How to Start a New Quote
Open the New Quote wizard, work through its six steps in any order, save a draft, and see the only two fields MonuDesk actually requires.
Written By Dennis Rodin
Last updated 10 days ago
To create a new order, click the + New Quote button at the top right of your screen. You can access this button from anywhere in the app.
With MonuDesk Max, families can also start a quote themselves from your website. Their request lands in your Quote column without anyone opening New Quote. See Website Leads: Get Quotes from Your Website.
What you see when you click New Quote
You'll see two things: the Create New Quote button and a list of your order drafts.
Click Create New Quote to start a fresh order. This opens a step-by-step popup with six steps, shown in the header bar at the top:
Items & Configuration
For Monument Orders:
For Service Orders:
More than one quote, stone or service
The summary card on the right of the wizard starts with a slim row reading QUOTE A · STONE A. Its + button offers Add stone and Duplicate stone for an order with several stones, and Add quote option and Duplicate quote option when the family wants to compare up to five priced options in the same job.
Learn more: How to Give a Family Several Quote Options
The Monument tab has a compact stone bar with the same Stone A / Stone B chips and add, copy and delete buttons inline. It stays in sync with the stone row on the summary card.
On the Service tab, one order can hold up to 12 services (Service A, Service B and so on), each with its own service type, price, lettering work order, photos and notes. A service order can also carry a monument with Add a monument, and a monument order can carry services with Add a service. Remove monument removes every stone and keeps the services; Remove services removes every service and keeps the monument. Both ask you to confirm, and the removal happens when you save the order.
Learn more: How to Create a Service Order
Order number
The header shows Order # from step 1. Until you type a number of your own, it reads Auto: followed by the number the order will get, for example Auto: L6-ORD-81. The location code shows when your company has more than one active location, and the preview follows the location picked in the wizard. It is a preview: if a teammate saves an order at that location first, your order gets the next number.
To use your own number, click Order # and type it. A typed number is used exactly as typed. If any order in your company already has that number, archived and deleted orders included, the save stops with a message that the number is already in use by another order, and the field shows Already used. Type a different number and save again.
When Save as Confirmed Order finishes, the success message shows the number the order was saved with, for example "Order L6-ORD-81 has been created."
If the connection drops while you save
If your internet connection drops when you click Save as Quote, the wizard shows You're offline: "Your quote stays on this screen and saves automatically when your connection is back. Keep this page open." When the connection returns you see Back online, and the quote saves by itself.
Only Save as Quote waits like this. Save as Confirmed Order is not sent again automatically: once you are back online, click it again. Closing the wizard or reloading the page stops the wait.
Order drafts
At any point while filling out the New Quote, you can leave by clicking outside the popup window. You'll be asked if you'd like to save it as a draft. Confirm, and everything you've typed so far is saved.
Your drafts appear in the list under the New Quote button so you can pick up where you left off.
Note: Order drafts last for one year and are then automatically deleted. Make sure you save the order as a Quote or Confirmed Order before then.
Tip: Once you've filled in the customer's name and either a phone number or email in Step 1, the steps in the header bar light up and you can click any of them to jump straight there. Hop between steps in any order. The same works when you reopen an existing order with Edit Quote or Edit Order.
What's actually required
MonuDesk doesn't force you to fill in every field. Most of the form is optional so you can save quickly and come back to fill in details later.
The only fields that must be filled in:
The customer's Full Name, typed in one box. A one-word name or a business name is fine.
Either a Phone Number or an Email Address
That's it. Once those are entered, the steps in the header bar light up and you can jump to any of them. Cemetery, monument config, sketch, and everything else is optional.
If you save without a phone number or email, whether as a draft, a quote or a confirmed order, MonuDesk stops with Add a phone number or email: "A quote needs a way to reach the client. Add a phone number or email on Client Info, then save again."
You can save with any total, including zero. Real orders are sometimes $0 (warranty replacements, comped jobs, internal corrections), so MonuDesk never blocks a save based on price.
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