# Overages and Change Orders Once an estimate is approved, the agreement is set. But production is rarely static — scope shifts, new costs emerge, clients ask for more. PAI doesn't pretend that doesn't happen. Instead, it gives you two structured ways to handle post-approval changes depending on where you are in the project lifecycle and what the change represents. Both paths share the same philosophy: PAI surfaces what changed and what it costs. What you do with that information — whether you absorb it, bill it, or negotiate it — is your call. --- ## Change Orders A change order is the right approach when the agreement itself needs to be revised and replaced. You're not adding to the original plan; you're updating it. **When to use a change order:** - The client has agreed to a new scope or price - You haven't generated the budget yet, or the changes are significant enough that the estimate baseline should reflect them - You want the approved version to accurately represent what was finalized **How to create a change order:** 1. Duplicate the current approved estimate version to create a new version 2. Make your changes to the new version 3. Set the new version to **Sent** (locking it) 4. Set the new version to **Approved** 5. PAI automatically moves the previous approved version to **Abandoned** and the new version becomes the baseline From this point forward, all variance tracking — in the budget, Live Margins, and financial reporting — is measured against the new approved version. > [!note] > If a budget has already been generated and you approve a new estimate version, the internal total used for budget variance tracking updates to reflect the new baseline. However, PAI does not automatically add or modify existing expense lines in the budget. You'll need to update the budget manually to match the new scope. --- ## Overages An overage is an additive document — a formal record of additional costs that go beyond the original agreement, created after the project is underway. Rather than replacing the approved estimate, overages sit alongside it. They're how PAI tracks "we agreed to X, and then Y also happened." Overages are particularly useful for client-facing billing: they give you a structured document to present for costs outside the original scope, keeping the original approved estimate intact as a reference point. **How to create an overage:** Overages are created as new, standalone documents from the estimate area of the project — not copies of the approved estimate. You build the overage from scratch to represent only the additional scope, send it to the client, and approve it. The key differences from estimate versions are: - **Multiple overages can be approved simultaneously.** Unlike estimates, where only one version holds Approved status at a time, multiple overages can all be Approved at once — because they're additive, not competing. - **Approved overages update the project's External and Internal Totals** wherever those figures appear: the Finance panel, the sidebar, and Live Margins. - **Approved overages are selectable in Live Margins and Finance**, allowing you to toggle individual overages on and off to preview their impact on the totals. > [!warning] > Approved overages update the project's External and Internal Total values but do not create or modify expense lines in the budget automatically. If the overage represents real spending that needs to be tracked in the budget, you'll need to add or adjust those expense lines manually. --- ## Choosing Between the Two The decision is usually straightforward: If the client has agreed to a revised scope and the whole picture is changing, use a **change order** — replace the baseline with one that reflects the actual agreement. If you're tracking costs for work that happened outside or beyond the original scope — additional shoot days, unplanned equipment, scope creep — use an **overage**. The original approval stays intact, and the overage documents what was added on top. Either way, PAI knows about it, and can show you the full picture.