Creating a New Bid

Click New Bid (top right of the dashboard, or from the Bids page). The builder opens with the most important field first.

1. Set the bid due date. The banner at the top runs a live countdown — “Due in 12 days” — and turns urgent as the date closes in. This is the deadline that runs your week; set it before anything else.
2. Pick the customer. Type in the search box under Project Details. If the GC isn't in your list yet, the dropdown's last row offers + Add “name” as new customer — it creates them on the spot. An Also bidding to row lets you add other GCs bidding the same job.
3. Name the project — e.g., Riverside Medical Center.
4. Add assemblies. Click Add Assembly and pick from your templates — each bundles materials, shop labor, vendor services, and field labor into one priced item. Set the quantity and hit Calculate.
5. Add line items for anything not covered: description, CSI division (auto-suggested from the description), quantity, unit, unit cost. Pull rates with From cost book, or Import CSV on the bid detail page.
6. Write Notes & Assumptions — “steel quote good for 48 hours,” “assumes ground-floor access.” These save with the bid and show on its Details tab.
7. Check the Scope card. Your scope library's default template pre-loads inclusions, exclusions, and clarifications — tick what applies to this job.
8. Save as Draft. The bid gets the next quote number in your sequence and lands in your pipeline.