fee.

Does QuoteCloud create invoices or work orders?

No. QuoteCloud sends quotes and agreements, collects eSignatures and takes a payment on signing. Invoices and work orders stay in your workshop system or accounting software, which an automation through Zapier, Make or the API can update when a quote is signed or a deposit is paid.

Can Slack or Teams tell us when a quote is approved?

QuoteCloud's Slack and Microsoft Teams connections post document updates, comments and actions to a channel your team chooses. They are not alerts for a quote being signed or paid. To act on a signed quote or a payment, use the Zapier triggers to update your workshop system or a shared sheet.

What does the API cost?

The API, Zapier and Make are included from the Essentials plan. Documents created through the API or Zapier carry a creation fee: US$2.00 each for 1 to 1,000 a month, US$1.80 each for 1,001 to 5,000 and US$1.60 each above 5,000. No per-document fee is published for Make.

More questions from workshops

More for automotive businesses

Every page of the QuoteCloud automotive microsite.

Approved once, never retyped

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