Estimates

Estimates are the starting point for most jobs. Create a detailed estimate with line items, sections, photos, and markup, then send it to your client for review and approval.

#Creating an Estimate

To create a new estimate, click Estimates in the sidebar, then New Estimate. You can also use the quick action button on the Dashboard.

Basic fields

#Estimate Numbering

Estimates use the format EST-NNNN (e.g., EST-0001, EST-0002) and auto-increment with each new estimate.

#Line Items

Line items are the core of every estimate. Each line item represents a piece of work, a material, or a service you're providing.

Line item fields

Each line item has a description (required), plus optional fields for quantity, unit price, unit of measure (e.g., sq ft, hours, each), and a taxable toggle.

You can also attach up to 6 photos per line item — useful for reference images or site photos.

Notes on line items

Each line item has an optional notes field. These notes are visible to your client — they appear on the estimate, the PDF, and the share page. Use them for scope detail the client should see: model numbers, materials, or a breakdown of what the task involves. What stays private is your cost price and markup.

Cost price and markup

Each line item has optional cost price and markup % fields. Enter your actual cost, set the markup percentage, and Jobkore calculates the unit price for you. Both fields are internal only — the client never sees your cost or markup percentage.

Adding from Catalog

If you have saved items in your Catalog, you can add them to an estimate in bulk. Click Add from Catalog to open the catalog modal, where you can filter by type or search by name, select multiple items, and add them all at once. Each item's description, price, unit, and other fields are pre-filled from the catalog.

#Sections

Sections let you group line items under named headings. For example, a kitchen renovation estimate might have sections for "Demo", "Plumbing", "Electrical", and "Finishing".

Each section displays its own subtotal, making it easy for clients to understand the cost breakdown by phase or trade. You can drag and drop line items between sections to reorganize your estimate.

#Discount

You can apply a discount to the estimate in two ways:

• Flat amount — a fixed dollar amount subtracted from the subtotal
• Percentage — a percentage of the subtotal

The discount is applied before tax, so the client sees the reduced amount before any tax is calculated.

#Deposit

If you require a deposit before starting work, you can add one to your estimate. Deposits can be set as a flat amount or a percentage of the final total. The deposit amount is displayed on the estimate as informational — it tells the client what to pay upfront but does not affect the total.

#Overall Markup

In addition to per-item markup, you can set an overall document-level markup percentage. This markup is automatically rolled into each line item's rate on the client-facing view — your client sees the final price per item, and the markup percentage is never shown separately on the estimate, PDF, or share page.

#Allowances

Allowances are placeholder budgets for materials the client hasn't selected yet — tile, fixtures, lighting, flooring, appliances. They're standard practice in residential remodeling: you reserve a dollar amount for "the tile the client eventually picks" without guessing at a specific product.

There are two types, and the difference is whether labor rides along:

• Material Allowance — materials plus tax only. Labor stays in the scope as its own priced line. Use it when the client's choice doesn't change the install much: paint color, basic tile, hardware.
• Installed Allowance — materials plus labor, with markup added at reconciliation. Use it when the choice changes both the material cost and the install complexity: countertops, cabinets, custom flooring, appliances.

When Hank AI™ detects TBD phrasing in your notes ("client to pick," "homeowner selecting," "to be selected"), he flags the line as an allowance automatically:

• Description prefixed with "Material Allowance — " or "Installed Allowance — " so both the placeholder status and the type are clear. When the type isn't obvious he defaults to Material Allowance for you to adjust.
• A budgeted amount recorded on the line along with the type, so the final cost can be reconciled against it later.
• A standard disclaimer added to the item's notes: "Allowance is a budget placeholder. Final cost may be more or less; variance reconciles on the final invoice as a change order. Material Allowance covers material and tax only — labor, delivery, and markup are separate."

You can also flag any line item as an allowance manually by editing the description and notes, or ask Hank during revision: "flag the tile as an allowance."

#Site Services

Site Services is a dedicated section at the top of an estimate that groups project-wide soft costs: permits, inspections, dumpster rental, debris hauling, portable toilets, site protection (floor covering, dust barriers, fencing), equipment rental, scaffolding, mobilization, project management, supervision, final cleaning.

When Hank AI™ detects any of these in your field notes, he consolidates them here instead of scattering them across trade sections. This keeps soft costs visible and easier to price, and prevents items like a dumpster fee from disappearing inside a Demo section.

#Display Settings

You control what columns your client sees on the estimate. Toggle these on or off depending on your preference:

• Rate column — show or hide the unit price column
• Quantity & tax columns — show or hide quantity and tax indicators
• Per-item totals — show or hide the total for each line item

These settings only affect what the client sees. You always see the full detail in the editor.

#Tax, Notes, and Terms

Tax rate

The tax rate defaults to the rate set in Settings > Business. You can override it on any individual estimate. Tax is calculated only on line items marked as taxable.

Notes

Add notes to the bottom of the estimate. Notes have a formatting toolbar with Bold, Italic, Bulleted List, Numbered List, Undo, and Redo. You can toggle between the editor and a preview to see how your notes will look to the client. You can also click Improve to have Hank AI™ polish your notes, or pick a tone from the same menu.

When you build an estimate from field notes with Hank AI™, any exclusions ("client buying gutter guards"), conditions ("permit already pulled"), or site notes ("dog in backyard") Hank detects are extracted into a formatted markdown block and appended to this field — your existing default notes are preserved, separated by a blank line.

Terms and conditions

Your default terms are pre-filled from Settings > Document Defaults. You can edit them on a per-estimate basis without changing the default. Terms support the same formatting toolbar as notes.

#Payments and Fees

Several settings control how online payments work on the estimate:

• Online payments — enable or disable the ability for clients to pay the deposit online via the share page
• Payment methods — choose which payment methods to accept: card only, ACH (bank transfer) only, or both
• Stripe fee coverage — when enabled, the processing fee is added to the total so you receive the full amount

#Signatures and Attachments

Contractor signature

You can add your own signature to the estimate. This signature appears on the PDF and share page to show the client that you've personally reviewed and approved the estimate.

Attachments

Attach files to your estimate — up to 10 files, up to 20 photos on the estimate overall, and up to 6 photos on any one line item. Default attachments from Settings > Document Defaults are included automatically and count toward the ten.

#Estimate Statuses

Every estimate has a status that tracks where it is in the approval process:

You can only edit an estimate while it is in Draft or Sent status. Once accepted, the estimate is locked. If changes are needed after acceptance, use a Change Order.

#Sending It

Send is on the estimate form itself, as the main button, from the moment you open a new estimate. You do not finish the estimate, leave it, find it in a list and open it again to send it — you send it from where you already are. There is no Save button next to it because there is nothing to save: the form has been saving as you type since it opened.

It tells you what it needs

Press Send before the estimate is ready and it says what is missing rather than sitting there greyed out: “Add a client before sending.” or “Add at least one line item before sending.” Those are the only two things an estimate needs. A hidden or dimmed button teaches you nothing, and on a phone there is no hovering over it to find out why — so the button stays put and answers when you press it.

Above the form sits a line saying the same thing without being asked. On a draft it is either what is blocking the send, or "Ready to send — it becomes EST-0012 once sent." once nothing is; on one you have already sent, "Waiting on your client to accept." It does not restate your total or your due date.

Mark as Sent — issuing without emailing

On a draft, Mark as Sent sits beside Send. It issues the estimate — assigns the number, moves it to Sent — without emailing anybody. That is the right button when you are printing it, handing it over on the tailgate, or texting the PDF. It is also why Download PDF is unavailable on a draft: a document with no number yet is not a document you want in a client's hands.

The email itself

Send opens a composer with the client's email already in it. You can add more recipients — a spouse, a property manager, an adjuster — and Jobkore offers to save any new address onto the client record so you do not retype it next time. Subject and message are pre-written and editable, and there is a Send me a copy toggle. If the client's language is set to Spanish, the email is composed in Spanish and the composer says so.

Sending again

You can email an estimate again at any point — after it has been sent, after it has been accepted. Re-sending changes nothing: the status stays where it is and no new number is issued. The one exception is a voided estimate, which cannot be sent, because putting a withdrawn document back in front of a client says the opposite of what you mean.

#Estimate Detail Page

The estimate detail page shows all information about a single estimate, including the header, client details, line items, totals, photos, notes, terms, payment terms, attachments, and client signature (if collected).

Action bar

The action bar at the top provides all available actions for the current estimate. The available actions depend on the estimate's status:

• Edit — open the estimate in the editor (Draft and Sent only)
• Accept — manually mark the estimate as accepted
• New Change Order — create a change order for this estimate (Accepted only)
• Create Invoice — convert the accepted estimate into an invoice (Accepted only)
• Send — email the estimate to the client
• Share — get a shareable link to the estimate
• Download PDF — download the estimate as a PDF
• Duplicate — create a copy of the estimate as a new draft
• Decline — mark the estimate as declined
• Delete — permanently delete the estimate

Change Orders card

On accepted estimates, a Change Orders card appears showing all change orders associated with this estimate, along with the revised contract value. See Change Orders for details.

Related Invoices card

If invoices have been created from this estimate, they are listed in a Related Invoices card with their status and amount.

#Converting to an Invoice

Once an estimate is accepted, you can convert it to an invoice by clicking Create Invoice on the detail page. The new invoice inherits all fields from the estimate — line items, sections, discount, deposit, markup, notes, terms, and attachments — so you don't have to re-enter anything. You can still edit the invoice before sending it.

#Duplicating Estimates

Click Duplicate on any estimate to create a new draft copy. The duplicate includes all line items, sections, and settings from the original, with "(Copy)" appended to the title. This is useful when you have a similar job for a different client or want to create a revised version.

#Two Things That Happen Quietly

Half-started drafts clean themselves up

Jobkore can mint a draft for you before you have typed anything into it — starting one from a field note, for instance. A draft nobody ever filled in stays out of your lists and is cleaned up for you.

The moment you put real content in one, it stops being disposable and behaves like any other draft.

The job-site address is frozen onto the document

When you set a service location on an estimate, the address is copied onto the document rather than merely linked to the client's location record. Change or delete that location later and the estimate still shows the address the work was actually quoted for.

That matters when you are looking at old paperwork: a two-year-old estimate should say where the job was, not where the client's current address happens to be.