Projects and costings
Available onEstimatorBuilder
A project is one job. A costing is one priced version of that job. Every number in SmarteBuild hangs off that distinction, so it is worth being clear on it before you create anything.
If it is new to you, read Company, project, costing first — this article assumes it.
The Projects list
Section titled “The Projects list”Projects List is where you land. It shows every job you have access to, with its costings underneath.
Each project row carries the essentials: name, job number, client, status, supervisor and contract price. Expand it and you see the costings — the priced versions — each with its own totals.
Selecting a costing shows the costing metrics panel: progress, cost against budget, claimed against revenue, and a breakdown of how the margin is derived from cost and markup. That panel is the fastest read on whether a job is going well.
Creating things
Section titled “Creating things”The New button creates either:
- Project — a new job.
- Costing — a new priced version of the project you have selected.
You need a project before you can have a costing, so on an empty account the order is always project first.
The project tabs
Section titled “The project tabs”With a project selected, these are the areas you can edit:
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Project Info | Name, code, address, client, status, supervisor, house size, contract price, GST |
| Project Permissions | Who can see and change the project |
| Costing Permissions | Who can see and change each costing |
| Work Breakdown Structures | The WBS available to this project’s costings |
| Total House Area | Floor areas used for rate-per-square-metre reporting |
Markups, contract stages and clients are edited from the same screen via Edit Markup, Edit Stage and the client fields.
What you can do to a project
Section titled “What you can do to a project”| Action | What happens |
|---|---|
| Archive | Hidden from the default list, fully recoverable. Use it for finished jobs. |
| Trash | Marked deleted and hidden, still recoverable. |
| Delete Permanently | Gone, with everything under it. |
Costings have their own Duplicate and Delete Permanently.
Tick Show Archived to bring archived and trashed items back into view.