# Approving an Estimate Approval is the most consequential moment in the bidding phase. It's the line between "we're still figuring it out" and "we have an agreement." When you set an estimate version to **Approved**, you're declaring in PAI that this plan — this scope, this schedule, these numbers — has been formally authorized. Work can begin. Money can be spent. Everything PAI does from this point forward is measured against that decision. --- ## What Approval Means PAI is built around agreements — with your client, with your vendors, and with yourself. Approving an estimate is one of the most important agreements you'll make in the system. It says: this is the plan, this is the scope, these are the numbers, and we're locking them in. Everything PAI does from this point forward is measured against that locked agreement, which is exactly what allows you to protect your margin. Margin protection in PAI isn't a passive feature — it's the direct result of being explicit about what you agreed to. Once the approved estimate is in place, PAI has a baseline to work from. As production unfolds, it compares everything you're spending against that baseline and shows you the variance — positive or negative. You came in under on equipment. You're over on labor. Something changed. PAI can tell you that precisely because it has something fixed to measure against. What to do with that information is your call. In most cases, variance points to a conversation: did the client request more than what was agreed? That might mean a change order or overage is warranted. Are you running under? Worth understanding why before you assume it's efficiency. PAI isn't making those decisions — it's making sure you have the information to make them yourself. --- ## How to Approve a Version Approval happens on one of two surfaces. **Status dropdown** — set the version's status to **Approved** from the status dropdown beside the version selector. This is the direct route, and where you'll approve most of the time. Note that **Approved** is only selectable here once the version has been marked **Sent**; if it hasn't, the option is blocked. **Estimate menu** — the **⋯** menu at the top right of the estimate includes **Approve Estimate**. This is the path when you need to move a version straight to Approved without a formal send step — an internal project, say. PAI expects estimates to be sent before approval in most cases, but the estimate menu doesn't enforce it. Both surfaces do the same thing. The primary button at the top right reflects the next logical step for the version — **Generate Budget** before approval, **Start Project** once approved, **Print Estimate** once a budget exists — but approval is never one of the steps it offers, so don't look for it there. The **⋯** menu is contextual in the same way: it holds the actions the primary button isn't showing, along with **Duplicate Estimate**, **New Empty Estimate**, **New Project From Version**, **Copy Project Link**, **Delete Empty Days**, and **Delete Version**. PAI shows a confirmation before completing the approval — review it before confirming. It lists what's about to happen: **Ready to Start** (you'll be able to create a budget from this version, with its approved spend), **Official Record** (all margins, variances, and reports measure against it), and **Locked for Safety** (the version locks). If another version is already approved, a **Version Conflict** notice tells you that version will be marked **Abandoned**. > [!note] > The confirmation previews the internal total the approval will lock in as the baseline, and the figure depends on your permissions. With **View In-House Internal Cost** on, **Ready to Start** shows the **blended** internal total — out-of-pocket plus in-house — as the *approved spend*. Without it, it shows only the **out-of-pocket** internal total, as the *budget total*; in-house staff costs stay hidden. On a job with $1,000 of in-house cost and $960 of out-of-pocket cost, an Owner sees $1,960.00 and a Workspace Admin without the permission sees $960.00. See [Users and Permissions](../01-Organization-Setup/Users-and-Permissions.md). **What happens immediately:** - The version is locked from further editing - PAI assigns a **Project Number** (P###) to the project - Converting the version into a working budget becomes available - Any previously approved version is automatically moved to **Abandoned** Only one estimate version can hold **Approved** status per project at a time. If you need to approve a revised version, approve it — the previous one will be abandoned automatically and the new version becomes the baseline. > [!note] > The project number assignment happens at approval, not at project creation. Until a version is approved, the project exists in PAI without a P number. --- ## Locking on Approval Like versions marked **Sent**, approved versions are locked. The lock preserves the integrity of the agreement — the approved version is a record of what was authorized. If adjustments are needed post-approval, the right path is a change order or overage, not editing the approved version. This isn't an obstacle; it's PAI protecting the baseline. If you ever need to reconcile what was agreed to versus what actually happened, the approved version is the answer. --- ## Changing the Approved Version If the agreement itself changes — client renegotiates scope, internal plans shift, new numbers are worked out — you can approve a new version: 1. Create or identify the version that reflects the new agreement 2. Set it to **Approved** — the confirmation's **Version Conflict** notice names the version it will replace 3. PAI moves the previously approved version to **Abandoned** and sets the new one as the baseline 4. The project number carries over — it moves to the newly approved version and doesn't change The new version becomes the baseline for all budget variance tracking going forward. If a budget has already been generated, approving a new estimate version updates only the internal total used for variance tracking — no expense lines are added, and existing ones aren't changed. See [Overages and Change Orders](./Overages-and-Change-Orders.md) for how to handle changes after budget generation. --- ## After Approval Once a version is approved, the project is ready for the next step: converting the estimate into a working budget. See [Generating the Budget](./Generating-the-Budget.md) for how that works and what to expect from the conversion.