Set up company estimating
Open Settings → Estimating & costbook. Administrators, general managers and sales managers can add items, folders, standard US units, selling prices and internal costs, or preview and import a CSV by unique item code. Folders can go up to 5 levels deep, written as a path such as Bathroom > Shower > Glass (in the CSV folder column too); each level can be up to 60 characters. On an estimate, the Costbook drawer opens folder by folder with a breadcrumb, and search covers the whole costbook. Configure project questions, explicit pricing rules, tax, branding, cover photos, payment terms and proposal wording. Proposal settings also holds default whole-estimate percentage and flat price modifiers and multiple named discounts. On an estimate, the Price modifier section overrides these. The percentage changes every item price. The flat amount changes the project total without changing the item prices in your cart; on customer documents it is blended into the item prices in proportion to their amounts, so the lines add up to the total and customers never see a separate modifier. Named discounts can combine percentage and flat amounts and use the same subtotal without compounding. Discounts are capped at the subtotal. These change selling prices, not internal costs. Defaults affect new estimates only; saved PDFs remain unchanged. Each company has its own costbook. No separate Best Estimator subscription is required.
Build and save a proposal
Saved unit prices do not change when the costbook or company rules change. Reprice is an explicit action. Editing a shared draft replaces its link. Editing a version that has signatures voids them after you confirm. Signed contracts require a revision copy. Previous PDFs remain retained. Internal costs and margins stay out of customer proposals.
- Step 1: Open Estimates → New estimate and choose the customer, or start from the customer’s profile or an appointment.
- Step 2: Add costbook items, quantities and any custom work. Answer project questions and review the scope, totals and payment schedule.
- Step 3: Save the draft, then save a PDF version. The PDF is stored privately in R2 and appears in the customer’s Files.
- Step 4: Create a customer link and share it using your chosen channel. Creating the link sends no message.
Signing turns an estimate into a contract
Every homeowner on the estimate signs first, in person or on the customer link; the link stays active so a second homeowner can sign remotely. The sales representative signs last.
The rep’s signature completes the contract in one step: the prospect becomes a customer, the sale is recorded at the estimate total for that rep, the production job is created with the estimate’s job type (or the customer’s or company default), and one signed contract PDF is saved to the customer’s Files. Sale automations and job-sold status rules run as for any other sale.
Use the same records on every surface
The Kinetic View app for iPhone, iPad and Android uses the same authenticated estimating workspace as the web app. MCP can read the company workspace, preview totals and manage drafts through get_estimating_workspace, preview_estimate and manage_estimating. Edits require current versions; direct-control connections can save changes, while review-mode connections preview and use the web app for changes. Publishing from the standalone Best Estimator app into Kinetic View is turned off; build estimates in Kinetic View. Versions published earlier stay readable on the customer.