Getting started
From Home, click + New Project to start a job. Search for an existing Customer by company name and select it to auto-fill their info, or type a new company name and click + Save as a new customer. Add an optional Contact (the person the proposal is prepared for), an internal Project #, and a Proposal due date for tracking, and optionally upload the plan drawing (PDF or image) right away — you can also add it later from the Takeoff tab. A project's Status (Open/Closed) can be changed anytime from Edit; closing a project stops any further due-date reminder emails for it, and Manage Projects can filter to just active or past-due projects.
Finding your way around
Navigation lives in a sidebar on the left. Home, Catalog, Customers, and Manage Projects are always available (Platform too, for platform admins). Once you've opened or created a project, a Project group appears below with Plans, Takeoff, Estimate, and Proposal, and stays visible the whole time you're working, no matter which of the four you're on.
Plan & scale
On the Takeoff tab, use Upload Plan to attach a drawing, then Set Scale by clicking two points a known distance apart (e.g. a wall) and entering that real-world distance. Until a scale is set, lengths/areas display in pixels.
Catalog & Lists
The Catalog tab holds your shared, persistent list of parts and devices — cable, flooring, cameras, etc. — priced once and reused across every project. Each item has a kind: Length (measured feet), Area (measured sq ft), or Count (devices).
The sidebar organizes items into Lists — category lists like "Access Control" or your own custom ones (e.g. "Brivo products"). An item can belong to several lists at once without being duplicated. Click ≡ Lists on any item to add/remove it from lists, search by name, or create a brand-new list on the spot; use + Create a list in the sidebar to start one without opening an item first. Every card also shows which lists it's already in.
Customers
The Customers tab holds a reusable list of companies — name and address — so a repeat customer's info doesn't need retyping on every new project. Selecting one from the New/Edit Project page copies its info onto that project; editing the name or address afterward is fine, it just stops treating the project as linked to that saved customer record, so a proposal that's already been sent won't silently change if the customer's record is edited later.
Measuring & placing items
On the Takeoff toolbar, click + Place Item and pick a catalog item. Lengths and areas switch you into draw mode — click points along the plan, then press Enter (double-click to close an area). Devices switch to click-to-place — click each location, Enter when done. Items must already exist in the Catalog; there's no on-the-fly creation from this picker.
Estimate
The Estimate tab lists every measured or placed item with its cost and labor. Use + From Catalog to add an existing catalog item straight to the estimate with a quantity, without placing it on the takeoff. Use + Line item for one-off, non-catalog costs (permits, shipping, etc.). Group items into scopes (e.g. "Video Surveillance", "Access Control") to organize larger jobs. Mark a line Tax exempt for things like shipping or subcontractor labor that shouldn't be taxed.
The Summary panel applies your Labor rate, Overhead %, Profit %, and Tax % on top of the material/labor subtotals. Labor isn't taxed by default — check Apply tax to labor if a job requires it. Adjustments adds or subtracts a flat dollar amount at the end.
Proposal & Bill of Materials
The Proposal tab builds the customer-facing document — a Summary plus one description per scope, with costs, overhead, and profit hidden. Click any description box to open it for editing; it shows the Project # and due date (if set) alongside the totals. If the project has a Contact set, the printed proposal shows a "Proposal Prepared For" line with their name near the top. Print Proposal gives the customer that clean summary. Print Proposal + BOM adds a materials list. Print BOM alone, or Export CSV, are useful for ordering and internal review — both roll up every run of the same item into one line with a total quantity.
Sharing a project
From Manage Projects, the project's owner can click Share to give a teammate Edit or View only access — search by name or email, change someone's permission anytime, or remove them. A view-only user sees a banner and can look around freely, but every editing control is disabled; they'll need to ask an admin for full access. Sharing a project, being made its owner, or a due date arriving all send an email notification automatically (if your admin has that configured).
Your profile
Under Settings → Security, you can fix your name at any time (e.g. a typo from registration) and change your password. Only an admin can change an account's email address, from the Admin tab.
Saving & multiple tabs
Projects autosave a few seconds after each change; the status indicator near Save shows Saved, Unsaved changes, or Saving…. If you see "Reload required — edited elsewhere," this project was changed in another tab, window, or device since this one loaded it — reload the page to get the latest version before continuing. Avoid leaving the same project open in more than one tab at a time.
Need more help?
Contact your LucentBid administrator for account access, sharing a project with a teammate, or reporting a bug.