How to automate sales quotes from your CRM

Checked against HubSpot's knowledge base and Pipedrive's support pages on 21 October 2026. Both change these tools often, so the changelog at the end records each update.

What does it mean to automate sales quotes in a CRM?

It means the deal already holds what the quote needs, so nobody types it twice. A quote built by hand in a word processor carries the customer's name, the products and the prices a second time, and a second copy can be wrong. A quote built from the deal reads them from the record.

In practice, quote automation from a CRM covers six steps:

1. Line items from the deal. The products, quantities and prices on the deal fill the quote.
2. A template. The layout, cover text, terms and acceptance method are set once.
3. Approval, where a manager has to sign off a discount or a price before the quote goes out.
4. Acceptance and e-signature. The customer opens a link, reads the quote, and accepts or signs it.
5. Payment on acceptance. The customer pays the first amount, a deposit or the whole price, while still on the page.
6. Quote to invoice. The accepted quote becomes an invoice, so billing doesn't start from a blank page either.

A CRM that does the first two saves typing. One that does all six turns a closed deal into money without anyone copying a number.

How do HubSpot quotes work?

HubSpot's quotes need Revenue Hub Professional or Enterprise, a Revenue Hub seat to create and edit them, and permission to edit or create deals. (HubSpot: create and send quotes) Against the six steps:

• Line items. The quote inherits the deal's line items, as copies with their own record IDs. If the deal has none, you add them on the quote.
• Templates. A quote template sets the cover letter, executive summary, line items, terms, payment options and acceptance method. A template can be assigned to a brand, which needs Marketing Hub Enterprise. (HubSpot: create quote templates)
• Approval. If your account requires it, the quote waits in Pending approval until the approvers act. If they ask for changes, you edit and resubmit.
• Acceptance. E-signature is the default and needs at least one buyer contact. The other options are print and sign, or accept without a signature, which suits purchase orders. E-signatures run through Dropbox Sign within a monthly allowance per user that depends on your subscription. (HubSpot: use e-signatures with quotes)
• Payment. With HubSpot payments or Stripe connected, the buyer can pay on the quote, if the amount due is more than $0.50. Print and sign quotes can't take online payment.
• Quote to invoice. A published quote can be turned into an invoice with Convert to invoice. (HubSpot: create and manage invoices) Without the Connected CPQ, Billing, and Payments beta, an accepted quote's recurring items create a subscription and any one-time items alongside them get a separate invoice. With the beta and automatic contract creation on, a contract is created and the first invoice is sent at once.

Quotes can also be started from a workflow action. HubSpot invoicing and quotes covers the invoice side, and HubSpot contracts covers the record HubSpot can create when a quote is accepted.

How do quotes work in Pipedrive?

Pipedrive builds quotes with Smart Docs. Smart Docs is included on the Premium and Ultimate plans, and Lite and Growth can buy it as an add-on. (Pipedrive: Smart Docs)

• Line items. A template can pull in deal, person, organization and product fields. Product fields go in a product table, which gets one row for each product linked to the deal. (Pipedrive: Smart Docs fields and templates)
• Templates. Templates and documents can be filed as Quotes, Proposals or Contracts, or in your own category. They are stored in Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or SharePoint.
• Tracking. A shareable link records views, and Pipedrive can email you on the first open, on every open, or never.
• E-signature. Up to 10 signers per document. Premium and Ultimate have unlimited signature requests under a reasonable use policy, and the Lite and Growth add-on gives 30 or 100 a month. The status, sent, declined or completed, shows on the deal or contact. When everyone has signed, the signed PDF and audit trail are emailed to every signer and the requester. (Pipedrive: Smart Docs eSignatures)
• Payment and invoice. Pipedrive's Smart Docs pages don't describe taking a payment on the quote, an approval step, or turning an accepted quote into an invoice. Its invoicing feature, on every plan, creates a QuickBooks invoice from the deal's detail view with the deal, person and organization details filled in, and keeps the invoice's status on the deal. (Pipedrive: invoicing)

So in Pipedrive the quote and the invoice are two separate steps, and collecting the money is a third. Taking a deposit and scheduling the balance from a Pipedrive deal walks through that part.

Should the customer pay when they accept the quote?

Usually, if the quote is the moment they commit. A customer who has just signed is already on the page, with a card or bank account to hand. Sending an invoice afterwards adds a second email and a wait.

Decide three things before you turn it on:

• Pay in full or a deposit. A large price is easier to accept as a deposit now and the balance later. Taking a deposit and scheduling the balance from a HubSpot deal shows the setup.
• Card or bank transfer. Card fees come out of every payment. Offer bank transfer beside card.
• What the invoice says afterwards. The invoice should show the deposit as paid, so the customer isn't asked for it twice.

What changes when each location quotes on its own?

A group with several locations, each run as its own business or legal entity, needs more than a quote from the deal. Each quote has to come from the right business, end in the right account and land in the right books. Check five things:

• Each location's own template. The terms, the refund policy and often the products and prices differ by location or by state.
• Each location's own branding and numbering. The customer should see the name of the business they are paying, and the finance team should be able to tell Denver's quotes from Phoenix's by the number.
• The template chosen by a rule, not by the rep. A field on the deal, such as the pipeline or a location field, should pick the template. A rep in a hurry picks the wrong one.
• Each location's own payment account. A HubSpot account connects one Stripe account. (HubSpot: connect your Stripe account) If each entity has its own, check where the quote's payment lands. Can you connect multiple Stripe accounts to HubSpot? covers the options.
• Each location's own books. The invoice from an accepted quote should reach that location's QuickBooks or Xero file. The HubSpot QuickBooks integration and the Pipedrive QuickBooks integration cover what each sync does.

In HubSpot, a quote template can carry a brand's look, which needs Brands on Marketing Hub Enterprise. HubSpot brands and business units covers what that does and doesn't separate.

Quote automation checklist

• The deal's line items fill the quote, and nobody retypes a price.
• One template per location, with its own terms, branding and numbering.
• The template is matched to the deal by a field, not picked by hand.
• Approval rules, if discounts need sign-off.
• E-signature, within the limits of your plan.
• Payment on acceptance, in full or as a deposit, with bank transfer beside card.
• The accepted quote becomes the invoice, in the right location's books.
• The deal shows what was signed and what was paid.

Changelog

• 21 October 2026: first published.