How to use the Estimator

What the Estimator is

The Estimator turns a scope of work into a price, and the price into something the customer can accept from their phone. It is four screens: details, scope, price, review.

The idea it is built around is that what the customer reads and what the job costs you are two different things. The scope is a short list of sentences — “replace the three front casements” — with no prices on it. Behind it sit the costs you expect for the whole job: the materials, the labour, the odds and ends. The customer never sees that side, and you never have to keep two documents in step by hand.

Step by step

1. 1

   Set your defaults once

   Before your first estimate, open Estimating defaults — the sliders button beside the search on the Estimates list — and tell FieldStone your tax rate, the deposit you ask for, how long a price stands, and the markup you add to materials, to labour and to other costs. Every estimate starts from those, so you are adjusting rather than deciding again each time.
   Estimating defaults

   Tax rate6%

   Deposit30%

   How long a price stands30 days

   Markup

   Materials20%

   Labor / installation0%

   Other costs15%
2. 2

   Fill your price book

   Your price book is what things cost you — units, materials, labour rates. It opens from the Price step of any estimate: add items there, or import a CSV if you have one. You never scroll it; you search it while you are costing a job, and it finds an item from part of its name or your own code rather than making you remember the exact wording. A cost you typed by hand can be saved to it from the line.
   casementPrice book

   Casement unit, vinyl 34×51$660

   Casement unit, wood clad$1,140

   Casement install labour, ea$300
3. 3

   Start with the details

   Open the Estimator and say who it is for. Starting it from a job or an appointment carries the customer across, and files the finished estimate back against both — which is why it turns up later on the job, the contact, and the visit it came out of. Starting cold, Link job fills in whatever the job already knows.
   Starting from an existing job?Link job

   CustomerMarguerite Okoye

   Job address14 Maple Ave

   Job nameFront window replacement
4. 4

   Write the scope in sentences

   One line per piece of work, written the way you would say it out loud, with no prices on it. This is the document the customer actually reads, so it is worth the two minutes — a scope they understand is a scope they do not ring you about.
   1Replace the three front casements, trim to match.

   2Re-flash and reseal the bay window head.

   3Haul away and dispose of the old units.

   AddPlain language — no prices here.
5. 5

   Cost the job, then price it

   The Price step starts with what the work costs you, in three buckets: materials, labour and installation, and other costs. Pull lines from the price book as you go, or type them in. Each bucket carries a markup, and the three marked-up figures add up to the customer price — which you can still type over when a round number is the right answer. Under it sit your expected cost, your expected profit and the gross margin, so you can see whether the number is worth sending. Nothing here reaches the customer.
   MaterialsCost $3,000Markup 20%$3,600

   Labor / installationCost $2,000Markup 0%$2,000

   Other costsCost $400Markup 15%$460

   Customer price$6,060

   Expected profit $660Gross margin 10.9%
6. 6

   Review, then send

   The last screen sets how they pay — sales tax, the deposit due at signing, how long the price is good for — above the estimate exactly as the customer will see it, redrawn as you change each one. Nothing internal is on it. Send gives it a number and a link: copy the link to send yourself, or have it emailed, texted, or both. You are told when they open it.
   Sales tax6% — $364

   Deposit30% — $1,927 at signing

   Good for30 days

   Copy a linkEmailTextBoth

   Send
7. 7

   A sent estimate cannot change

   This is the one rule worth remembering. The moment you send, that document is frozen — what the customer opens next week is exactly what they opened today, even if you fix a typo or a supplier price moves. To put a different number in front of them, duplicate it and send the new one. The only thing you can still change is the title you filed it under. If three days pass with no answer, the record offers to remind them.
   ReceivedQuote sentAnswer

   Sent Mar 14 · expires Apr 13

   Duplicate to send a different price
8. 8

   When they say yes

   On their phone the customer reads the estimate, types their name and presses Accept this estimate — a signature is optional. They can also ask for a change or say no thanks, and you are told either way. An accepted estimate then offers the two things a yes is for: create the job, and Convert to invoice — the whole amount, a percentage or a fixed amount — which drafts an invoice on the job for you to review and send.
   Front window replacement

   Total$6,424

   Your nameAccept this estimate

   Ask for a changeNo thanks

   AcceptedConvert to invoice