# Estimate Views PAI offers three views of the same estimate: Sheet, Days, and Timeline. They're not separate estimates or different data — they're different lenses on the same line items. Switch between them freely while building; each is useful at different moments in the process. The view selector appears in the estimate navigation bar, next to the version selector. --- ## Sheet View Sheet View is the default. It displays all line items organized by **department**, then by **category** within each department. This is the standard spreadsheet-style breakdown — the clearest way to see the full cost structure of an estimate at a glance. Sheet View is where you do most of your building work: adding line items, adjusting quantities and rates, managing fringes, and reviewing totals. The Fringes tab (which shows all fringes applied to the estimate) is also accessed from Sheet View. Use Sheet View when you're building the estimate, reviewing costs by department, or preparing to print a bid document. --- ## Days View Days View reorganizes the estimate by **scheduled production day** rather than department. Line items with the Days unit type that have been assigned to specific dates appear grouped under their date. Items not yet assigned to a date appear in an unscheduled section. This view answers a different question than Sheet View: not "what does this cost?" but "what's happening on each day, and what does that day cost?" It's most useful once you've done your scheduling — it lets you review the resource allocation across the project timeline and check whether specific days are over- or under-resourced. > [!note] > Only line items with the **Days** unit type appear in Days View. Hours and Flat items don't show up here because they can't be assigned to specific dates. --- ## Timeline View Timeline View presents the estimate as a **calendar**. Each day in the project's date range appears as a column, and your line items appear as rows. Days-unit items can be assigned to dates by clicking calendar cells; existing assignments appear as filled blocks that you can drag to extend across multiple days. **How scheduling works in Timeline View:** - Click a calendar cell on a Days-unit line item's row to toggle that day on or off - Drag across multiple cells to assign a range of days at once - When you assign a day, PAI automatically updates that line item's **Unit Quantity** to reflect the total number of scheduled days - Removing a day decrements the Unit Quantity accordingly This means Timeline View is doing real cost math as you schedule. If you add a day to a line item, the quantity increments and the estimate total updates immediately. **Multi-quantity items (unfurl):** If a line item has a QTY greater than 1 — say, three crew members — click the unfurl option on the item to expand each instance as its own row. You can then schedule each instance independently across different days. This is useful when not all instances of a resource are working every day. **Day column settings:** Hover over a day column header to access day-level settings: - **Name** — customize the day's name (e.g., "Location Scout" instead of "Production Day 1") - **Date** — assign a specific calendar date - **Location** — add a location for the day - **Day Type** — designate the type of day (Production, Prep, Wrap, Post, etc.) Day type matters: **Production** days generate call sheets when the project is activated. Other day types (Prep, Wrap, Post) appear on the project calendar but don't generate call sheet documents. All day names, dates, locations, and types set here carry through to the production module. Days are auto-named by type and sequence ("Production Day 1", "Prep Day 1", etc.) until you rename them. You can also drag day columns to reorder them; their resource assignments move with them. Use Timeline View when you're working out the production schedule — when you need to see what's happening day by day and want to visually block out the work rather than type numbers into a spreadsheet. > [!tip] > Timeline View and Days View are complementary. Use Timeline to block out your schedule visually, then check Days View to review what each day costs and whether you've missed anything. --- ## Overview Tab Alongside Sheet, Days, and Timeline, there's also an **Overview** tab. This is where you set the estimate version's name, which appears on printed documents and in version comparisons. It's also where you can set other version-level metadata. If you're presenting multiple versions to a client, naming them clearly (e.g., "Option A — Full Crew", "Option B — Reduced Scope") makes the comparison docs much cleaner. See [Versioning and Comparison](./Versioning-and-Comparison.md) for more on version management.