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Send Estimates, Inspections, and Invoices

Every paper-airplane Send button in BayEngine starts with the same dialog, whether you're sending estimate recommendations, inspection results, or a finalized Invoice: pick the person and delivery method. Estimate and inspection Email/Text sends then open an editable message step; Copy portal link and Invoice sends complete from the first step. This page covers the message side of that gesture: the dialog, the channels, the exact message the customer receives, resending, and sending Invoices. What a Send does to the document itself, publishing recommendations, status changes, review gates, and tracking approvals, is covered in Send Estimates and Inspections to customers.

Where the three Send buttons are​

The estimate Send button sits in the bar at the bottom of the Estimate tab, on a standalone Estimate and on a Repair Order alike. The inspection Send button is in the Inspections tab header next to Add inspection, and counts what it will send: it reads Send 2 when two completed reports are waiting. Send invoice is on the Payment tab and appears only after the Invoice is finalized. It remains the main button on the Repair Order Summary card, with Print Invoice directly below it, regardless of payment state. All three require update permission on the document.

Pick who gets it​

The dialog sends to the customer themself by default, using their primary phone and email. When the account has no Additional people, there is nothing to pick; otherwise a Send to dropdown appears with the customer preselected, and picking a person targets that person's own details for this send. Sending the same document to two people means running the Send twice, once per recipient; how households and fleets split their people is covered in Communicate with multiple people on a Customer.

Pick the channel​

Three method rows, each showing where it would go: Email jamie@example.com, Text (555) 123-4567, and Copy portal link. The customer's preferred channel is preselected when it's usable; a customer who prefers Call, or whose preferred channel is missing its details, falls back to email first, then text.

A row you can't use is disabled, and hovering it says why: "No email on file for this contact," "No phone number on file for this contact," or "This contact is not marked SMS-capable." Fix those on the contact itself; see Manage customer communication details, Additional people, labels, and credit settings. A customer with no usable email or phone can still get the document: Copy portal link works for every visit, and the dialog falls back to it automatically. Only a customer with no contact method and no portal link blocks the Send entirely.

Whatever you pick, the server runs the same Send. Copying the link publishes recommendations and raises the portal prompt exactly like emailing does, so don't use Copy to preview a draft.

What the customer receives​

Every document Send method uses the same destination: the visit's Portal Link, your app address plus /visit/ and a long random token. Email and Text deliver it; Copy puts it on the clipboard. Document Sends do not attach PDFs; the printable documents live in the portal, where the customer views and downloads them. The separate per-Payment receipt email described below is the PDF-attachment exception.

An emailed Send starts with a short message from the Shop's email address, with your shop's Public name in the automatic subject line and default body:

  • Estimate: subject "Riverside Auto: approval requested for Estimate #1042," body "Riverside Auto requests your approval for Estimate #1042" with a Review and approve link.
  • Inspection: subject "…inspection results for Repair Order #87," body "your technician shared inspection results for your vehicle" (or "shared 2 inspection reports") with a View inspection results link.
  • Invoice: subject "…invoice for Repair Order #87," followed by a personalized greeting and "Your invoice is ready and available to view below. You can pay in person at the shop." The email ends with a thank-you, Shop signature, and View invoice link.

For Estimates and Inspections, Continue opens a plain-text body editor. Change the default wording as needed; the email subject is not editable. The Portal Link is hidden from the editor and added automatically after the message as the labeled email link. Invoice wording remains fixed.

Choosing Text for an Estimate or Inspection opens the same editable body step. The raw Portal Link is hidden while editing and appended after a blank line when sent from the Shop's active integrated customer-care number. The complete message appears in the Customer's SMS thread with its delivery state. Text is disabled with an explanation when the selected contact has no SMS-capable phone, the customer has opted out or lacks customer-care consent, the User cannot send customer messages, or Shop texting is not ready.

Copy portal link delivers nothing and validates nothing; the button reads Done instead of Send, and the link lands on your clipboard for whatever channel you have in mind.

Send the Invoice​

An Invoice can only be sent after it is finalized; the Send is rejected before that. Finalizing is part of closing out the Repair Order, covered in Complete, cancel, restore, print, or prepare a Repair Order for invoicing. The first Send stamps the Invoice's sent time; the customer's email greets the selected recipient, says they can pay in person, and signs off with the Shop's Public name. The portal shows the invoice page with the PDF.

Once the balance is zero, Send invoice uses "We received your payment. A copy of your paid invoice is available below." It keeps the same personalized greeting, thank-you, Shop signature, and link. The invoice page stays available after payment showing the payments received and the $0 balance.

Payment collection also has a separate Email payment receipt (PDF) option. It is on by default when the Customer has a Primary Email Contact Point and sends a standalone Payment Receipt for that one Payment. It works for both pre-Invoice deposits and finalized-Invoice payments. If no Primary Email is on file, use Add email beside the option; Users without permission to add communication details can still record the Payment with the payment receipt email off. A deposit receipt confirms the amount and balance at that moment but clearly says it is not a finalized Invoice.

Payment Receipt delivery is queued after the Payment commits. Payment History shows whether it is queued, emailed, or failed; a delivery failure never reverses or duplicates the Payment. This payment receipt email is not Send invoice: it does not mark the Invoice sent or change the Customer Portal call to action.

Resending​

A visit has one Portal Link for its whole life. It never expires, and it survives an Estimate converting into a Repair Order, so resending never invalidates the text you sent at drop-off; it just notifies again with the same link. To resend, click the same Send button and go through the dialog again, picking a different contact or channel if you like.

Each document handles the repeat sensibly. An estimate re-Send notifies again and publishes any Services reviewed since last time. After inspection results have been sent, the Send button stays available so the Shop can Text, Email, or Copy the link again; the dialog shows a green check confirming the earlier Send, and the original inspection sent time is unchanged. An Invoice re-Send notifies again but keeps the original sent time.

What you can see after sending​

The dialog confirms with a toast ("Invoice emailed. Sent to jamie@example.com."), and next time you open it, the line above the footer reads "Portal last viewed Jul 20, 2:14 PM" or "Portal not viewed yet." Per-document tracking beyond that, statuses, viewed times, and the activity log, is on the workflow-side page.

Text and Email document Sends appear in their Channel Threads in the Customer's Conversation with their delivery state. A provider rejection remains visible as a failed message so the Shop can correct the address or sender setup and resend. If the portal stays unviewed longer than the customer usually takes, confirm the address and follow up; see Resolve message-delivery and consent problems.