Change order
The job changes mid-way. The customer wants downlights in the laundry room, or rot turns up behind the tiles. You don't rewrite the quote the customer has already approved. You make a change order: a quote of its own for what comes in addition, with its own price and its own approval, linked to the quote it changes.
What a change order is
A change order is an ordinary quote. It has its own quote number, its own status and its own line items, and it is sent, approved and invoiced like any other quote. The only thing that sets it apart is that it points back to the quote it changes: at the top it carries the seal Change order and the link Changes quote #N · name back to the original.
The original quote stays untouched. Its total is left alone, and no total adds the two together — the customer approves and pays for each on its own. It isn't the same as sending the quote again; it's a new document for what is new.
Make a change order
You make it from the quote that is changing — whether it is a draft, sent or approved:
- Open the quote, tap ⋯ and choose Create change order.
- The New change order panel opens. At the top it shows Changes with the quote it concerns.
- Give it a Name — for example "Downlights in the laundry room". The name is required.
- Write What changes? — what the customer asked for, and what comes in addition. The text becomes the change order's description, and you can edit it later.
- Choose where the line items start: Start without items, and you add everything yourself, or Start from items in #N and tick lines from the original. They come with name, unit and price, but the quantity starts at 0 — so you only enter what comes in addition, and the original work is never billed again.
- Tap Create change order.
A new quote is then made with its own number, as a draft, in the company's layout and with the same customer, contact, address and job as the original. From there you work in it like any quote: adjust the line items and prices, preview and send.
A couple of things to know:
- You can make a change order from a quote in any status, a draft included.
- You can't make a change order from a change order — it always points back to an ordinary quote.
- For now a change order only adds: quantities and prices stay at zero or above. Taking something off the price isn't supported yet.
Follow the change orders from the quote
The original quote keeps the overview. Under the line items sits the Change orders section with every change order the quote has had — each with its own status and total, but with no shared total. The ⓘ mark by the heading (Show explanation of change orders) explains them: "Separate quotes with their own status and total. This quote's total stays as it is."
If the quote has none yet, it reads: "No change orders. When the job changes, create a change order with its own price and approval, and it is listed here." Tap a row to open the change order. In the quotes overview you recognise them by the same seal.
Send, approve and invoice
A change order is sent like a quote: you preview the PDF, choose recipients and send. On the document it says Change order no. and Regarding with the number of the quote it changes, so the customer sees what it belongs to. The approval page the customer gets calls the document "Change order". The customer approves it on its own, independently of the original quote, and you invoice it like any approved quote.
Which project it belongs to
A change order starts in the same project as the quote it changes. When you move the quote to a project, the project panel asks whether the change orders should come along: the ones standing alone or in the same project are ticked, while the ones in another project stand apart and unticked. Under Include change orders you choose which ones move with it — the rest stay where they are.
More on writing and sending the quote itself: quotes on site visits.