Why can’t I open the Calculator page at all?
- Symptom: The Calculator wizard won’t open. Either the “Calculator” / “New Estimate” entry point is missing and access is denied, or New Estimate skips the Calculator and takes you straight into a from-scratch proposal.
- Cause: Two things can put the Calculator out of reach:
- Your role. Calculator access is granted only to certain roles — Admin, Ops Manager, Sales Admin, Sales Member, Client Coordinator, and Crew Leader. A role without calculator access can’t reach the page at all.
- Your plan. Even with a role that would normally allow it, your plan may not include the price book and Calculator — for example, on a free trial. When that’s the case the Calculator is locked: New Estimate offers only the From Scratch option, and opening a Calculator link sends you into the from-scratch flow instead.
- Resolution: If it’s your role, ask an admin to grant you a role that includes calculator access. If it’s your plan, build estimates with the From Scratch option, or ask an admin about upgrading your plan to add the price book and Calculator.
Why does my estimate open as a proposal instead of the Calculator?
- Symptom: You open an estimate — from the estimates list or a saved link — and it lands on its editable proposal rather than in the Calculator wizard.
- Cause: The estimate was created with the From Scratch option instead of the Calculator. A from-scratch estimate isn’t built from your price book, so there’s no Calculator pricing to reopen — you add and edit its line items and pricing directly on the proposal. See Create an Estimate from Scratch.
- Resolution: This is expected. Edit a from-scratch estimate’s items, prices, and details on its proposal. If you want the guided Calculator instead, start a new estimate with the From Pricebook option.
Why am I told I’ve hit the limit of open estimates?
- Symptom: A red banner at the top of the wizard reads: “You have exceeded the limit of open estimates. Please move an existing estimate to Sold or Lost.” The Continue / Generate Proposal buttons are disabled.
- Cause: When you create a new estimate, your open estimates for the branch (those in In Progress or Released status) are counted against the branch’s open-estimates limit. Once you reach that limit, you can’t start another new estimate until you clear one.
- Resolution: Move one of your existing In Progress / Released estimates to Sold or Lost, then start the new estimate. The limit only applies to creating new estimates — editing an existing one is never affected.
Why can’t I move past the “Select Work Area” step?
- Symptom: The “Continue” button is disabled on the work-area selection step.
- Cause: Two things must be true to continue. First, the work area needs at least one service, and when there’s exactly one service it must have a work-area type selected. Second, both a client and a project must be selected.
- Resolution: Pick a work-area type for the service, and make sure both a client and a project are selected.
Why can’t I continue past the “Items” step? (“Add at least one item”)
- Symptom: “Continue” is disabled on the Items step for the current work area.
- Cause: The current work area has no items, or every item has a quantity of zero. Each work area needs at least one item with a quantity greater than zero.
- Resolution: Add at least one item with a quantity greater than zero to the current work area before continuing.
Why can’t I submit the Job step? (job-detail required fields)
- Symptom: The form won’t submit, and “required” errors appear under the job name, client name/email/phone, or property fields.
- Cause: The Job step requires a job name; the client’s first name, last name, a valid email, and a valid phone number; and the property’s address, property type, and parking. The form will not advance until all required fields are valid.
- Resolution: Fill in every required job, client, and property field with valid values (including correctly formatted email and phone numbers).
Why can’t I complete the Inspection Report step? (required report fields)
- Symptom: The inspection report won’t submit, with “required” errors on customer demeanor, customer concerns, what needs to happen before the crews arrive, the home/attic/crawlspace square footage, the square-footage explanation, special instructions, or crew notes — or a length error on crew notes.
- Cause: The inspection report requires customer demeanor, customer concerns, what needs to happen before the crews arrive, the home/attic/crawlspace square footage (each a whole number greater than zero), the square-footage explanation, special instructions, and crew notes. Crew notes are also limited to a maximum length, with a message like “Crew notes must be N characters or fewer.”
- Resolution: Fill in the required report fields and keep crew notes within the length limit.
- Note: A read-only estimate lets you navigate through a report that was saved before some of these fields became required, without forcing them to be filled in. This is intentional and not a bug.
Why is the whole estimate read-only / why are all fields greyed out?
- Symptom: The estimate opens with no editable fields — only navigation works. There’s no “Save Estimate” or “Add Work Area” button.
- Cause: An existing estimate is editable only while its status is In Progress. Any other status (Sold, Released, Lost, Secondary Estimate) opens the calculator in read-only mode, which hides the Save button, the Add Work Area button, and the proposal-generate action. (Opening an inspection report in view mode is also read-only.)
- Resolution: Change the estimate’s status back to In Progress from the estimates list before editing. This requires the right role, and if the proposal is signed, the signature must be removed first (see below).
Why does saving an existing estimate fail with “This estimate is read-only”?
- Symptom: Saving fails with “This estimate is read-only. Change the status to In Progress before editing.”
- Cause: The estimate’s status is no longer In Progress — for example, someone changed it while you were editing. Saves are only allowed on In Progress estimates, and this is checked again when you save, even if the screen still looked editable.
- Resolution: Set the status back to In Progress, then retry the save.
Why is the “Save Estimate” button disabled? (no changes to save)
- Symptom: On the Overall Job Breakdown step of an existing estimate, “Save Estimate” is disabled even though the form looks complete.
- Cause: The estimate already exists and has no pending changes. The Save button stays disabled until you make a real change, so unchanged data isn’t re-saved.
- Resolution: Make a real change — quantities, items, job details, or breakdown fields. This never applies to brand-new estimates.
Why does the Save button say “Loading Breakdown…” and stay disabled?
- Symptom: On the breakdown step the primary button reads “Loading Breakdown…” (or “Generate Proposal” is disabled) and can’t be clicked.
- Cause: The job breakdown hasn’t finished calculating yet. The button label switches to “Save Estimate” and becomes clickable once the breakdown is ready.
- Resolution: Wait for the breakdown to finish loading. If you try to save before it’s ready, you’ll see “The job breakdown is still loading. Please wait and try again.”
Why am I asked “How would you like to handle pricing?” when I save? (regenerate dialog)
- Symptom: When you save an existing In-Progress estimate, a “Save changes” dialog appears: “There have been changes since you created this estimate. How would you like to handle pricing?” with “Keep original pricing and settings” (the default) versus “Use up to date information.”
- Cause: This prompt appears only when the estimate already exists, is still editable (In Progress), has actual saved changes, and you have permission to refresh pricing. “Keep original” preserves the prices, labels, tax, and branch settings locked in when the estimate was created. “Use up to date information” rebuilds those from the current catalog.
- Resolution: Choose “Keep original” to keep the locked-in pricing and settings, or “Use up to date information” to refresh from the current catalog. The default is “Keep,” so refreshing pricing is always a deliberate choice. If your role can edit but not refresh pricing, this dialog is hidden because the refresh option wouldn’t be permitted.
Why is there an “impact” warning before save on some estimates?
- Symptom: A scheduled-job impact dialog appears before the pricing dialog when you save.
- Cause: When the estimate is linked to a scheduled job and you’ve made saved changes, you’re warned first that your edits could affect that linked job. An estimate with no real changes skips both this warning and the pricing dialog.
- Resolution: Confirm the impact dialog to continue (it then leads into the pricing dialog when applicable), or cancel to leave your changes unsaved.
Why is the “Back” button disabled?
- Symptom: “Back” can’t be clicked.
- Cause: You’re on the very first work-area step, so there’s nowhere to go back to. Back is also disabled while a save or step submission is in progress.
- Resolution: This is expected on the first step. Otherwise, wait for the in-progress save or submission to finish.
Permissions: who can create / edit / delete an estimate?
- Symptom: An action is denied, or a button is hidden, when you try to create, edit, or delete an estimate.
- Cause: Creating and editing estimates are available to Admin, Ops Manager, Sales Admin, Sales Member, and Client Coordinator. Crew Leader can edit crew notes only, not the estimate itself. Deleting is reserved for Admin, Ops Manager, and Sales Admin. The delete button is hidden for roles that can’t delete.
- Resolution: Use a role with the permission you need. Sales Member and Client Coordinator can create and edit but not delete. Ops Manager can manage estimates but with status restrictions (see the next card).
Why can’t I change the status of a Sold estimate?
- Symptom: The status dropdown won’t let you move a Sold estimate to another status, or the server rejects with “Sold estimates cannot be modified without the required role.”
- Cause: Moving an estimate out of Sold requires management-level permissions on estimates. This is enforced both in the dropdown and when the change is saved.
- Resolution: Use a role with management-level estimate permissions (for example, Admin or Sales Admin) to change a Sold estimate’s status.
Why can’t I set certain statuses (Released / Sold / Lost / Secondary)? (Ops Manager)
- Symptom: As an Ops Manager you can edit estimates, but the status dropdown won’t let you set Released, Sold, Lost, Secondary Estimate, or Deleted.
- Cause: Ops Manager can manage estimates but can only set their status to In Progress. The other status transitions are reserved for Sales roles.
- Resolution: A Sales role — Sales Member, Sales Admin, or Client Coordinator — must perform sale, loss, release, and secondary transitions.
Why can’t I mark this estimate Sold? (“project already has a sold estimate”)
- Symptom: The Sold option is greyed out in the status menu, or the change is rejected with a message like “This project already has a sold estimate (”…”). Only one estimate per project can be sold — change that estimate’s status first.”
- Cause: A project can have several estimates, but only one can be Sold at a time — the winner. Another estimate in the same project is already Sold, so this one can’t also be sold. The same block applies when a customer tries to sign this estimate’s proposal, and it closes the proposal-send path for the project’s other estimates (see the next card).
- Resolution: Decide which estimate is the winner. To make this one the sold estimate, first move the currently sold estimate in the project out of Sold (which needs management-level permissions), then mark this one Sold.
Why is “Send Proposal” disabled? (“another estimate is already sold”)
- Symptom: On the proposal preview, the Send Proposal button (or Resend Proposal, if it was sent before) is disabled, and hovering it shows “Another estimate in this project is already sold, so this proposal can no longer be sent.”
- Cause: Once one estimate in a project is Sold, that project’s proposal cycle is closed. The other estimates in the project can no longer send their proposals — the send is blocked up front rather than failing after the fact.
- Resolution: If this estimate should be the winner instead, move the currently sold estimate in the project out of Sold first (which needs management-level permissions); the send then becomes available again.
Why am I asked to start a change order when I change a signed estimate’s status?
- Symptom: Changing a signed estimate’s status to In Progress opens Start a change order?, explaining the customer’s signature will be removed; Start change order stays disabled until you enter Change order notes.
- Cause: The proposal has been signed, and moving the estimate back to In Progress requires removing that signature first. Instead of applying the change immediately, the app asks you to start a change order. The signed proposal is kept as a read-only earlier version.
- Resolution: Enter change order notes (visible to your client) and click Start change order. This clears the signature, payment method, and financing term together with the status change, and shows a “Signature removed” confirmation. You need management-level permissions — without them you’ll see “You do not have permission to remove a customer signature.”
Why can’t I delete this estimate? (“signed, cannot be deleted”)
- Symptom: The delete button is present, but its tooltip reads “This estimate was signed and cannot be deleted,” or the server rejects with “Cannot delete an estimate with a signed proposal.”
- Cause: An estimate whose proposal has been signed can’t be deleted. Separately, a Sold estimate can’t be deleted either (“Sold estimates cannot be deleted.”).
- Resolution: For a signed estimate, remove the signature first (which requires management-level permissions). A Sold estimate can’t be deleted at all this way — change its status first if appropriate.
Why can’t I edit crew notes on a deleted estimate?
- Symptom: Editing crew notes fails with “This estimate has been deleted.”
- Cause: Crew notes can be edited even on estimates that are otherwise locked (such as Sold), but not on a Deleted estimate.
- Resolution: Crew notes can be edited on any non-deleted estimate by a role with crew-note permissions. A deleted estimate must be restored first.
Why can’t I change the “Sold Date” (effective sold date)?
- Symptom: The sold-date picker shows as plain read-only text with no calendar button, or saving a date fails.
- Cause: The sold date can be changed only by Admin, Ops Manager, or Sales Admin; for everyone else it appears as read-only text. It only appears at all when the estimate is Sold and already has a sold date. Future dates can’t be selected, and the date can only be set on Sold estimates (“Effective sold date can only be set on Sold estimates.”).
- Resolution: As an Admin, Ops Manager, or Sales Admin, pick a date that isn’t in the future on a Sold estimate.
Why can’t I set “first sold date” or “status changed at” directly?
- Symptom: These sidebar fields are read-only and can’t be changed.
- Cause: Both are maintained automatically by the system. The first sold date is set the first time an estimate becomes Sold and never changes afterward; the status-changed date is stamped automatically whenever the status changes.
- Resolution: These can’t be edited by anyone. To adjust sales attribution, use the Sold Date field instead (see the previous card).
Why did my status change fail with a generic error toast?
- Symptom: A toast reading “Unable to update status” with a server message, or “A network error occurred. Please check your connection and try again.”
- Cause: The status change failed — either it was rejected (for example, one of the Sold-role or read-only rules above) or a network error occurred.
- Resolution: Read the toast message — it relays the specific reason (such as the Sold-role or read-only messages above) — and address that cause. For network errors, simply retry.
Server-side “Invalid ID” / “Estimate not found” errors
- Symptom: “Invalid estimate ID.” or “Estimate not found.” returned from an estimate operation.
- Cause: The estimate reference was invalid (“Invalid estimate ID.”), or the estimate or its branch could no longer be found (“Estimate not found.” / “Estimate branch could not be resolved.”).
- Resolution: This is usually a transient issue or a stale link — reload the estimates list and retry with a valid estimate.