# Opportunities

> Add an opportunity, fill in its details, add products and services, and download a quote or invoice.

Source: https://help.clockworkcrm.com/sales/opportunities
Last updated: 2026-10-09

An opportunity is one piece of potential business. It records what the deal is worth, who it is
with, which pipeline it is in and which stage it has reached.

Every opportunity belongs to one pipeline, and sits in one stage of it at a time. See
[Pipelines and stages](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/sales/pipelines).

## Adding an opportunity

1. Go to **Sales → Add Opportunity**.
2. On the **General** tab, enter a **Name** and an **Estimated value**.
3. Choose a **Pipeline**, then a **Stage**.
4. Fill in any pipeline or stage properties the form adds.
5. Fill in the other tabs if you need them.
6. Select **Save**.

**Save** stays unavailable until every required field is filled in. After saving, the opportunity
opens in the opportunities list, or on the board if you started from a board column.

You can also start an opportunity from a contact. The **Create an opportunity for** button at the
top of a person or company record opens **Add Opportunity** in a new tab, with that contact already
added as a stakeholder. The **+** at the top of a board column opens it with that column's pipeline
and stage already chosen.

![The Add Opportunity form, on its General tab](https://clockworkcrm.blob.core.windows.net/public-internal/docs/sales/add-opportunity.png?v=3c1ca87f)

The form has four tabs: **General**, **Products & Services**, **Recurrence Information** and
**Permissions**.

### General

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Name** | The opportunity's name. Required, up to 255 characters |
| **Estimated value** | What the deal is worth. Required. It starts at 0, and is recalculated when you add products and services |
| **Sale Owner** | The user responsible for the opportunity. It starts as you. An opportunity must have an owner |
| **Estimated close date** | When you expect the deal to close. Optional |
| **Description** | Free text, with formatting |
| **Importance** | A rating from one to five stars. It starts at three |
| **Likelihood of Conversion** | A percentage from 0 to 100, set with a slider in steps of 5. It starts at 50% |
| **Companies** and **People** | The stakeholders: the contacts the opportunity is linked to |
| **Pipeline** | The pipeline the opportunity runs through. Required |
| **Stage** | The stage it starts in. Required. It lists **Open**, the pipeline's own stages, **Lost** and **Won** |

Choosing a stage adds the pipeline's properties under **Pipeline Properties**, and a section of
properties for that stage and for each earlier stage that has any. Choosing **Won** or **Lost**
adds the properties of every stage, and a **Closing Properties** section with:

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Close date** | The date the deal closed. Required |
| **Closing notes** | Free text, with formatting |

Required properties must be filled in before you can save. See
[Custom properties](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/sales/properties).

### Products & Services

The products and services being sold. See [Products and services](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/sales/opportunities#products-and-services).

![The Products & Services tab of the Add Opportunity form](https://clockworkcrm.blob.core.windows.net/public-internal/docs/sales/add-opportunity-products.png?v=77f1e0f1)

### Recurrence Information

For business that repeats, such as a subscription.

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Recurrence** | How often the opportunity recurs: **None**, **Weekly**, **Monthly**, **Quarterly**, **Bi-Annually** or **Annually**. It starts as **None** |
| **Start date** | When the recurrence starts. Required when **Recurrence** is not **None**. It starts as today |
| **End date** | When the recurrence ends. Optional: leave it empty if there is no end date. It starts one month after today |

The dates can only be changed once **Recurrence** is set to something other than **None**.

### Permissions

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Users** | Users who can see and work on the opportunity. It starts as you |
| **Teams** | Teams whose members can see and work on the opportunity. It starts as **Everyone** |

An opportunity appears in the board, list, dashboard and search only for its owner and the users and
team members listed here.

## The opportunity record

Opening an opportunity from the board, the list or the dashboard shows its record in a panel.
The cross at the top right closes it.

![An opportunity record: stage bar, details on the left, responsibilities and stakeholders on the right, products and services below](https://clockworkcrm.blob.core.windows.net/public-internal/docs/sales/opportunity-record.png?v=6fb5d8bc)

The buttons across the top are:

| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Generate Document** | Produces a PDF or Word document from one of your document templates. See [Generating a document](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/sales/opportunities#generating-a-document) |
| **Move** | Moves the opportunity to another stage or another pipeline. See [Moving an opportunity](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/sales/opportunities#moving-an-opportunity) |
| **Upload File** | Attaches a file from the file browser |
| **See History** | Opens **Opportunity History**: who changed what, and when |
| **Schedule Follow Up** | Creates a calendar entry for the opportunity. See [Scheduling a follow-up](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/sales/opportunities#scheduling-a-follow-up) |

Below the buttons is the stage bar. See [Changing stage](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/sales/opportunities#changing-stage).

### Details

Most details are changed on the record itself. Each change is saved as soon as you make it.

| Item | How to change it |
|---|---|
| **Estimated Close Date** | Click the date to pick a new one. It turns red once the date has passed, and pointing at it shows how many days overdue it is |
| **Actual Close Date** | Shown once the opportunity is won or lost. Click the date to change it |
| **Estimated Value** | Click the value and enter a new one |
| Pipeline and name | The pipeline is shown in its colour. Click the name to change it |
| **Importance** | Click a star |
| **Likelihood** | Drag the slider |
| **Description** | Click it to edit, then select **Save** or **Cancel** |
| **Properties** | The pipeline's properties, grouped by property group, then a box for each stage the opportunity has reached with that stage's properties. Click a value to change it |

A won opportunity shows **Congratulations, this opportunity has been Won** with its closing notes.
A lost one shows **Commiserations, this opportunity has been Lost**.

### Responsibilities, permissions and stakeholders

The right side of the record holds:

| Section | What it shows | How to change it |
|---|---|---|
| **Responsibilities** | **Owned By**, the sale owner, and **Created By** | Click the owner to open **Edit Sale Owner**, choose a user and select **Save** |
| **Permissions** | **Users** and **Teams** who can see the opportunity | Click **Users** or **Teams**, change the list and select **Save** |
| **Stakeholders** | **Companies** and **People** linked to the opportunity | Click **Companies** or **People**, change the list and select **Save** |
| **Tags** | The opportunity's tags | **Add Tag** adds one. Click a tag to edit it, or its cross to remove it |
| **Files** | Files attached with **Upload File**. Shown once there is at least one | Click a file to download it. Its cross removes it, after you confirm |
| **Recurrence Information** | The recurrence, with its start and end dates | Click it to open **Edit Recurrence Information** |

### Comments

Write a comment in the **Comments** box at the foot of the record and select **Save**. You can
edit or delete your own comments afterwards.

The board and list show how many comments and files each opportunity has.

## Changing stage

The stage bar shows the pipeline's stages from **Open** onwards. The current stage is in colour,
earlier stages are faded and later stages are grey. The last item is **Completion**, which shows
**Won** or **Lost** once the opportunity closes.

To move the opportunity forward:

1. Click a later stage.
2. If any stage between the current one and the chosen one has properties, the **Move Stage** form
   lists them. Fill in the required ones and select **Save**.
3. Confirm the move.

To close the opportunity:

1. Click **Completion** and choose **Won** or **Lost**.
2. Fill in any stage properties the **Move Stage** form asks for, and confirm.
3. Enter any **Closing Notes** and select **Save**.

The close date is set to today when an opportunity is won or lost. You can change it afterwards
from **Actual Close Date**.

Clicking an earlier stage moves the opportunity back, after you confirm.

## Moving an opportunity

**Move** changes the opportunity's pipeline, its stage, or both. It is on the record and in the
actions menu on the list.

![The Move dialog: pipeline and stage, with the properties the new stage needs](https://clockworkcrm.blob.core.windows.net/public-internal/docs/sales/sale-move-dialog.png?v=75aee7cf)

1. Choose the **Pipeline**.
2. Choose the **Stage**.
3. Fill in the properties shown. The form shows the pipeline's properties and the properties of the
   chosen stage and of any earlier stages. Required properties must be filled in.
4. For **Won** or **Lost**, fill in **Closing Properties**: the **Close date**, which is required,
   and the **Closing notes**.
5. Select **Save** and confirm.

![The Move dialog with Won chosen, showing an earlier stage's required property and the closing fields](https://clockworkcrm.blob.core.windows.net/public-internal/docs/sales/sale-close-dialog.png?v=2b68053d)

Moving an opportunity to a stage that is not **Won** or **Lost** clears its close date and closing
notes.

Opportunities can also be moved by dragging them on the board. See
[Board and list views](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/sales/board-and-list).

## Scheduling a follow-up

**Schedule Follow Up** opens the scheduler with the opportunity already filled in.

![The scheduler opened from an opportunity: a meeting titled after the opportunity, with its people as attendees](https://clockworkcrm.blob.core.windows.net/public-internal/docs/sales/sale-follow-up-dialog.png?v=b362358d)

| Item | Starts as |
|---|---|
| Title | "Follow-up:" followed by the opportunity's name |
| Start and end | One week from now, for one hour |
| Attendees | The people on the opportunity |
| Linked contacts | The companies on the opportunity |

The rest is the same as any calendar entry. See [Using the calendar](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/calendar/calendar).

## Products and services

The **Products / Services** table records what is being sold. It is on the **Products & Services**
tab when adding an opportunity, and on the record below the details. It appears once at least one
product or service and one tax rate exist in the Products app.

Changes to the table are saved as you make them.

| Column | What it holds |
|---|---|
| **Product / Service** | The item, with its code and description below it. Click any of the three to change it. Choosing a different item replaces the code, description and price with that item's |
| **Price** | The price of one unit or one hour. It starts as the item's price. Click it to change it |
| **Qty / Hours** | The quantity, or the number of hours. It starts at 1 |
| **Discount** | The discount, with its type below it: **Percentage** or **Fixed**. For a percentage, the amount it takes off is shown underneath. Changing the type sets the discount back to 0 |
| **VAT Rate** | The tax rate, chosen from your tax rates |
| **VAT** | The tax on the line |
| **Total** | The line total including tax |

**Add New Row** adds a line for the first product or service in your list, using the first tax
rate. Drag a line to reorder it. The bin icon at the end of a line deletes it.

Each line is worked out like this:

- A **Percentage** discount is that percentage of price × quantity. A **Fixed** discount is taken
  off the line once, whatever the quantity.
- **VAT** is (price × quantity − discount) × the VAT rate. It is never less than zero.
- **Total** is price × quantity − discount + VAT.

Below the lines:

| Total | What it is |
|---|---|
| **Net** | The sum of price × quantity for every line, before discounts |
| **Discounts** | The sum of every line's discount, shown as a negative amount. Shown only when a line has a discount |
| **VAT** | The sum of every line's VAT |
| **Total Inc. VAT** | The sum of every line's total |

Adding, changing or removing a line sets the opportunity's **Estimated value** to the net total
minus the discounts.

Products, services and tax rates are set up in the Products app. See
[Products and services](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/products/products-and-services) and
[Tax rates](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/products/settings#tax-rates).

## Quotes and invoices

**Download Quote** and **Download Invoice** sit below the products and services table.

| Button | Available when |
|---|---|
| **Download Quote** | The opportunity has at least one product or service line, and at least one company or person |
| **Download Invoice** | The same, and the opportunity has been won |

Pointing at an unavailable button shows what is missing.

To download a quote:

1. Select **Download Quote**.
2. In **Use Settings**, choose the invoice settings to print on the quote. See
   [Invoice and quotation settings](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/products/settings#invoice-and-quotation-settings).
3. In **Generate Quote For...**, choose the company or person the quote is for. **Contact Name**
   shows their name.
4. Check the **Notes** and **Terms and Conditions**. They start as the ones in the chosen settings,
   and you can change them for this quote.
5. Select **Generate**.

To download an invoice, follow the same steps with **Download Invoice**. The invoice form also has
an **Invoice Address** section: **Address Line 1**, **Address Line 2**, **City**, **County** and
**Postcode**. They start as the chosen company's address and can be changed. The invoice prints them
under **Invoice Address**.

A quote for a company prints the company's address under **Address**.

The document is produced as a PDF from the opportunity's current lines. When it is ready it is in
the **Documents** tab of your profile for 24 hours. See [Your profile](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/general/profile#documents).

Quotes are numbered SQ-1, SQ-2 and so on, and invoices SI-1, SI-2 and so on. Every quote for the
same opportunity keeps that opportunity's quote number, and every invoice keeps its invoice number.
The file is named after the number and the contact, such as "SQ-12 - Example Ltd.pdf".

## Generating a document

**Generate Document** fills in one of your document templates with this opportunity's details.

1. Select **Generate Document**.
2. Choose the **Document Template**.
3. Choose the **Format**: **PDF** or **Word**.
4. Under **Generate For**, tick the stakeholders to produce a document for. Every stakeholder
   starts ticked.
5. Select **Generate**.

Each ticked stakeholder gets a document of their own. With nobody ticked, or no stakeholders on the
opportunity, one document is produced with the contact fields left blank. The documents go to the
**Documents** tab of your profile.

If there are no templates you can use, the dialog says so. See
[Document templates](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/marketing/document-templates).

## Copying and deleting

**Copy** is on the board card and in the list's actions menu. After you confirm, it creates a new
opportunity named after the original with " Copy" on the end. The copy keeps the original's
details, stage, property values, permissions and stakeholders. Comments, files and follow-ups are
not copied.

**Delete** is in the same places. It removes the opportunity after you confirm.

## Tags

Tags are labels on an opportunity. Add them from **Add Tag** on the record, or the tag icon on a
board card. **New Tag** in the tag picker creates a tag with a name and colour. Tags can be
filtered on in the board, list and advanced search. See
[Board and list views](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/sales/board-and-list#filters).

## Related

- [Pipelines and stages](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/sales/pipelines), the stages an opportunity moves through
- [Board and list views](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/sales/board-and-list), working with many opportunities at once
- [Dashboard and search](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/sales/dashboard-and-search), reporting on opportunities