QI — Quotations & Invoices

QI is EcoTech’s commercial document layer for quotations, invoices and related transaction records. It sits directly after the customer enquiry stage. The basic journey is: Customer Enquiry → Quotation → Invoice → Commercial Record QI helps turn informal interest into structured business activity. What Does QI Mean? QI refers to the EcoTech tools used for: Quotations Invoices Credit Notes and related commercial records. These documents form part of the business’s formal transaction history. Why QI Matters Many businesses still create quotations and invoices manually. That often leads to: Repeated data entry Inconsistent numbering Missing records Documents saved in different places Customer information being copied repeatedly and Difficulty finding the latest version EcoTech QI is designed to reduce that fragmentation. From Enquiry to Quotation A customer enquiry can become the starting point for a quotation. Instead of re-entering the same information, EcoTech can carry forward the commercial context. That may include: Customer details Product or service Requirements Quantity Pricing and Business information The business can then review the quotation before issuing it. Draft First, Issue Later QI supports a useful distinction between a draft and an issued document. A quotation or invoice can first be prepared as a draft. While it is still a draft, the business can review and adjust it. Once the information is correct, it can be formally issued. This creates a clearer commercial process: Create Draft → Review → Issue Quotations A quotation is a formal offer from the business to the customer. It can set out: Products or services Quantities Unit prices Discounts Tax Totals Customer details and relevant commercial information. The quotation gives the customer a clear basis on which to decide whether to proceed. From Quotation to Invoice If the customer accepts the quotation or the business reaches agreement with the customer, the next commercial step may be an invoice. That journey can become: Enquiry → Quotation → Accepted Work → Invoice This keeps the transaction history connected. Invoices An invoice records the amount the customer is expected to pay for goods or services supplied. It should clearly connect to: The correct business The correct customer The correct currency Applicable tax The relevant products or services and The correct totals This is why operating in the correct business context matters. Credit Notes Sometimes an invoice needs to be adjusted after issue. For example: A product is returned A quantity changes A pricing error is corrected A discount is applied later or Part of the transaction is reversed A Credit Note gives the business a formal way to record that adjustment rather than silently changing the original invoice. Business Context Matters QI should always operate in the correct business context. If one person is connected to several businesses, EcoTech must know which business is issuing the quotation or invoice. The document should not accidentally carry the identity of the individual or another unrelated business. That is why QI connects back to: Business Trust Operating Context and Authority Country, Currency and Tax Businesses across Africa operate under different tax and currency systems. QI therefore needs to respect the business’s own country and commercial settings. A business may operate in: ZAR MWK ZMW UGX or another currency. Tax treatment can also differ between jurisdictions. The commercial document must reflect the correct business environment. QI and EcoTech Documents Once a quotation, invoice or credit note is issued, it should not disappear into a download folder. EcoTech connects QI to EcoTech Documents. The issued PDF can become part of the business’s durable document record. A typical structure may be: Documents → Finance → QI → Quotations Documents → Finance → QI → Invoices Documents → Finance → QI → Credit Notes This creates an important distinction: QI = structured commercial system of record Documents = durable PDF, retrieval and sharing layer Why Both Are Needed The structured QI record contains information the system can work with. For example: Customer Amounts Tax Status Document number Issue date and transaction data. The PDF is the human-readable business document that can be stored, downloaded or shared. EcoTech keeps both. Sharing Commercial Documents Once an issued quotation or invoice exists in Documents, it can become part of the authorised sharing process. That means the business can keep the document securely stored while also making it available to the appropriate recipient. This is where QI begins connecting directly into Shared With Me and the wider Documents environment. QI and Echo Because QI creates structured commercial information, Echo can eventually help an authorised user work with that context. For example, Echo may help: Summarise outstanding quotations Review invoice information Compare commercial records Identify customer activity Work with related documents or Help prepare follow-up actions Echo assists with the information. The business remains responsible for the commercial decision. QI Is Part of the Wider Business Loop QI is not an isolated accounting tool. It forms part of the EcoTech business journey: Business Profile → E-Store → CloudFeed → Customer → Enquiry → QI → Documents → Echo This is what makes the earlier steps useful. The product does not just get seen. The enquiry does not just get received. The process can move into a real commercial record. The Key Principle The simplest way to understand EcoTech QI is: The enquiry captures customer interest. The quotation formalises the offer. The invoice records the amount due. The credit note records a formal adjustment. Documents preserves the issued record. Your Next Guide 12. EcoTech Documents The next guide explains how EcoTech Documents becomes the secure working and storage environment for business files, issued QI PDFs, shared information and documents that Echo can work with in an authorised context. Still Need Help? If you are unsure when to create a quotation, when to issue an invoice, how credit notes work, or how QI connects into Documents, use the SupraMinds booking link to schedule a discussion.