Working with estimates

The Estimate tab on every phase is where the priced work-order for that phase comes together. Different phase types (mitigation, contents, mold remediation, abatement, demolition, repair, and so on) all share the same Estimate tab — what differs is how the line items get there.

AI mode vs Manual mode

Each phase type runs the Estimate tab in one of two modes:

• AI Estimate — the line items are generated by the pipeline from the work-area scope you've defined (rooms, square footage, water category, demo cuts, etc.). Phase types in this mode include water mitigation, cleaning / deodorization, contents, contents documentation / pack-out / pack-back, textiles, electronics, art, demolition, remediation, and repair.
• Manual Estimate — you build the estimate by hand from a blank document. Phase types in this mode include assessment, contents-storage, and final-inspection. Custom phase types default to manual.

You don't have to choose between modes — the phase type decides. Phase types are configured in Settings → Phase Types by the org admin.

Generating an AI estimate

For AI-mode phases, you'll see a Generate Reserve Estimate or Generate Final Estimate button on the tab (or both — Contents has both, mitigation typically has one). The estimator pipeline reads:

• The scoped rooms and their attributes (square footage, water category, finish materials, etc.)
• Any inventory list attached to the phase (for Contents phases)
• The job-level rules in the active scope-rules config
• The Xactimate price book for your region

…then produces a complete priced estimate as a draft. Generation takes between 15 seconds and a few minutes depending on phase complexity. You'll see a progress card while it runs and can cancel at any point.

Confidence filtering

Some AI-generated line items come with a confidence score. The confidence filter bar lets you hide high-confidence items so you can focus your review on the lines the model was least sure about. Field workers reviewing estimates on a phone find this especially useful — it shows them the 10 items that need attention rather than all 80.

The filter is a view-only control; it doesn't change what's saved to the estimate.

Editing line items

The line items table is the heart of the Estimate tab. Each row is an Xactimate code with a quantity, unit, unit cost, and total. You can edit any draft estimate freely until it's been approved.

Add a line item

Click Add Line Item in the toolbar (or hit the keyboard shortcut — see the cheatsheet via ?). The line-item sheet opens with a code picker that searches across the active price book. Pick a code, set quantity and any notes, and save. The total recalculates on the fly.

Edit inline

Click any cell in the table to edit it — quantity, description, notes — without opening the sheet. Changes save on blur. For more involved edits (changing the code, applying a different tax rate, adding a sub-component), open the row in the line-item sheet from its row menu.

Delete

Use the row menu's Delete action. Deletes happen on the current draft; they don't affect older revisions.

Copy and paste

You can copy a selection of line items out of one estimate and paste them into another — same phase, a different phase, or even a different project. Select rows in the table, Copy, navigate to the target estimate, and Paste.

This is how restoration teams ship a job that has near-identical work across two units (a duplex with the same damage pattern in both halves) or apply a known-good fragment from a prior job. Codes are validated against the target region's price book on paste — if the destination region doesn't carry a code, the row is flagged so you can pick a substitute.

Default line items

Some line items show up on virtually every estimate of a given phase type — labor minimums, equipment setup fees, dump trip charges. Rather than adding them manually every time, define them once as Default Line Items in Settings, and they'll be inserted automatically into every new estimate for the phase type they're scoped to.

Defaults are applied at estimate-creation time, not at view time, so you can still remove or edit them on a per-estimate basis without breaking the default for everyone else.

Templates

Templates are reusable line-item sets that go beyond defaults — they're for the common-but-not-universal case where you want a one-click way to apply, say, "Cat 2 water mitigation, single-room, padding included" to a new phase.

Create a template

From any existing draft estimate, use the Save as Template action. Give the template a name, a description, and tag it with the phase types it applies to. The template is now available org-wide (unless you mark it private to your branch).

Apply a template

On a draft estimate, open the Templates menu and pick one. The template's line items are merged into the current draft. You can apply multiple templates to one estimate; duplicates aren't auto-deduped, so you'll see two EQ lines if both templates carried that code — adjust by hand.

Edit a template

Templates have their own edit screen under Settings → Estimates → Templates. Edits affect future applications only; existing estimates that were built from the template are not retroactively touched.

Revisions

Every meaningful state change on an estimate creates a new revision. You'll see revisions for:

• Generating a Final Estimate after a Reserve already exists
• Manually clicking Regenerate on an AI estimate (e.g. after fixing scope)
• Sending an approved estimate back to draft (the Send back to draft action on an approved estimate)
• Resubmitting after a client requested changes

Revisions are write-once: once a revision is superseded, you can view it from the revision history but you can't edit it. The currently-active revision is the one you edit and send to clients.

Viewing a historical revision

The revision banner at the top of the table shows when you're looking at a historical revision rather than the active one. From the revision picker you can navigate the history, copy line items out of an old revision into the active one, or just compare totals across the trajectory of the claim.

Approval workflow

Estimates move through a small state machine:

DRAFT  →  INTERNAL_REVIEW  →  APPROVED_INTERNAL  →  APPROVED  (or REJECTED)

• Draft — you're editing. Free to add, remove, regenerate.
• Internal Review — locked to most users, available for an internal approver to look over before it goes to the client. Used at orgs where field staff draft and a senior estimator signs off.
• Approved Internal — internal sign-off is done, ready to send to the client. The Send to client affordance unlocks here.
• Approved — the client has approved. This is the billable estimate.
• Rejected — the client requested changes. Use Send back to draft to start a new revision.

You can short-circuit Internal Review for orgs that don't run a two-step approval — the workflow is configurable per org.

Sending to clients

Once an estimate is approved internally, the Send to client card appears in place of the editing toolbar. Choose recipients from the project's contact list, optionally include a personal note, and send. The client receives an email with a tokenized link to a read-only view of the estimate and an Approve / Request Changes affordance.

What the client sees

The client lands on a public estimate view scoped to the recipient's email. They see:

• The line items, totals, and any client-facing notes
• An Approve button that records their consent with a timestamp and IP
• A Request Changes form that captures their feedback as a free-text note

The client never sees your internal notes or revision history.

Tracking responses

Every client decision creates an entry in the Previous responses card on the estimate tab. You can see who approved, who requested changes, when, and exactly what note they left. The card stays visible across all subsequent statuses so the back-office record is preserved when the estimate moves on.

Next steps

• For the inventory-specific workflow that feeds Contents-phase estimates, see Contents Inventory.
• For configuring default line items, templates, and tax rates, see Settings → Estimates.