Field notes

Pricing the job before you leave the driveway

2026-09-15

The accurate number is the one you write while the work is still in front of you. Once you are in the truck, the quote becomes a round number you hope they remember, or a PDF that sits in email until they forget why it was that price.

A driveway estimate should show line items, tax if you charge it, how many days the number is good, and how they pay with the app they already have. Status on your side should tell you sent, viewed, approved, or paid — silence is not a status.

When you are ready to send that as a real estimate instead of a shouted figure, that flow is send a quote by text.

What the customer should see

They should not have to download anything. They open the SMS, read the lines, and approve or pay. Signature stays off unless you actually need a signed approval. Turning every estimate into a contract slows the jobs that were only asking for a price.