Help

CostKit user guide

How to set up your company, price a job, send the estimate to your client, and track what you won. For short answers, see the FAQ. Stuck on something? Email support@costkit.ai.

Which plan has what

Each section below says which plan it needs. Locked buttons on an estimate open an upgrade window. Template and cost adjustment settings stay hidden until you are on Pro or Team.

The monthly limit runs by calendar month in UTC and resets on the 1st, which can be the evening before in the Americas. Editing an estimate, downloading its PDF again, or duplicating it does not use up an estimate. A generation that fails does not count. If CostKit says it could not confirm the save, check your dashboard before trying again. Deleting an estimate does not give one back.

Sign up and set up

All plans

1. Go to the signup page. Click Continue with Google, or enter your email and a password and click Create free account. No credit card is needed.
2. On Set up your company profile, fill in Company Name, Primary Trade, Country, your state or region, Currency and Measurement Units.
3. Click Complete setup. You land on your dashboard.
4. Click New estimate at the top to start. If you have no estimates yet, you will also see Generate first estimate.

To come back later, use the login page.

Forgot your password?

On the login page, click Forgot password?, enter your account email and click Send reset link. If you signed up with Google, go back and click Continue with Google instead.

Try it before signing up

The free tool prices a job with no account. Click Create free account under the result and finish signing up in the same tab to keep it. It counts as one of your monthly estimates. If you log in to an existing account with your password instead, it is not saved.

Company profile and logo

All plans

Your company details print on your PDFs and appear on client links. Click Settings at the top of the dashboard and look under Company Profile.

• Company Name, Phone Number, Email and Company Address show on your estimates. Onboarding does not ask for the last three, so add them here before your first PDF goes out.
• Email is also where client replies go. See Send to a client.
• Trade and State / Region describe your business. Country also affects pricing on new estimates, so keep it correct.
• Currency and Measurement Units apply to new estimates.

Click Save Changes. You will see "Company profile saved."

Add your logo

Under Company Logo, click Upload logo and pick a PNG or JPG up to 2MB. It saves right away, with no need to click Save Changes. Click Remove logo to take it off. Logos work on every plan and print on your PDFs. They do not appear on client links.

Which currency an estimate uses

An estimate uses the currency saved with it when it was created, so changing your currency in Settings does not change it. Older estimates with no saved currency follow your account setting, and they show in USD if your account has no currency set or one CostKit does not support. If your estimates use more than one currency, Total pipeline reads "Multiple currencies" instead of adding them together. Won revenue does the same only if your Won jobs use more than one.

Create an estimate

All plans. Free includes 2 a month, Starter 25, Pro and Team unlimited.

Click New estimate at the top of the dashboard. There are three steps.

Step 1: Basic Project Details

Enter Project Name and pick a Project Type. You need both to move on. Client Name is optional, and it prints on the estimate. On a paid plan you can change it later. Pick Other if your type is not listed. Click Next.

Step 2: Scope & Location

Enter Location as city and state, like Austin, TX. It is required, and pricing depends on it. Add Square Footage (or Area if you use metric), or leave it blank if you do not know it. Click Next.

Step 3: Materials & Notes

Pick a Finish Level: Basic, Standard, Premium or Luxury. It is required. Add Requested Timeline (Weeks) if you have one. Then answer the Project-Specific Details, which change with the project type. The more you fill in, the closer the estimate gets to your actual scope. Click Generate Estimate.

Most estimates take under a minute, then the finished estimate opens. If the engine is busy, your details stay filled in and you can click Generate Estimate again.

Start from plans, if your account has it

Plan upload is switched on account by account, so not every account has it. If yours does, Step 1 shows a card reading Have plans? Start from your PDF planset. Click Upload plans (PDF) and pick a PDF of up to 10MB and 100 pages. CostKit reads it and fills in form fields you have left blank. It is a first pass and not a takeoff, so check every field and quantity before you generate. If you do not see the card, fill in the form by hand.

If you reach your monthly limit

An upgrade window opens. On Free, click Upgrade now. On Starter, click Change plan in billing to move to Pro.

Read and edit an estimate

Reading: all plans. Editing: Starter, Pro or Team.

Open any estimate from the dashboard by clicking View. It shows the project summary, each phase with its line items and subtotal, overhead, contingency, the total, the estimated duration, and notes. The buttons you need are in the bar at the top.

A Pricing confidence panel says how many line items cite a cost reference and how many need your check. Lines are labelled the same way. A citation is not an accuracy score, so confirm supplier quotes and local labor costs before you commit to a bid or send the estimate. Only you see this panel and these labels. They are not on the PDF or the client link, and the Send window reminds you to check prices. A line you edit or a cost adjustment changes reads "Your price".

Edit the estimate

1. Click Edit.
2. Change any Description, Qty, Unit or Unit cost. Subtotals and the total update as you type.
3. Click + Add line item under a phase to add a row, or Remove line to take one out.
4. Change the Project name, Client name, City, State, Estimated duration, Project summary or Notes. Only the project name is required. Text you change stays as you typed it. CostKit does not rewrite it.
5. Rename a phase, click + Add phase, or use Move up, Move down and Remove phase. An estimate must keep at least one phase, and removing a phase removes its lines from the total.
6. Click Save changes, or Cancel to throw your edits away.

Your PDF and client link show the changes as soon as you save, including on an estimate already sent. The project name appears on the dashboard and in the client email, not on the PDF or client link. If someone else saved the estimate after you opened it, CostKit stops your save and keeps your edits on screen so you can check the latest version.

Overhead and contingency

Changing rates: Starter, Pro or Team

CostKit adds overhead and contingency on top of the subtotal of your line items. Each is a percentage of that subtotal. They start at 15% overhead and 10% contingency.

Change them on one estimate

Click Edit, then set Overhead (%) and Contingency (%) below the line items and click Save changes.

Change them for all new estimates

In Settings, under Estimate Defaults, set your rates and save. Estimates you already made keep their rates.

Show them to your client or not

Unless your default template lists them, neither is listed separately. Their amounts are folded into the line items and phase totals, so the page still adds up to the same total. If unit prices are showing, they are then marked approximate, with a short note saying so. The note does not mention overhead or contingency. To list either as its own row, tick Show on PDF under that percentage in the editor and save. This has no effect if the template has Overhead & Totals turned off. If your template lists a row, the box still starts unticked, so to hide it on one estimate, tick the box, untick it, and save.

• Both shown: each row has its amount and its percentage.
• One shown, one hidden: the visible row has an amount with no percentage, so the hidden charge cannot be worked out from it.
• Both hidden: only the total appears below the phases.

These choices apply to the PDF and to the client link. See what your client sees.

PDFs and templates

Download: all plans. No watermark: Starter and up. Templates: Pro or Team.

Click Download PDF on any estimate. When it reads "PDF ready", click Open PDF to open it in a new tab, where you can save or print it.

On Free, every page has a diagonal "Made with CostKit" watermark. Paid plans remove it. Your logo prints on every plan.

Templates

On Pro or Team, click Manage templates under Estimate Templates in Settings. There are three presets:

• Detailed: project summary, phases, totals and notes, with quantities and unit costs. Accounts with no default template get this look.
• Client Summary: headed PROPOSAL, with no quantities or unit costs. It includes sample payment terms, so check them before you use it.
• Minimal: phases and totals, with no quantities or unit costs.

To make your own, click Create template, or Duplicate on a preset to start from it. You can set:

• Template Name (required), Primary Color, Accent Color and Font
• Header Text, Footer Text, Show Logo and Logo Position
• Which sections print, including your own Terms & Conditions and Payment Schedule text
• Show Unit Cost, Show Quantities, Show Overhead as Line Item and Show Contingency as Line Item

A preview updates beside the form. Click Create template to save it.

Every PDF prints its total. If you turn off the Overhead & Totals section, the overhead and contingency rows go away and their amounts fold into the line items, but the total still prints. Line item categories print only when Show Unit Cost is on.

Your templates list under Your Templates, each with Edit, Delete and, unless it is already the default, Set default. Delete works on one click with no confirmation. To use one, pick it from the menu beside Download PDF on the estimate. Your default is already selected. A Show on PDF choice you saved on an estimate overrides the template.

Send to a client

Starter, Pro or Team

There are two ways to get an estimate to a client without attaching a file yourself. Both give the client the same web page, with no login needed.

Email it from CostKit

1. Click Send on the estimate. It is available while the status is Draft or Sent.
2. Enter the Client email. Change the Subject if you like, and add a Personal message (optional).
3. Click Send estimate. The status changes to Sent if it was Draft.

The email comes from your company name via CostKit. It shows the project name, the estimated total and a View Your Estimate button. The PDF is not attached.

When your client replies, the reply goes to the Email in your company profile. If that is empty, it goes to the email of the account that sent the estimate.

If CostKit cannot confirm the email went out, it shows Check send status rather than sending again. Use Start a separate resend only if you are happy to risk your client getting it twice.

Copy the link

Click Copy link and paste it into a text or your own email. Copying does not change the status, so click Mark as sent afterwards if you want it tracked.

What your client sees

• Your company name and contact details, the total and a line saying the estimate is subject to final confirmation by the contractor, with a small "Made with CostKit" link at the top and a "Generated by CostKit" line at the bottom. These appear on every plan.
• The sections your default template shows: project summary, phases and line items, overhead and contingency rows, notes, terms and payment schedule. A section the template hides is left out of the page completely, not just covered up. Quantities and unit prices follow the template too, and categories appear only with unit prices. The "Valid for 30 days" line appears only when notes do.
• The same figures as a PDF made with that template, and the page still adds up to the same total. There is no logo on this page and no PDF download. It also shows the estimated duration, which the PDF does not.
• The latest saved version. If you edit the estimate, the same link shows the changes.
• It does not show the pricing confidence panel or line labels. Those are only for you, on the estimate page.

See whether it was opened

The estimate page shows Link opened and a date once the link has been opened, or Link not opened yet while the estimate is Sent. It records the first open only. Opening the link while logged in as you or a teammate does not count, and neither do common link previews and bots. Some email security scanners look like a normal browser and will still count, and so will you if you are logged out. So it tells you the link was opened, not that your client read it.

Anyone who has the link can open it. To stop a link working, delete the estimate.

Duplicate an estimate

Starter, Pro or Team

Click Duplicate on the estimate page or in the dashboard list. You get a new Draft named "Copy of" the original, with its own estimate number and client link, and the copy opens straight away.

The copy keeps the same line items, rates, client name and Show on PDF choices. It does not reprice the job and does not use up one of your monthly estimates. A copy of a shared team estimate stays shared with the team. Use it to re-bid a job after a status is final or to start from a similar job. You can change the name and client on the copy with Edit. If the scope has really changed, create a new estimate so it gets priced again.

Delete an estimate

All plans

Click Delete on the estimate page or in the dashboard list, then click Delete estimate to confirm. You can delete an estimate in any status.

• It cannot be undone. Click Cancel if you are unsure.
• The estimate disappears from your dashboard and from its totals.
• Its client link stops working, so anyone you sent it to can no longer open it. A PDF you already gave them is not affected.
• On Free and Starter, deleting does not give back one of this month's estimates. The confirmation mentions this when you created the estimate this month.
• You can delete an estimate you created while you still have access to it. On a team, the owner can also delete any shared estimate, including one made by someone who has left. Other members do not see the Delete button on a teammate's estimate.

If you just want to close out a job, use a status instead.

Estimate status

All plans

Every estimate has a status, shown on the estimate page and in the dashboard list. You change it with the buttons at the top of the estimate page.

An estimate must be Sent before it can be marked Won, Lost or Expired. Nothing changes on its own: the estimate says it is valid for 30 days, but it only becomes Expired if you click the button. A final status does not lock the numbers, and you can still edit the estimate, so take care with the totals on a closed job.

Record what a job cost

All plans

Once an estimate is Won, an Actual costs card appears above it. When the job wraps up:

1. Click Add actual costs.
2. Enter the Final actual total.
3. Add Notes (optional), such as what ran over. Click + Add phase breakdown (optional) to enter amounts by phase.
4. Click Save actual costs.

The card then shows your actual total against the estimate, and how far over or under you came in. Click Edit on the card to correct it. Actual costs are anonymized and combined with other jobs to improve estimating accuracy. They do not appear on the client link.

If three or more won jobs have no actuals, the dashboard shows a reminder. Click Review jobs to list them.

The dashboard

All plans

The dashboard lists your estimates, newest first, 25 to a page, with number, project, client, date, total and status. Use Search estimates to find a project, client or estimate number. A filter shows Won jobs missing final costs. On a phone, scroll the list sideways to reach View, Duplicate and Delete.

The three numbers at the top cover all your estimates, whatever you have searched for:

• Total pipeline: the total of every estimate, including drafts and jobs you lost or that expired. It is not just open bids.
• Jobs won: how many estimates are marked Won.
• Won revenue: the estimated totals of those Won jobs, not the actual costs you recorded.

Deleted estimates are left out. If you are on a team, all three include the team's shared estimates. On Free, once you have used one, the top of the page also shows how many of your 2 estimates you have used this month.

Cost adjustments

Pro or Team

If CostKit's pricing runs high or low for your market, you can tune it. Look under Cost Adjustments in Settings. Adjustments apply only to estimates generated after you set them. Existing estimates and duplicates do not change. On a team, adjustments you make are shared with the team.

Category Multipliers

Move the slider for Labor, Material, Equipment or Subcontractor, from -50% to +100%, and click Save change beside it. For example, +15% on labor raises every labor line by 15%. Set it back to 0% and save to remove it.

Line Item Overrides

Use these to lock in a price you know, like your rate for a specific item. Enter a Description, Unit and Price ($), then click Add override. Click the x beside one to delete it.

• Description applies to any line item whose description contains your words. "Shingle installation" matches "Asphalt shingle installation". Be specific, or it may catch more lines than you want.
• Unit has to match the line item's unit exactly, including capitals, or the override is skipped. It starts as "ea". Clear the box to match any unit.
• Price goes in as the number you type, in the currency of the estimate, even though the label shows a dollar sign.
• On a line with an override, the override wins and the category multiplier does not also apply.

Team

Team plan

Invite someone

1. The person with the Team subscription goes to Team in Settings, enters an email and clicks Invite. CostKit emails them a link. If it does not arrive, click Remove and invite them again, because the link is not shown in Settings.
2. The invited person opens the link and logs in, or creates an account, using that same email address. Invites do not work with a different address.
3. They click Join team.

The plan has 5 seats, and the owner takes one, so you can add 4 people. An open invite holds a seat. Invites expire after 7 days and then free the seat, so you can invite the same person again. Click Remove to cancel an invite or take a member off the team.

Someone who owns a team cannot join another. Someone who belongs to a team cannot create their own while they are on it.

What members get

While the owner's Team subscription is active, every member has Team plan features, including unlimited estimates and no watermark, except inviting people and managing the owner's billing. They do not need a paid plan of their own. If a member does have their own subscription, it stays separate, and they manage it in Settings as usual.

What a team shares

• Estimates members create while on the team appear on everyone's dashboard. Anyone on the team can edit them, send them, change their status, duplicate them, download PDFs and record actual costs. Only the person who created an estimate, or the team owner, can delete it.
• Shared estimates use the owner's company name, logo and contact details.
• Templates and cost adjustments created on the team are shared with it, and any member can change or delete them. If a member sets a team template as default, it changes the PDFs and client links for the team's estimates.
• Estimates someone made before joining stay private to them. So do estimates the owner made before sending the first invite.

When someone leaves or the plan ends

A removed member loses access to the team's estimates, including ones they created, and can no longer delete them. Those estimates stay with the team, and the owner can still see and delete them. If the owner's Team subscription ends, members lose access and the Team features it gave them, so a member who needs a shared estimate or its client link taken down must ask the owner. Members keep their private estimates. The owner keeps access to the team's estimates, can still delete them and remove members, but must renew to invite or collaborate again.

Billing, plan changes and cancelling

All plans

Upgrade from Free

In Settings, under Subscription Plan, click Upgrade to unlock all features. This opens the pricing section of the home page. Annual is selected to start, so click Monthly if you want monthly billing. Then click Get started on a plan. On Review your plan, click Continue to secure checkout and pay through Stripe. Promo codes go in at checkout.

You can also click a locked feature and then Upgrade now in the window that opens. That route chooses monthly billing on the lowest plan with that feature. Use the pricing section if you want annual billing.

Change plan, card or billing period, or cancel

In Settings, under Subscription Plan, click Manage Subscription. This opens your Stripe billing page, where you can change your card or cancel, and change your plan or billing period if the page offers it. If it does not, email support@costkit.ai to move between Starter, Pro and Team. CostKit will not start a second subscription. If you pick a plan while you have one, you get an Open billing button instead of checkout. If it reports no billing account and you do have a subscription, email support@costkit.ai.

After you cancel

The billing page shows when your plan ends, and paid features keep working until then. Then your account moves to Free: the Free limit and watermark apply, the paid buttons lock, and cost adjustments stop applying to new estimates. Your own estimates stay on your dashboard. Client links you already shared keep working until you delete the estimate, and a default template you saved still applies to your PDFs and client links.

For refunds, see Pricing & billing in the FAQ.

Delete your account

All plans

There is no delete button for your account. Email support@costkit.ai from your account address and ask us to delete it. Within 30 days we close your account, delete any feedback you sent, and take down your profile and estimates, including their client links, so they can no longer be opened. This is a manual process. If you are on a paid plan, say so in your email so we can make sure billing stops too.

Get help

Email support@costkit.ai. Send it from your account address, and if it is about one estimate, include the estimate number (it starts with EST-) so we can find it quickly.

To tell us what is working or what is not, click Feedback on your dashboard or on an estimate, on any plan. Below a draft estimate you made, CostKit may also ask Could you send this estimate to a client as is? You can close that question or pick Don't ask again. What you write goes to the CostKit team, and we may reply to your account email. Clients never see any of it.

Ready to price a job?

The Free plan includes 2 estimates a month. No credit card required.