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# Quote for custom work priced case by case

A custom service has no fixed price. It can be used for work you cannot price until you know what the client needs. The client describes the work in a form — the service's Order Form, or the Request Form that follows the order — and you reply with a quote. You create the service in **Settings › Sales › Services**.

## Collect the brief and send the quote

1. Open **Settings › Sales › Services**, select **Create service** and choose the custom type.
2. Under **Service order page**, add a **Service description**, and a **Service short description** for the Front Desk.
3. Choose where the client describes the work. You can turn on **Add an Order Form to this service** and add your questions there, use the Request Form of the request type from the next step, or use both. The difference is explained below.
4. On the **Automations** tab, in **Automatic Request creation**, pick a **Request type**, so that each brief creates a request. Under **Request form handling**, choose **Send form after purchase** if the client should fill in the Request Form, or **Skip form** if they should not.
5. Set the **Currency**, **VAT support** and **Payment method** checkboxes, then select **Save**.
6. When a brief arrives, open its request and choose **Get paid ▾ › Send a Quote for approval**.
7. Add line items with prices, set **Valid until**, and send the quote. See [Send a quote](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/send-a-quote-5leqg/).

![A custom service has no items: only Finance settings (5). The flow preview shows that you answer each brief with a quote.](https://getzendo.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/kb-v5-custom.webp =666x558)

## How a custom service differs from the other types

The only difference is that a custom service has no items and no price. On the Front Desk, its price shows as **Custom**. Everything else works the same: the service can be displayed on the Front Desk, has its own link, can create a request and can unlock request types.

## Collect the brief in the Order Form or the Request Form

You can collect the client's description of the work in either form, or split your questions between them:

- **The Order Form** is filled in at checkout, before the request is created. Order Forms do not support conditional logic yet. See [Add an Order Form to a service](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/add-an-order-form-to-a-service-1ag3b1d/).
- **The Request Form** is filled in inside the request that the purchase creates, when **Request form handling** is set to **Send form after purchase**. With **Skip form**, the request has no form. The Request Form supports conditional logic. See [Build a Request Form](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/build-a-request-form-gxunie/) and [Show or hide form fields with form logic](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/show-or-hide-form-fields-with-form-logic-1gh85fu/).

## What the quote takes from the service

The quote uses the service's **Currency**, **VAT support** setting and **Payment method** checkboxes, so you do not set them on each quote, though you can still change them there. It also includes your seller details from **Settings › Sales › Payments & documents › Seller details** and the client's details from their profile. See [Set up your documents: numbering, logo, footer and seller details](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/set-up-your-documents-numbering-logo-footer-and-seller-details-9h73yx/).

## An approved quote becomes an order

When the client approves the quote, Zendo creates an order. In the orders list, the order's **Source** column shows **Quote**, so you can tell orders that came from a quote apart from orders placed on the Front Desk. Whether an invoice is issued automatically depends on the settings on the quote and on the service. See [Issue an invoice](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/issue-an-invoice-ktxe67/).

## You can quote from any request

You do not need a custom service to send a quote. In any request, **Get paid ▾ › Send a Quote for approval** creates a quote for that client. When a conversation turns into paid work, you can price it without setting anything up in advance. A custom service is useful when you want clients to start a brief from the Front Desk, with a form that asks your questions first.

## Related

- [Choose a service type](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/choose-a-service-type-18ktzy9/)
- [Send a quote](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/send-a-quote-5leqg/)
- [Add an Order Form to a service](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/add-an-order-form-to-a-service-1ag3b1d/)
- [Show or hide form fields with form logic](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/show-or-hide-form-fields-with-form-logic-1gh85fu/)
- [Follow orders: fulfillment and payment](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/follow-orders-fulfillment-and-payment-1oq1mqu/)