A change order records work that's added or changed after your customer has accepted the estimate — without altering the original estimate. It's the clean way to handle "while you're here, can you also…" requests once a job is underway.
Change order vs. editing the estimate
- Before the customer accepts — just edit the estimate. Nothing is locked in yet, so change the line items directly. See Creating an estimate.
- After the customer accepts — use a change order. The accepted estimate stays exactly as it was (a clean record of what was originally agreed), and the change order captures the new or revised work as a separate, signable document.
How it works
Each estimate has a single change order. When you open it the first time, Estimation Builder starts it from the estimate's current line items, so you're adjusting a copy rather than building from scratch. From there you add, change, or remove line items to reflect the new scope, then send the updated PDF for sign-off.