Creating and Managing Bids

Available to: Owner, Project Manager

Supervisors and Badge Workers cannot create or view bids. Accounting can view and approve bids but cannot create them.

A Bid is the starting point of every job in Hardhat Flow. It captures all client, scope, and pricing information before any field work begins. Once a bid is approved, a Job is created automatically and the bid becomes a permanent, read-only record.

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Creating a Bid

Navigate to Bids → New Bid from the main navigation.

Fill in the following fields:

Client & Contact Information

Field	Description
Client	Select or create the client company
Contact	Client contact person for this bid
Location	Job site address or description

Assignment

Field	Description
Project Manager	The PM responsible for this bid and resulting job
Supervisor	The field supervisor assigned to the job

Scope & Work Details

Field	Description
Scope of Work	Detailed description of the work to be performed
Measurements	Relevant dimensions, quantities, or takeoff data
Equipment Needed	List of required equipment or machinery
Shift Type	Day shift, night shift, weekend, etc.
Escort Name	Name of required escort, if applicable
Materials Status	Status of materials procurement (e.g., ordered, on-site, pending)
Permits Needed	Flag and describe any required permits
Inspections Status	Notes on required inspections and their current status
Expected Completion Date	Estimated date for job completion

Pricing

Field	Description
Bid Price	Total price quoted to the client
Taxable	Whether this work is subject to sales tax
PO Number	Purchase order number from the client (required before approval)

Flags

Field	Description
Priority	Mark this bid as high-priority
Blocked	Mark this bid as blocked (waiting on something external)

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Bid Status Walkthrough

New Bid

The default state when a bid is first created. The bid is fully editable by the PM who created it and by the Owner.

Bid Awaiting PO

The bid has been submitted and is waiting for a purchase order from the client. No further changes to pricing or scope should be made in this state.

To advance to Awaiting PO:

Project ManagerOwner

1. Open the bid.
2. Confirm all scope, pricing, and assignment fields are complete.
3. Click Submit for PO.
4. The bid status updates to Bid Awaiting PO.

1. Open the bid.
2. Review all fields.
3. Click Submit for PO or advance the status directly from the status dropdown.

Bid Approved

The PO number has been received and entered. The bid is approved, and a Job will be created automatically.

To approve a bid:

OwnerAccounting

1. Open the bid in Awaiting PO status.
2. Enter the PO Number in the designated field.
3. Click Approve Bid.
4. The system creates a Job and sets the bid to read-only.

1. Open the bid in Awaiting PO status.
2. Enter the PO Number.
3. Click Approve Bid.
4. A Job is created automatically.

PO number required

A bid cannot be approved without a PO number. If the client has not yet issued a PO, the bid must remain in Awaiting PO status until it is received.

Bid Rejected

The bid was not accepted by the client, or the decision was made not to proceed.

Available to: Owner only

Only an Owner can reject a bid. A rejected bid is closed and becomes read-only. The assigned PM is notified via SMS.

Bid Cancelled

The bid was withdrawn or cancelled before approval.

Available to: Owner only

Only an Owner can cancel a bid. A cancelled bid is closed and becomes read-only. The assigned PM and Supervisor are notified via SMS.

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Generating a Bid PDF

A formatted bid proposal PDF can be generated at any point.

1. Open the bid.
2. Click Download PDF or Generate PDF from the bid detail page.
3. The system generates a standardized proposal document with:
4. your company name and address in the header
5. BID PROPOSAL and the current date
6. contact and client lines
7. intro text, location, and numbered scope list
8. a supervision line with your company name
9. TOTAL from the bid price
10. Bid Prepared By details from the logged-in user who generated the PDF
11. Save or send the PDF to the client as needed.

Send before approval

Generate and send the bid PDF to the client while it is in New Bid or Awaiting PO status, before the PO has been issued.

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Editing a Bid Document

After generating a bid PDF, you can customize the document content using the built-in editor before sending it to a client.

Accessing the Editor

1. Open the bid from Bids.
2. Click Edit Bid Proposal on the bid detail page.
3. The editor opens with the current document content pre-loaded.

Typical Editing Flow

Step 1: Open the editorStep 2: Customize the contentStep 3: SaveStep 4: Download PDF

Navigate to the bid detail page and click Edit Bid Proposal. The editor loads the auto-generated content as a starting point.

Use the toolbar to format text, add or remove sections, insert tables, or upload images. Insert placeholder tokens from the Insert Token dropdown to keep client names, totals, and other live data accurate without manual updates.

Click Save to persist your edits. A Customized badge appears on the bid detail page. The next PDF download will use your saved content.

Click Download PDF on the bid detail page. Placeholder tokens resolve to live values at render time.

Placeholder Tokens

Tokens are dynamic fields — {{client_name}}, {{bid_total}}, etc. — that resolve to real project data when the PDF is generated. Insert them from the Insert Token dropdown in the toolbar. They update automatically if the underlying data changes; you do not need to re-edit the document.

Reset to Template

Click Reset to Template to discard custom edits and return to the auto-generated document. Use this if the bid has changed significantly and a fresh auto-generated version is more accurate than your manual edits.

Who can edit bid documents?

Only Owners and Project Managers can open the bid document editor. Accounting and read-only roles can still download the PDF.

See Document Editor for a full reference.

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Blocked and Priority Flags

Priority Flag

Mark a bid as high-priority to surface it at the top of lists and notify assigned personnel.

• Setting the priority flag sends an SMS notification to the PM and Supervisor.
• The flag is visible on bid list views and the dashboard.

Blocked Flag

Mark a bid as blocked when something external is preventing it from moving forward.

• Use this to signal that the bid is waiting on client response, permit approval, or other dependencies.
• Setting the blocked flag sends an SMS notification to the PM and Owner.

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Read-Only Lock After Job Creation

Bids become read-only once a Job is created

When a bid reaches Bid Approved status and a Job is generated, the bid record is locked from further edits by PMs.

Owners can still edit a bid after job creation, but all Owner edits to an approved/locked bid are logged in the Activity Log for audit purposes.

This protects the integrity of the original scope and pricing that was agreed upon during the approval process.