Use this article when Export returns an error, when Export Log shows a failed entry, or when the MIS team reports the estimate never arrived. After this you will have identified which part of the chain — Estimator configuration, the receiving endpoint, or the MIS ingestion — produced the failure, and you will have applied the fix that re-runs the export cleanly.
Quick diagnosis table
Symptom | Check (where to look) | Fix (action) | Verify (what you'll see) |
Export button is missing on a calculated estimate. | Open Estimate Setup → Settings → Connections and read Connection enabled and the Triggers list. Confirm your role has export permission. | If Connection enabled is off, turn it on and Save changes. If Manual is not in Triggers, add it. If neither helps, ask an administrator to grant the export permission on your role. | Re-open the estimate. The Export button is back in the header actions. |
Estimator selects Export and the toast reads Error converting order with a short message. | Read the error detail in the toast and the matching Failed entry in Export Log. | If the detail names a required additional field, fill the field in the dialog and retry. If it names an HTTP error (401, 403, 5xx) or a connection timeout, go to the connection symptoms below. | Re-run Export. The success toast reads This estimate is currently on the way to External MIS and the new Export Log entry shows Success. |
Test connection under Connections returns Test failure. | Read the failure reason next to Test results. Confirm Destination URL is reachable from the public internet and uses HTTPS. Confirm the Authentication method matches what the MIS expects and that the credential is current. | Correct the URL (Estimator flags Invalid URL for bad shapes), update the credential, or ask IT to allowlist the Estimator outbound IP. Save changes. | Run Test connection again. The result reads Test success. |
Estimator gets a Required field marker on the dialog and cannot submit. | Open the dialog and look for fields with the Required field marker that are empty. | Fill in the required value with the real PO Number, Cost center, or date — placeholders route the job to the wrong record. If the field should not be required, ask an administrator to switch it to Optional in the additional-field editor. | The dialog accepts Confirm export. The success toast appears. |
Export Log records Success but the MIS team reports nothing arrived. | Open the Failed or Success entry in Export Log and read the payload and the MIS response that Estimator captured. Ask the MIS team to look up their ingestion log for the same timestamp. | Confirm the MIS ingestion picks up the endpoint Estimator posts to (URL plus authentication). If the MIS receiver discards the payload, the mapping is the issue — the MIS team adjusts the receiver, not the Estimator configuration. | The MIS team confirms the job ticket appears against the same timestamp. Export Log continues to show Success. |
Automatic export never fires for an estimate that reached a trigger status. | Open Connections and read the Triggers list. Open the estimate and confirm its current status matches one of the triggers exactly. | Add the missing status to Triggers and Save changes. Note that triggers do not back-fill — an estimate that already passed the trigger before it was added will not export automatically. Run a manual export on those. | The next estimate that reaches the trigger status produces an Export Log entry without anyone selecting Export. |
Estimate exported but the MIS shows a different total than the price breakdown. | Open the estimate price breakdown and compare make-ready, run, material, and markup lines to the totals in the Export Log payload. Ask the MIS team whether tax, rounding, or currency conversion is applied on receipt. | If the MIS applies its own post-receipt rules, the difference is expected and not an Estimator bug. If the difference is on the quote itself before export, see Troubleshoot unexpected price or missing step. | The payload total matches the price breakdown total. Any remaining difference is fully explained by documented MIS-side rules. |
Example 1 — Bearer token rotated, exports start failing
Northgate Press has the external MIS connection set to Authentication method Token, with a bearer token pasted six months ago. An estimator selects Export on a calculated Stitched Book estimate on Silk 100gsm SRA1. The toast reads Error converting order and Export Log records a Failed entry with an HTTP 401 response from the MIS.
Diagnosis: The administrator opens Estimate Setup → Settings → Connections and selects Test connection on the external-MIS card. The result reads Test failure with a 401 message. The MIS team confirms they rotated the integration token last week as part of a routine credential cycle and did not notify the Estimator administrator.
Fix: The administrator pastes the new bearer token into Authentication token, selects Test connection, and waits for Test success. They select Save changes and confirm Connection settings saved successfully.
Verify: The estimator re-opens the failed estimate and selects Export. The dialog opens, the additional fields retain their previous values (PO Number, Cost center), and Confirm export succeeds. The new Export Log entry reads Success, and the MIS team confirms the job ticket arrived against the same timestamp.
Example 2 — Required additional field added after estimators were trained
Northgate Press wants a Cost center on every exported job. An administrator opens Connections, adds Cost center with Type Short text and Is this a required field? set to Required, and saves. An estimator tries to export a 5,000-run Folded Leaflets estimate on Silk 115gsm SRA1 and sees Cost center in the dialog with the Required field marker. They enter a placeholder TBD and submit. The toast still reads Error converting order and Export Log shows a Failed entry with the MIS response invalid cost center.
Diagnosis: The estimator opens Export Log and reads the failure detail, which shows the MIS rejected the value TBD because the receiver expects a valid Cost center from its master list. The administrator confirms the new field is correctly marked Required in the additional-field editor but realises estimators were not given the list of valid Cost centers.
Fix: The administrator publishes the Cost center list to the estimating team. The estimator re-opens the failed estimate, selects Export, replaces TBD with the real Cost center (CC-DE-04), and selects Confirm export.
Verify: The dialog closes with the success toast This estimate is currently on the way to External MIS. The new Export Log entry reads Success. The MIS team confirms the job ticket landed against the correct Cost center.
What if this didn't fix it?
If Connection enabled is on, Test connection succeeds, every required additional field is populated with a real value, and Export Log still shows repeated Failed entries for the same estimate with no actionable detail, the issue is in the calculation payload or the MIS ingestion logic rather than the Estimator configuration. Open a support request and include: the estimate ID, the timestamp of the failed Export Log entry, the response the MIS returned, and a brief summary of what you have already verified. If the symptoms extend to PDF totals or other downstream surfaces, see Troubleshoot export or handoff problems.