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Estimates

Change an estimate's status

Three statuses: Preliminary, Completed, Cancelled. Set status from the status pill in the top-right of the estimate. Cancelling is reversible — Delete (kebab) is permanent.

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Every Wave estimate has one of three statuses. The status pill (top-right of the estimate) is also the way you change it.

The three statuses

  • Preliminary — work in progress. The default when you create a new estimate.
  • Completed — finalized and delivered to the customer or carrier.
  • Cancelled — no longer pursuing this job. Hidden from the default filter but retained.

These match the filter tabs on All Estimates (see Find and filter estimates).

How to change status

  1. Click the status pill in the top-right of the estimate.
  2. Pick the new status from the dropdown: Preliminary, Completed, Cancelled.
  3. The pill flashes "Updating…" briefly while the change saves asynchronously.
  4. The pill settles into the new state — e.g., a red ⊘ Cancelled after selecting Cancelled.
  5. The breadcrumb suffix updates to match: <Customer Name> - Cancelled.
  6. The top-nav tab counters update atomically — the previous status decrements, the new tab increments.

Cancelled (British) vs. Canceled (American)

Wave uses "Cancelled" (British, double-L) in the status pill, the dropdown option, and the breadcrumb suffix. The top-nav tab label is the only place it shows as "Canceled" (American, single-L). The URL filter is British: ?filter=cancelled.

It's a real, app-wide inconsistency. If you're hunting in docs or scripting against URLs, use the British spelling (cancelled) everywhere except when matching the literal top-nav tab text.

See Find and filter estimates for the full filter / URL details.

Cancelling doesn't lock the estimate

Setting an estimate to Cancelled moves it to the Cancelled filter, but the estimate stays fully editable — you can still open it, edit fields, change line items, even change the status back. If you want a "do not touch" signal for the team, use Lock instead (or in addition).

Reverse a Cancelled status

Pick a different status from the pill. The estimate flips back, the breadcrumb updates, the tab counts re-balance. Nothing is lost.

Permanently delete an estimate

If you want the estimate gone — not just Cancelled — open the breadcrumb kebab (top-right of the workspace) and choose Delete. That opens a confirmation modal and, on confirm, hard-deletes the estimate. See Delete an estimate for the full flow.

When to use which

  • Preliminary — until you've delivered the PDF or scope to the customer/carrier
  • Completed — once delivered. Marks the estimate as "shipped" for your records and your team.
  • Cancelled — when the customer goes another direction or the job doesn't move forward. Reversible.
  • Delete (kebab) — for accidental estimates, test data, and obvious duplicates. Not reversible — no undo, no trash.