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A work area is a part of a job your estimators choose when they build an estimate — an attic, a crawl space, a garage, and so on. Each work area bundles together the item categories and factors that belong to that part of the job, so when an estimator picks a work area in the Calculator, they only see the items and questions that actually apply. Setting up clean work areas keeps the estimate experience fast and focused: estimators choose where they’re working, and everything relevant is already grouped and waiting for them.
Work areas live in Settings → Price book → Work Areas. The Price book is an admin area, so you’ll need administrator access to view and change it.

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How work areas fit together

Think of a work area as a container that points at two other things you set up in the Price book:
  • Item categories — the groups of items and services an estimator can add while working in this area (for example, an “Insulation” category that holds your insulation items).
  • Factors — the simple Yes / No questions an estimator answers about the conditions in this area, which help the estimate reflect the real job.
A work area doesn’t hold prices itself. It’s the bridge that decides which categories and which factors show up for which part of the job.

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Open the Work Areas page

1

Go to Settings

Open Settings from the main navigation.
2

Open the Price book

Choose Price book, then select the Work Areas tab along the top. You’ll see your existing work areas in a table, each showing its name and how many item categories and factors are attached.
Use the Search work areas box at the top of the list to jump straight to one by name when the list gets long.

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Create a work area

1

Click Create New

Press Create New in the top-right of the Work Areas list. This opens the Create Work Area panel.
2

Name the work area

Type a clear Name — for example, Attic or Crawl Space. This is the label estimators will see when they pick a work area in the Calculator, so keep it plain and recognizable.
3

Choose its item categories

In Item categories, select the categories an estimator should be able to reach in this area. Open the dropdown, search if you have a long list, and tick each one you want — your choices show up as labelled tags so you can see the full set at a glance.
4

Choose its factors

In Factors, pick the Yes / No questions that apply to this area. These are the conditions an estimator confirms when they’re working here.
5

Save it

Click Create. The new work area appears in the list right away and is immediately available to estimators.
You can leave item categories or factors empty and come back to fill them in later. A work area with nothing attached simply won’t offer anything to add — so it’s worth setting at least its categories before estimators rely on it.

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Edit a work area

To change a work area’s name, the categories it offers, or the factors it asks about, click the pencil icon on its row (or Edit from the menu on a mobile card). The Edit Work Area panel opens with the current values filled in. Adjust the Name, Item categories, or Factors, then click Save Changes. Updates take effect on new estimates going forward.
Adding a category to a work area is the usual way to surface a new group of items to estimators without rebuilding anything — set up the category once, then attach it to every work area where it belongs.

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The Custom work area

Your Price book may include a work area named Custom. Menaia creates it automatically when it’s needed — for example, the first time someone adds a quick item or a from-scratch item — and uses it to hold those items along with the matching Custom item category. Custom is a system work area, so you can’t rename or delete it. If you try, you’ll see a message that it’s used by quick and from-scratch items.

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Delete a work area

Click the trash icon on a work area’s row (or Delete from the menu on a mobile card) to remove it. Before you confirm, the app checks where the work area is in use and tells you what removing it will do:
  • If the work area isn’t enabled on any branch, you’ll see that it will simply be removed from the Price book.
  • If it is enabled on one or more branches, the message tells you how many. Deleting it removes the work area from those branches, and estimators will no longer see it on new estimates.
In both cases, estimates and proposals you’ve already created are not affected — they keep what they had. Deleting a work area can’t be undone, so review the message before you confirm.
The Delete button stays disabled until the app finishes checking where the work area is used, so you always confirm with the full picture in front of you.

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What’s next

Items

Set up the individual items and services, organized into the categories your work areas point to.

Factors and additional costs

Build the Yes / No factors that work areas ask about, and the extra costs that round out a price.

Multiplier ranges

Fine-tune how the Price book scales pricing across the conditions of a job.

Settings overview

See everything you can configure for your workspace in one place.