Document Editor¶
Available to: Owner, Project Manager (bid documents); Owner, Accounting (invoice documents)
The document editor lets authorized users customize bid and invoice documents before PDF download.
Hardhat Flow generates bid proposals and invoices automatically from your project data. The Document Editor lets you go further — customizing the layout, language, and presentation of those documents before you share them with a client. The editor works on top of the auto-generated content, so your live project data is always the source of truth.
Accessing the Editor¶
The editor is available from the detail page of any bid or invoice.
- Open a Bid or Invoice from the list view.
- Click Edit Bid Proposal (bids) or Edit Document (invoices) near the top of the page.
- The full-screen editor opens with the current document content loaded.
Customized badge
Once you save custom content, a Customized badge appears on the bid or invoice detail page. This indicates the PDF will use your edited version rather than the auto-generated template.
Editor Toolbar¶
The toolbar runs across the top of the editor and provides standard document formatting tools.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Bold | Makes selected text bold |
| Italic | Makes selected text italic |
| Underline | Underlines selected text |
| Heading 1 / H2 / H3 | Applies heading styles to selected lines |
| Center | Centers the current paragraph or heading |
| Bullet list | Converts selected lines to an unordered list |
| Numbered list | Converts selected lines to an ordered list |
| Table | Inserts a table — columns and rows configurable |
| Image | Uploads an image into the document body |
| Insert Token | Opens a dropdown to insert a placeholder token |
At the bottom of the bid document editor, use View Company Information or Edit Company Information (owners only) to open company profile settings. Owners land on the Settings page; other roles see a read-only company view. Placeholders like company.name and company.phone pull from these fields. Owners can also open Settings from the sidebar at any time.
Placeholder Tokens¶
Placeholder tokens are dynamic fields that pull live data from your project at PDF render time. They appear as visual chips in the editor (e.g. {{client_name}}) and resolve to real values when you download the PDF.
Why tokens instead of typed values? If a client name changes or a total is updated, tokens always reflect the current data. You do not need to re-edit the document — just regenerate the PDF.
Inserting a Token¶
- Position your cursor where you want the token.
- Click Insert Token in the toolbar.
- Select the token from the dropdown.
- The token chip appears inline in the document.
Available Tokens¶
Tokens vary by document type. Common tokens include:
| Token | Resolves to |
|---|---|
{{client_name}} |
The client's display name |
{{contact_name}} |
The primary contact on the bid or job |
{{job_address}} |
The job site address |
{{bid_total}} |
The bid price total |
{{invoice_total}} |
The invoice subtotal + tax |
{{invoice_due_date}} |
The invoice due date |
{{company_name}} |
Your company name from settings |
{{prepared_by}} |
The name of the user who downloaded the PDF |
Tokens are safe to move
You can cut and paste token chips within the editor like any other text. They remain live regardless of position.
Saving, Resetting, and Downloading¶
Save¶
Click Save to persist your edits. The document content is stored and will be used for all future PDF downloads until you reset or edit again.
Reset to Template¶
Click Reset to Template to discard all custom edits and return the document to the auto-generated version. Use this if you want a clean start or if significant project data has changed and you prefer to let the system regenerate the structure.
Reset is immediate and cannot be undone.
Resetting clears your custom content. If you want to preserve a version, download the PDF first.
Download PDF¶
Click Download PDF (on the bid or invoice detail page) to generate and download the document as a PDF. If custom content has been saved, the PDF uses that content with tokens resolved to live data. If no custom content exists, the PDF uses the auto-generated template.
RBAC: Who Can Use the Editor¶
| Document type | Roles with edit access |
|---|---|
| Bid documents | Owner, Project Manager |
| Invoice documents | Owner, Accounting |
Users without edit access can still download the PDF — they just cannot open the editor or save custom content.
Invoice PDF Download¶
Invoice PDF is newly available
Invoice PDF download is now available from the invoice detail page via the Download PDF button. Previously this was not wired. Any user who can view the invoice can download the PDF; only Owner and Accounting can edit the document content.