Estimates
Creating an Estimate
Estimates are the priced breakdown you send a customer before starting work. Each estimate is organized into sections, and each section carries a description, a quantity and a unit price.
- Click Estimates in the sidebar, then click New estimate.
- Select a customer (or create a new one inline).
- Add one or more sections to organize the work (e.g., "Site preparation", "Installation", "Cleanup").
- Build each section the way that suits the job: Add section to type it in, From template to pull in one of your service templates, or From map takeoff to price a shape you draw on a satellite map.
- Review the totals and click Save.
Pricing, Cost & Margin
You set the price. A section's total is simply its quantity times its unit price, and the estimate total is the sum of its sections — no percentage is applied on top.
Where the price comes from: Whatever you enter on the section, or the per-unit rate on the service template when a section is built from a map takeoff. Your business overhead rate does not change it.
Cost and margin readout: Estimates carrying material and labour cost lines also show a private breakdown — material and labour cost, overhead, machine cost, true job cost, and the resulting margin. Overhead there is the estimate's job hours priced at your overhead rate from Business settings; it is a cost figure, not a markup. Those cost lines could only be created before job costing was retired in August 2026; they still display on the estimates that have them, and are read-only.
Tip: The customer sees only the section names, quantities and prices. Your cost breakdown and margin stay private.
Delivering Estimates
Send estimates directly to customers via email or SMS. The customer receives a link to view the estimate online, where they can accept or decline it.
- Open the estimate you want to send.
- Click Deliver.
- Choose Email, SMS, or both.
- Optionally add a personal message.
- Click Send.
Customer acceptance link: The customer can review the full estimate online and click Accept or Decline. You will be notified either way so you can follow up or proceed to scheduling.
E-signature: Customers can electronically sign the estimate right from that page — no printing or scanning. A signed estimate is the binding agreement between you and your customer, so in most cases there's no need for a separate contract.
From an Accepted Estimate to a Job
Accepting an estimate does not create a job, and there is no one-click convert. Create the job yourself and link it to the estimate so the quote and the work stay connected.
- Click Jobs board in the sidebar, then New job.
- Give the job a title and select the same customer.
- Choose the estimate in the Linked estimate field.
- Set the dates, assign employees, and save. Schedule it from the Schedule calendar or the jobs board.
Site address: The job takes its address from the customer record — a job carries no address of its own.
Legacy contract flow: If you still work through contracts, a signed contract shows Create job once its deposit invoice has been sent. That route does copy the estimate across: title, notes and line items land on the job.
Map Takeoffs
A takeoff turns a shape you draw on a satellite map into a priced section on the estimate. It is a drawing tool, not an analysis tool — ServeHub does not look up a property or measure anything on its own.
How it works: Open an estimate and click Add from map (or From map takeoff when editing sections). The map opens on the customer's address, and you can search for a different one. Use the draw tools — area, line, rectangle, triangle, circle, points — to outline the lawn, the beds, the edging run, whatever you are pricing. ServeHub totals the area, length and point count of the shapes you drew.
Turning it into money: Choose one of your service templates as the pricing template. ServeHub takes the measurement matching that template's measure type — area, length or count — multiplies it by your per-unit rate, and adds a section to the estimate with that quantity and price. You can preview before adding it.
In the estimate widget: If you switch on Enable satellite measurement on an area-based service template, the website visitor draws their own outline on the widget's map and their quote is priced the same way. The shape they drew is saved with the estimate.
Tip: Always check a drawn measurement against what you see on-site — doubly so for one a customer drew. Satellite imagery can be a few years old, and it will not show slopes, obstacles, or the deck that went in last summer.