Customer Approvals: Customer Experience
This article provides an overview of how your customers will access and use estimates, how customers can send messages & leave comments on items, and reviewing previous history & partial vs. total estimates.
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Article 3.1: How Your Customers Access and Use Estimates
When you send a customer estimate link, here is what your customer will experience. You can share this information with your customers to help them understand the process.
Accessing the Estimate
Your customer receives the link you send them (via email, text, etc.) and opens it in their browser. This works on any device — phone, tablet, or computer.
If your customer does not have an EBIS account: They will see a prompt to request a one-time passcode (OTP). They click the button to request the code, and a 6-digit code is sent to the email address associated with the estimate. They enter the code and gain access to the estimate. There is no account to create, no password to remember — just the one-time code each time they access the link.
If your customer has an EBIS account: They will see an option to log in with their existing credentials instead of using the OTP.
Viewing the Estimate
Once authenticated, your customer sees the estimate with:
- Your shop's logo and branding
- The estimate number and aircraft information (registration number, make/model)
- Issue date and estimated completion date
- Bill From (your shop) and Bill To (the customer) information
- Each line item with the discrepancy description, notes (if enabled), estimated hours, labor total, item total, shop labor, shop parts, shipping costs, and any attached photos
- Parts details (part number, description, unit price, quantity, total) if enabled in your city-level settings
- Estimate totals including shop supplies, miscellaneous charges, taxes, and the total or partial estimate amount
- Minimum deposit amount, if configured
- Terms & Conditions text
Approving and Rejecting Items
Each line item has three action buttons:
- Approved (green checkmark) — The customer approves this work
- Needs Review (yellow question mark) — The customer wants more information before deciding
- Rejected (red icon) — The customer does not want this work performed
Customers can act on items one at a time, or use the Bulk Action buttons at the top of the page to apply a status to all remaining items at once. The bulk action options are: Approved, Needs Review, Rejected, and Unselected (which selects all items that haven't been acted on yet).
Submitting the Estimate
After making selections on all items, the customer checks the Terms & Conditions acknowledgment checkbox at the bottom of the page, which reads: "By clicking 'Approve Estimate,' you acknowledge that you have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions and authorize the work as described."
The customer then clicks the Approve Estimate button. A confirmation dialog appears. Once confirmed, all selections are submitted and the statuses flow back into EBIS.
Important: The individual approve/reject buttons on each item are selections. The Approve Estimate button at the bottom is what actually submits the estimate. If the customer selects statuses on individual items but does not click Approve Estimate, nothing is submitted.
Article 3.2: Messaging on Estimates
Customer Approvals includes a line-item messaging feature that allows your customers to ask questions or provide feedback directly on specific items within the estimate.
How Customers Send Messages
On the customer-facing estimate, each line item has a chat icon next to the approve/reject buttons. Tapping or clicking it opens a messaging interface for that specific item.
The customer can type a message — for example, "Hey, I have a question on #5, what is this?" — and click send. The message is delivered to your shop and tied to that specific line item.
After sending a message, the customer will see a badge with a message count on the chat icon (e.g., "1", "2"). A red indicator appears when there are new, unread messages in the thread.
How Your Shop Receives and Responds to Messages
On the shop side, messages are visible in several places:
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Work Order → Customer Approvals → Approval Items tab: The # Msg column shows the message count for each item. When a new message comes in, the count appears as a blue hyperlink. Clicking it opens the conversation.
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Messages module: The Messages module (accessible from the bottom-left navigation) shows all message threads. Customer message threads are labeled with an External badge and include the work order number and item details in the thread title (e.g., "WO#AUS14355-04-2026 - Item #5 - Airworthy Airframe"). A red dot indicator on the Messages icon alerts you to unread messages.
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Notifications: The bell icon in the top-right header may also show notifications for new messages.
To reply, open the message thread and type your response in the "Message to conversation" field. Your reply will appear on the customer's estimate in real time.
Key Points
- Messaging is line-item specific — each item has its own independent conversation thread
- Both the customer and the shop can send multiple messages in the same thread
- Message counts update in real time on both sides
- Messages are tied to the work order and item, so the conversation always has context
Article 3.3: Previous History and Partial vs. Total Estimates
When you send additional estimate links for new findings, your customers will see context from previous rounds so they always have the full picture.
Previous History
On any estimate link after the first, the customer will see a Previous History section near the top of the page. This section can be expanded by clicking "Show more."
When expanded, it shows all items from previous estimate rounds along with their statuses — for example, "Approved: Item #1 - Airworthy Airframe" or "Rejected: Item #2 - Airworthy Engine." These items are read-only; the customer cannot change their status from a previous round.
Partial Estimate vs. Total Estimate
When an estimate link contains only new findings (not the complete set of work order items), the totals section at the bottom displays Partial Estimate. This reflects only the cost of the new items in the current estimate.
When the customer expands the Previous History section, the label changes to Total Estimate and the totals update to include the full cost across all rounds — both the previously approved/rejected items and the new items. This gives the customer a complete financial picture.
What This Means for Your Customers
Your customers can see at a glance what they previously approved or rejected, what's new, and what the total cost looks like. This provides transparency and serves as a record of all approvals across the life of the work order.
Article 3.4: What to Tell Your Customers
When you send an estimate link to a customer for the first time, it can be helpful to include a brief explanation of what to expect. Here is a suggested message you can adapt for your shop:
Hi [Customer Name],
We've prepared an estimate for your aircraft [Registration Number]. You can review and approve it using the link below.
[Paste link here]
When you open the link, you'll be asked to enter a one-time passcode. Click the button to request the code — it will be sent to your email at [email address]. Enter the 6-digit code and you'll have access to the estimate.
From there, you can review each item and approve or reject them individually. If you have a question about a specific item, you can use the chat icon on that item to send us a message.
Once you've made your selections, check the Terms & Conditions box at the bottom and click "Approve Estimate" to submit.
Let us know if you have any questions.
Tips for your customers:
- The link works on any device — phone, tablet, or computer
- No app download or account creation is needed
- The one-time passcode is sent to the email address on file; check spam/junk folders if it doesn't arrive within a minute
- They must click the "Approve Estimate" button at the bottom of the page to submit their selections — selecting approve/reject on individual items alone does not submit the estimate