Optional line items: clients build the estimate

The best upsell is the one the client gives themselves. Mark the add-ons on an estimate as optional, and instead of a yes-or-no decision on one number, the client gets a menu: keep the extras or trim them, and approve either way.

Mark an item optional

In the estimate editor, open a line item's Edit Item dialog and turn on the Optional switch. It sits below the tax rate and appears on estimates only; invoices never have optional items. The item then carries an optional badge in your editor so the whole team can see which lines are up for grabs.

The estimate's summary keeps the two groups honest: Mandatory Items and Optional Items each get their own subtotal, discount share, and tax breakdown, and the Grand Total is labeled Mandatory + Optional so nobody mistakes the ceiling for the floor.

What the client sees

On the approval page, each optional item shows a blue Optional badge and a toggle switch. Everything starts switched on. When the client toggles an item off, it is struck through, and the subtotal, taxes, and total recalculate on the spot. Required items have no switch, so the core of the job is never up for negotiation.

When the client clicks Approve Estimate, their selection locks in. Items they left off are marked Removed on the estimate, the totals are recalculated without them, and the approval note on the estimate records exactly which items were dropped. Removed items stay visible, struck through, so the paper trail keeps what was offered next to what was accepted.

Note

Taxes follow the same split. WorkZen keeps a mandatory-only tax breakdown and an optional-only tax breakdown, so when the client trims an item, its taxes leave with it and the remaining tax math stays exact.

What happens on conversion

When the estimate converts to an invoice, items the client removed are skipped entirely. Every item that survived is copied as a regular line item; the optional flag is dropped, because an invoice bills agreed work and everything on it is committed.

One practical habit: put your genuinely required work in required items and price it to stand on its own. Optional items are for things the job survives without. If removing an item would break the quote, it was never optional.

Step by step

Edit the line item

In the estimate editor, open the item's Edit Item dialog.

Turn on the Optional switch

The Optional switch appears on estimate items only. Save, and the item shows an optional badge in the editor.

Send the estimate

The client's approval page shows each optional item with an Optional badge and a toggle, all switched on by default.

Let the client choose

Items they toggle off are struck through and the subtotal, taxes, and total recalculate live. Approving locks in their selection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. On the approval page every optional item has a switch, on by default. Toggling one off strikes it through and updates the totals instantly. Required items have no switch and cannot be removed.

On approval they are marked Removed, shown struck through with a Removed badge, and the estimate totals are recalculated without them. They stay on the estimate for the record, and the approval note lists which items were removed.

Yes, until the client removes them. The summary splits Mandatory Items and Optional Items into their own subtotal, discount, and tax groups, and the Grand Total is labeled Mandatory + Optional.

Kept ones do, as regular items. Invoices have no optional items, so the flag is dropped on conversion, and items the client removed are left off the invoice entirely.

No. The Optional switch only appears on estimates. An invoice is a bill for agreed work, so every line on it is committed.