When does a customer’s balance increase after creating an estimate?

A customer's balance increases once an invoice is created based on the estimate. This is because an estimate itself is merely a proposal and does not affect the financial records or the customer balance until a sale is completed. When you invoice based on the estimate, you are formally acknowledging that a sale is taking place, and that’s when the customer's balance is impacted.

Creating an estimate does not alter the financial position since it's not considered a transaction. Even if an estimate is approved or sent to a customer, it is still just an outline of potential sales until an actual invoice is generated. A payment received only affects the balance after it is applied to an invoice, not directly to the estimate. Therefore, the customer’s balance only reflects actual sales transactions, which occur at the invoicing stage.