Prepare a draft Xero quote from every enquiry
Each quote request opens a draft quote in Xero with the contact set up, the service on a line and your standard rates attached.
New submission on your quote request form
Create a draft quote in Xero for the contact with the requested work as line items and an amount to refine
One-directional. A submission triggers the action — nothing is written back into your form.
The slow part of quoting is rarely the pricing. It is opening Xero, finding or creating the contact, retyping what the customer already described, and only then getting to the numbers.
A quote request form does that preparation. By the time an estimator looks, Xero holds a draft quote with the contact set up, the service on a line and the customer's own description printed above it. Trades and consultancies that price a handful of jobs a week open a part-built draft instead of a blank one.
Setting it up
- 1
Publish the quote request form and send through one enquiry that resembles the jobs you actually price, so the sample carries a real service type rather than placeholder text.
- 2
In Zapier, trigger on New Submission from the quote form and add Xero's Create Quote action, pointing it at the organisation that will do the work.
- 3
Keep the quote status as Draft. A quote issued straight from a web enquiry commits you to a price nobody has checked against site conditions or lead times.
- 4
Build the contact name from Company or Organization with a Formatter default falling back to Full Name, so private customers do not create a contact with an empty name.
- 5
Map Service Type onto the first line item description and use a Zapier Lookup Table to attach your standard unit amount and account code for that service. The draft then opens with your pricing rather than an empty grid.
- 6
Put Project Description into the quote Summary so it prints above the lines, and load your usual wording into the Terms field while you are there.
- 7
Convert Project Timeline into an expiry date with a Formatter date step, so an urgent job's quote lapses sooner than one for next year's work.
- 8
Send one enquiry through, open the draft under Business then Quotes, delete it, then turn the Zap on.
What maps where
Using the Quote Request Form as the starting point. These are its real fields — swap in your own and the mapping works the same way.
| Form field | Xero |
|---|---|
| Company or Organization | Contact name on the quote, falling back to the individual for private customers |
| Full Name | First and last name of the person the quote is addressed to |
| Email Address | Contact email Xero uses when you send the quote from the draft |
| Service Type | Description on the quote's first line item, matched to your standard service list |
| Project Description | Quote Summary, which prints above the line items on the PDF |
| Project Timeline | Expiry date on the quote, set through a lookup table of typical lead times |
Variations worth knowing
Estimated Budget can split the Zap. Enquiries inside your standard range get a draft quote with rates already attached; anything above it creates the contact alone and notifies whoever prices bespoke work, so no default rate ever reaches a large job.
Combine Full Name with the submission date into the quote Reference. The office can then find an enquiry from the quote list without opening each draft, which matters once a busy month leaves thirty untitled drafts sitting in Xero.
If something isn't arriving
The lookup table found no row for that Service Type, so the unit amount fell through empty. Add a catch-all row that sets a nominal amount and a description reading "price to be confirmed", and update the table whenever you add a service.
The Formatter step is trying to read a phrase like "as soon as possible" as a date. Calculate from the submission date with an offset instead — plus thirty days, for example — and check the time zone set on the Zap.
Frequently asked questions
Does the customer receive the quote as soon as they submit the form?
No. The Zap creates a draft in Xero and stops. Nothing is emailed until you open the quote, set the real prices and send it, which is the point of drafting rather than issuing a figure automatically.
Can the form show the customer a price?
No. There are no calculated fields in formformform, and nothing is read back out of Xero, so the form cannot display a figure. Pricing happens in Xero and reaches the customer when you send the quote.
Can I quote in another currency?
Set the currency code in the Xero action. Multi-currency has to be available on your Xero plan first; without it the quote is created in your base currency and the amount needs converting by hand before you send it.
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Build the form first
The automation needs somewhere to fire from. Publish a form, connect it once, and every submission from then on runs this flow.
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