Projects

A project in ContractorScope AI represents a job you are actively working on or planning to work on. Projects give you a bird's-eye view of your workload, help you track progress, and connect all the related records — estimates, invoices, files, and notes — in one place.

Mobile Access

Check project status, view documents, and update progress from your phone while on-site. The Kanban board's columns stay side-by-side and scroll horizontally on a phone or tablet — to move a card to a different stage with your finger, tap the ⋮ menu on the card and choose Move to, no dragging required. (Dragging a card between columns still works too, on any device that supports it.)

What Is a Project?

Projects are separate from estimates. An estimate is a document you create to price a job. A project is the job itself — it can have one or more estimates attached to it, along with invoices, files, and a full activity history.

Think of it this way:

• Estimate → "Here is what the job will cost."
• Project → "Here is the job we are doing, and here is everything related to it."

The Project List

Open Projects from the left navigation to see your project pipeline. By default, projects are displayed as a Kanban board showing columns for each pipeline stage. Switch to List view using the toggle in the top-right corner.

Pipeline Stages

The Kanban board has seven columns:

Column	Meaning
Lead	A potential job you are exploring — no estimate yet.
Estimate draft	An estimate is being put together but hasn't been sent.
Estimate sent/pending	An estimate has been sent to the customer; waiting for a decision.
Estimate approved	The customer accepted the estimate (also covers a job that is scheduled but not yet started).
Job in progress	Work is actively underway (also covers a job that's on hold/paused).
Job completed	The job is finished.
Archived	The job was lost, cancelled, or otherwise closed without completing.

Column names are fixed — you cannot add, remove, or rename them. Every project lands in exactly one column based on its stage, computed for you automatically even if you (or an import) used different wording — "Preliminary Estimate Sent," "Job Finished," and similar variants are recognized and bucketed correctly. If you import projects that use your own stage vocabulary and want a specific label mapped precisely, map each of your labels onto a built-in stage in Settings → Import & data cleanup → Stage & status labels.

What shows on a card

Each project normally shows as one card, in the column matching its current stage. A project that has an estimate still in draft (being put together, not yet sent) shows as an estimate card instead — the card displays the linked contact's name and the estimate's value, and it drags between the Estimate draft and Estimate sent/pending columns just like a project card. This is true even if the project's overall stage is further along (for example, a job that's already in progress but has a new, unfinished change-order estimate) — the draft estimate card takes over that project's spot on the board so you always see unfinished, in-progress estimates, and each project still shows up in only one place at a time.

An estimate that has been sent shows as an estimate card only while the project itself is still waiting on that decision (Lead or Estimate sent/pending). Once the project moves on — the estimate is accepted and work is scheduled or underway, or the project is completed or archived — the project's own card (in its new column) represents it instead; open the project to see the sent estimate's history.

Filtering and Sorting

In list view, use the filter bar to narrow projects by:

• Stage — Show only projects in a particular stage.
• Assigned team member — Show only your projects or someone else's.
• Date range — Filter by project start date or expected completion.
• Tags — Filter by any custom tags applied to projects.

tip

Filter by Job in progress and sort by Expected completion to see which jobs need attention first.

Creating a Project

There are three ways to create a project.

From the Projects Screen

1. Click New Project in the top-right corner.
2. Fill in the project details (see below).
3. Click Create Project.

From a Contact Record

1. Open the contact you want to create a project for.
2. Click the Projects tab.
3. Click New Project on that tab.
4. The contact is pre-linked — fill in the remaining details and save.

See Contacts & CRM for more on working with contact records.

From an Accepted Estimate

When a customer accepts an estimate, ContractorScope AI offers to create a project automatically:

1. After the estimate status changes to Accepted, a prompt appears at the top of the estimate.
2. Click Create Project from This Estimate.
3. Review the pre-filled project details and adjust if needed.
4. Click Create Project.

The estimate is linked to the project automatically.

Project Details Form

When creating or editing a project, fill in:

• Project name — A short, clear name. Include the customer's name or address if that helps you tell jobs apart (for example, "Smith Residence — Roof Replacement").
• Contact — Link the project to a contact from your Contacts & CRM. Required.
• Stage — Where in the pipeline this project starts.
• Job address — The physical location where the work takes place, if different from the contact's address.
• Start date / Expected completion — Helps with scheduling and workload planning.
• Assigned to — The team member responsible for this project.
• Tags — Any labels that help you organize or filter.
• Description — Optional free-text notes about the scope, special requirements, or anything else relevant.

Project Detail View

Click any project to open its full detail view. This is where all the action happens.

Project Header

The header shows:

• Project name and current stage (click the stage to change it).
• Contact name (click to open the contact record).
• Job address.
• Start date and expected completion.
• Assigned team member.

Editing Project Details

Project fields — including the job address — are edited from the project detail page. Click View all details to open the details modal, then use its built-in edit mode to update any field. If a project does not have an address yet, click Add address in the header to open the same modal directly in edit mode.

Moving Through Stages

To advance a project through your pipeline, click the current stage in the header and select the new stage from the dropdown. You can also move the project card between columns on the Kanban board — drag it with a mouse, or on a touch device tap the card's ⋮ menu and choose Move to.

Every stage change is recorded in the activity feed with a timestamp.

Linking Estimates to a Project

A project can have multiple estimates attached to it — for example, a base scope estimate plus a change order estimate.

Link an Existing Estimate

1. Open the project detail view.
2. Click the Estimates tab.
3. Click Link Existing Estimate.
4. Search by estimate number or title.
5. Click Link.

Create a New Estimate from the Project

1. Open the Estimates tab on the project.
2. Click New Estimate.
3. The estimate is pre-linked to the project and the associated contact.

info

Linking an estimate to a project does not change the estimate's status or content — it simply associates the two records so they are easy to find together.

Linking Invoices to a Project

Invoices work the same way as estimates — you can create them from the project or link existing ones. See Invoicing for full details on the invoicing workflow.

The Invoices tab on the project shows:

• Each invoice with its number, amount, status, and due date.
• A running total of billed vs. paid amounts.
• A Balance remaining figure.

Attaching Files to a Project

The Files tab lets you attach any documents related to the job:

• Signed contracts or proposals.
• Permit applications and approvals.
• Before and after photos.
• Blueprints or plans.
• Material invoices from suppliers.

Drag and drop files onto the tab, or click Upload. Files are stored securely in the cloud and accessible from any device.

tip

Upload job-site photos as you go. Having a timestamped visual record of the work in progress protects you if a customer disputes the quality or scope of work later.

Notes and Activity Feed

The Activity tab on the project shows a chronological record of everything that has happened:

• Stage changes.
• Estimates and invoices created or linked.
• Files uploaded.
• Notes added by team members.
• Emails sent from the project.

Adding a Note

Click Add Note to write a note on the project. Notes are visible to all team members with access to the project. Use notes for:

• Daily progress updates.
• Issues discovered on site.
• Material order status.
• Customer communications not captured in email.

Project Status Tracking

The summary cards at the top of the project detail view give you an instant financial snapshot:

Card	What it shows
Estimated value	Total value of all linked estimates.
Invoiced	Total amount billed so far.
Collected	Total payments received.
Balance	Amount invoiced but not yet paid.

These figures update automatically as you create invoices and record payments.

Closing a Project

When a job is complete and all invoices are paid, move the project to the Job completed stage. You can do this by:

• Clicking the stage dropdown in the project header and selecting Job completed.
• Moving the card to the Job completed column on the Kanban board — drag it, or on a touch device tap the card's ⋮ menu and choose Move to → Job completed.

Completed projects remain fully accessible for reference. They do not disappear from your account.

warning

Make sure all invoices are marked as paid before closing a project. Outstanding balances do not prevent closing, but it is easy to forget them once a job is out of sight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can one project have multiple contacts? A project is linked to one primary contact. To associate additional people (for example, a homeowner and a property manager), add them as contacts and note the relationship in the project description or activity feed.

Can I convert a project back to an earlier stage? Yes. Stage changes are not locked in one direction. Move a project to any stage at any time.

Is there a limit to how many projects I can have open at once? No. ContractorScope AI supports as many concurrent projects as your business runs.

Next Steps

With your projects organized, here are useful next steps:

• Invoicing — Convert completed projects into invoices and collect payment.
• Contacts & CRM — Manage the customers tied to your projects.
• Property Analysis — Pull property data, sale history, and hazard advisories for a project's address.
• Dispatch Board — Schedule and assign work to your team.