Generate a quote in Kintone and send it from your own mailbox
The tedious part of quoting is not producing the document, it is handing it over. The deal lives in Kintone, the template lives in Excel, the PDF lives in Downloads, and the sending happens in Outlook. Every one of those handoffs is where the wrong version goes out, or nothing goes out at all.
What usually happens instead
The deal record already holds the amounts and the line items. Then producing the document means opening an Excel template and retyping, or exporting CSV into a macro. The resulting PDF gets saved somewhere, Outlook opens, someone hunts for the customer address, attaches it and sends.
The problem is not the number of steps, it is the number of seams. A digit gets retyped wrong. Someone opens last quarter's template. The attachment is forgotten and the reply says "I don't see the file." And the record of what was sent lives in one person's mail client, not in Kintone.Record to sent, in one place
| Step | What the person does | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open the quote record, click generate | Record values and line items merge into the template; the PDF is produced |
| 2 | (nothing) | The PDF is written to the record's attachment field |
| 3 | Click send | Recipient, subject and body merge from the record; the attachment is pre-selected; a review view opens |
| 4 | Check it, send | Sent over OAuth 2.0 from your own Gmail or Microsoft 365 mailbox |
| 5 | — | It sits in that mailbox's Sent folder, and replies arrive there |
The part that matters: whose address it comes from
Sending through a delivery service means the message leaves from the vendor's infrastructure. Replies do not land in the mailbox your team watches, and the message never appears in anyone's Sent folder. For a document that exists specifically to get a reply, that is a real operational problem.
Sending over OAuth 2.0 from your own Gmail or Microsoft 365 mailbox supports Send As for shared mailboxes like sales@, so replies arrive where several people can see them. That alone changes how the process survives someone being on leave.
The two pieces
The document side (PDF Pro) — merges record values and subtable line items into a template and writes the PDF to the record's attachment field. Templates are edited directly on the page, the way you would in Word.
The sending side (Kinplug Mail) — picks the record's attachment, merges recipient, subject and body from record values, and sends from your own mailbox over OAuth 2.0. CC, BCC and a review step before sending are supported.
Note: attaching the PDF to the record automatically requires a render service. When the document is produced through the browser print dialog, the generated bytes never return to script — it can print or save, but not attach.
Three things to check before you build this
(1) How the attachment field is written. Confirm new files are appended rather than replacing the field. Writing a single-element array to a Kintone file field deletes every file already on the record — irreversibly, and usually with a success message.
(2) Whether it can send as a shared mailbox. If sending is tied to individual accounts, replies stall whenever that person is away.
(3) Whether the send is recorded in Kintone. If you cannot see from the record what went out and when, people go back to checking their mail client, and you have not actually removed the seam.
Common questions
Can we reuse our existing Excel template?
Not by importing it directly. The designer works like Word — you edit the page itself — so an existing layout is rebuilt once and then bound to record fields. After that it is reused automatically.
Do subtable line items come through?
Yes. The detail table breaks by row across pages, and the heading row repeats on continuation pages rather than leaving an orphaned block of numbers.
Can the sender review before it goes out?
Yes. A confirmation view opens with recipient, subject, body and attachment so the merged values can be checked before sending.
Do recipients need a Kintone account?
No. It is ordinary email to any address.
What is required to attach the PDF to the record automatically?
A render service. When the document is produced through the browser print dialog instead, the generated bytes never return to script, so it can print or save but cannot attach.
Both pieces are in the same plan
PDF Pro and Kinplug Mail are both included in the single plan — ¥9,800 / $69 per month, unlimited users, no add-ons. The 30-day trial is long enough to rebuild one real template and send one real quote.