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. A scope line is a sentence — “replace the three front casements”. Underneath it sit the costs you expect: the units, the labour, the delivery. 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, tell FieldStone your tax rate, the deposit you ask for, how long a quote stays good for, the margin you aim at, and how you like numbers rounded. Every estimate starts from those, so you are adjusting rather than deciding again each time.
   Tax6%

   Deposit30%

   Valid for30 days

   Target margin38%

   Round to$10
2. 2

   Fill your price book

   Your price book is what things cost you — units, materials, labour rates. Import it from a spreadsheet if you have one. You never scroll it; you search it while you are costing a line, and it finds close matches rather than making you remember the exact wording.
   casement

   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.
   From jobFrom visit
4. 4

   Write the scope in sentences

   One line per piece of work, written the way you would say it out loud. 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.
   Replace the three front casements, trim to match.

   Re-flash and reseal the bay window head.

   Haul away and dispose of the old units.

   Add line
5. 5

   Cost each line

   Under each sentence, add what you expect to spend on it, pulling from the price book as you go. Nothing here reaches the customer. It is what tells you whether the number you are about to send is worth sending.
   Replace the three front casements, trim to match.

   3 × casement unit$1,980

   Labour, 1.5 days$900

   Trim + delivery$260

   Cost$3,140
6. 6

   Price it

   Your target margin turns cost into price, and you can push any line up or down from there. Tax, deposit and the expiry date come in from your defaults. You can see the margin the whole estimate lands on before you commit to it.
   Subtotal$7,010

   Tax (6%)$421

   Deposit due$2,229

   Margin 41%target 38%
7. 7

   Review, then send

   The last screen is the estimate as the customer will see it — nothing internal on it. Send it and they get a link. They open it, read it, and accept or decline, and you are told either way.
   Estimate — 14 Maple Ave

   $7,431DeclineAccept
8. 8

   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.
   Sent 14 Mar — lockedSent

   Duplicate to send a different price