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.

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.
• 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 and Show or hide form fields with form logic.

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.

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.

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
• Send a quote
• Add an Order Form to a service
• Show or hide form fields with form logic
• Follow orders: fulfillment and payment

Updated on: 09/11/2026