AI Quote Generation
Generate professional project quotes in seconds using AI-powered analysis of your project requirements, budget, and timeline
What You'll Learn
- Prerequisites for using AI quote generation
- How to fill out the AI generation form
- What happens during the generation process
- Use "Improve with AI" to refine generated quotes
- Regenerate quotes and export to PDF
- AI task breakdown from accepted quotes
- Plan availability and feature limits
1. Prerequisites
Before you can generate AI quotes, you need two things set up in your WorkCentral account.
OpenAI API Key
You need a valid OpenAI API key configured in your account settings. WorkCentral uses GPT-4o to generate quote content.
- •Go to Settings → AI Configuration
- •Enter your OpenAI API key (starts with
sk-) - •Your key must have GPT-4o access with sufficient credits
See AI Setup Guide for step-by-step instructions.
At Least One Client
Quotes are always created for a specific client. You need at least one active client in your account before generating a quote.
See Managing Clients to add your first client.
API Costs
Each AI generation uses your OpenAI API credits. A typical quote generation costs approximately $0.02–$0.08 depending on project complexity. WorkCentral does not charge extra for AI features — you pay OpenAI directly.
2. AI Generation Form
Navigate to Quotes → Create New and click "Generate with AI" to open the AI generation form. Fill in the details about your project and the AI will create a complete, itemized quote.
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Client | Select from your active clients (required) |
| Project Title | A clear name for the project, 3–200 characters (required) |
| Project Description | Describe the work to be done, 20–2000 characters (required). The more detail you provide, the better the AI output. |
| Budget Range | Select a budget bracket (required):
|
| Timeline | Expected project duration (required):
|
| Priority | Low, Medium, or High — affects how the AI weights urgency in the quote (optional, defaults to Medium) |
Writing a Good Description
The project description is the most important input for AI generation. Include specific deliverables, technologies, requirements, and any constraints. A description like "Build a website" will produce generic results, while "Build a 5-page marketing site with a contact form, blog section, and CMS integration using Next.js and Tailwind CSS" will produce a detailed, accurate quote.
3. What Happens When You Generate
When you click "Generate Quote", WorkCentral sends your project details to the OpenAI API and processes the response into a structured quote.
Your Input Is Sent to OpenAI
The project title, description, budget range, timeline, and priority are packaged into a structured prompt and sent to GPT-4o.
AI Creates Structured Quote Content
The AI generates a complete quote including:
- •Itemized line items with descriptions, quantities, rates, and totals
- •Scope of work summary
- •Assumptions and exclusions
- •Suggested timeline with phases
Quote Is Created in Draft Status
The generated content is saved as a new quote in Draft status. You can review, edit, and refine it before sending to your client.
Generation time: Most quotes are generated in 5–15 seconds depending on project complexity and OpenAI API response time.
4. Improve with AI
After generating a quote, you can use the "Improve with AI" feature to refine specific aspects without regenerating the entire quote.
How It Works
Open an existing AI-generated quote in draft status
Click "Improve with AI" and describe what you want to change (e.g., "Add a maintenance phase" or "Reduce the testing budget by 20%")
The AI applies your instructions to the existing quote content, preserving what's already there while making the requested changes
Example Improvement Prompts
- • "Add a line item for ongoing monthly maintenance at $500/month"
- • "Break the development phase into frontend and backend line items"
- • "Make the tone more formal and add payment terms"
- • "Increase all hourly rates by 15%"
Note: Improve with AI is only available on quotes that were originally generated by AI and are still in Draft status. Once a quote is sent to a client, use manual editing instead.
5. Regeneration
If the generated quote doesn't meet your needs, you can regenerate it entirely. This creates a completely new quote from scratch using the same project details.
Regeneration replaces all content. Any manual edits you've made to the quote will be overwritten. If you want to keep your edits, use "Improve with AI" instead.
Each regeneration costs API credits. The same OpenAI usage applies as the original generation.
When to Regenerate vs. Improve
Regenerate When:
- • The overall structure is wrong
- • Line items don't match the project
- • You want a completely fresh take
Improve When:
- • The overall quote is good
- • You need specific adjustments
- • You want to add or modify items
6. Quote PDF Export
Once your quote is ready, you can export it as a professional PDF document to send to your client.
What's Included in the PDF
- Your business details — name, logo, and contact info from your profile
- Client details — company name and contact information
- Quote number and dates — unique ID, created date, and expiry date
- Itemized line items — description, quantity, rate, and line total
- Subtotal, tax, and grand total
- Notes and terms — any additional notes you've added to the quote
Tip: Set up your business details in Settings → Business Details before exporting PDFs. This ensures your company name, logo, and contact info appear correctly on every quote.
7. AI Task Breakdown
When a client accepts a quote, WorkCentral can automatically generate project tasks from the quote line items using AI. This bridges the gap between quoting and project execution.
Quote Is Accepted
When you mark a quote as accepted, WorkCentral creates a project linked to the quote and client.
Tasks Are Generated
Each quote line item becomes a task on the project's Kanban board:
- •Task title comes from the line item description
- •Estimated hours are calculated from the line item quantity and rate
- •Hourly rate is pre-populated from the line item
- •All tasks start in the "To Do" column
Start Working
Tasks appear on the project's Kanban board ready to be assigned, prioritized, and tracked. See Kanban Boards for details on managing tasks.
Quote → Project → Tasks: This automatic workflow means you go from winning a project to having an organized task board in seconds, not hours.
8. Plan Availability
AI features are available on all plans, but usage limits vary.
Free — $0/mo
AI quote generation with your own OpenAI API key. Limited to 5 AI generations per month.
Professional — $18/mo
Unlimited AI generations, Improve with AI, and AI task breakdown from accepted quotes.
Business — $36/mo
Everything in Professional, plus AI features for all team members.
Remember: All plans require your own OpenAI API key. WorkCentral does not include API credits — you manage your OpenAI billing separately.
You're Ready to Generate AI Quotes
With AI quote generation, you can create professional, detailed quotes in seconds:
- Generate complete quotes from project descriptions
- Refine quotes with "Improve with AI"
- Export professional PDFs for clients
- Auto-generate project tasks from accepted quotes