Creating your first project
Projects are the container for everything BuiltUp does — scope, quotes, invoices, files, messages. This guide walks you through creating one, understanding the status workflow, and knowing what to fill in now vs. later.
- • Your workspace is set up (company name, currency, labor roles)
- • You've got a client in mind — an existing one in your Clients tab or a new one you'll add on the fly
Every job in BuiltUp starts as a project. Projects hold everything — the scope you build, the quote you send, the invoices you bill, the client conversations you log. Getting the first one created is the single fastest way to understand the shape of the platform, so don't overthink it: you can edit every field later.
Open the Projects board
Click Projects in the top nav. You'll land on the Kanban board — every project organized into columns by status: Leads → Estimating → Proposal → In Progress → Completed.
New accounts come pre-loaded with a demo project so you have something to poke around in before you commit real data. Delete it any time.
You can drag cards between columns to change status, or use the status dropdown inside the project itself.
Projects
26Click New Project
The New Project button in the top right opens a side drawer with a form. Fill in three things to get started:
- Project name — what you'll call it internally. Be specific: "Hampton kitchen renovation" beats "Kitchen."
- Client — pick from your client list, or click the + icon to create a new client inline. You don't have to leave this screen.
- Site address — where the work is happening. BuiltUp uses this for the schedule's weather lookup and for printing on quote/invoice PDFs.
Project type and Status are optional but worth setting now. Project type helps the AI pricing be more accurate (a "kitchen" gets different regional prices than a "commercial fit-out"). Status defaults to Estimating, which is usually what you want for a new quote.
Projects
New ProjectAdd project details
Understand the status workflow
BuiltUp's project statuses aren't just labels — they change what the dashboard shows you and what automations fire. The flow:
- Lead — hasn't been quoted yet. Use this for enquiries you're still deciding whether to pursue.
- Estimating — you're actively building the scope and figuring out the price.
- Proposal — the quote has been sent, you're waiting on the client.
- In Progress — the client accepted. Purchase orders and invoices can be created from here.
- Completed — the job is done and invoiced.
- Archived — off the main board but still searchable.
You don't have to move cards through every stage yourself — BuiltUp nudges the status when you send a quote, when a client accepts, when an invoice is paid. You just correct it when needed.
Open the project and meet the tabs
Click into your new project and you'll see the sidebar on the left with all the project sections grouped under Plan · Build · Track · Connect. The Overview tab is where you start — stats, client info, quote status, and what to do next.
You probably won't touch half of these tabs on your first job. The ones that matter for your first project:
- Overview — the dashboard for this project
- Scope — where the estimating happens (next guide)
- Quotes — turn your scope into a quote you can send
- Billing — invoices, deposits, payments
Files, Messages, Contracts, Selections, Progress, Subs, and Portal all exist for when you need them — they're not required to get a quote out the door.
Hampton kitchen renovation
Next up: scope
A project with nothing in it is just a placeholder. The real work happens on the Scope tab, where you turn your client's brief into a priced, room-by-room breakdown of materials and labour.
You've got two ways to build a scope: let the AI read your plans and do 90% of it for you (next guide), or build it manually component-by-component (the guide after that). Most people use a mix — AI for the skeleton, manual edits to tune it to the job.
Your first project is live. Everything you'll do from here attaches to it. Let's get a scope built — the next guide shows you how to do it in two minutes with the AI Scope Architect.
Generating a scope with AI
Upload a set of plans, write a one-line brief, and BuiltUp's AI Scope Architect builds a full priced scope — rooms, materials, labour, waste factors. Here's how to get the most out of it.
More in Estimating
The three-stage estimating flow (Takeoff → Scope → Estimate)
BuiltUp splits estimating into three linked stages the way professional estimators actually work. Here's what each stage is for, how they flow into each other, and why running them separately gets you tighter quotes and fewer disputes.
Generating a scope with AI
Upload a set of plans, write a one-line brief, and BuiltUp's AI Scope Architect builds a full priced scope — rooms, materials, labour, waste factors. Here's how to get the most out of it.
Building a scope manually
When you'd rather build a scope from scratch — or edit what the AI gave you — here's how the scope editor actually works: rooms, components, quantities, waste factors, and the material search.
Using the AI Takeoff Analyzer
Upload plans and BuiltUp extracts measurements, counts and areas — with a confidence score on every line so you know what to trust. Then push the ones you're happy with straight into your scope.