Getting Started

Go to bidforeman.com and click Get Started. Enter your email and create a password. You will be taken through a short onboarding where you select your trade and upload your company logo. Your trade is set during onboarding and determines which work types, fields, and estimate calculations are shown to you.

During onboarding you will set your trade, upload your company logo, and set your labor rates. Your logo appears on every proposal you send. Your labor rates are the foundation of every estimate — every line item is calculated from these rates. Enter the rates you actually charge, not generic market rates. You can update rates anytime from Settings.

From the Home screen, tap the green New Lead button. Enter the customer name, phone number, email address, and property address. Select the job type from the dropdown — this helps BidForeman know what kind of work is involved. Add a quick note about what they need. Tap Save Customer. BidForeman creates the customer record, property record, and a new job automatically.

When you save a new customer, a job is created automatically using the job type you selected. You can also add a job to an existing customer by going to My Jobs, selecting the customer, and tapping New Job. The job type you choose determines which work types appear during the walkthrough.

After saving the customer, BidForeman prompts you to schedule the estimate meeting. Enter the date, time, and address. The meeting appears on your dashboard calendar so you never miss it. When you arrive on site, tap Start from the meeting card on your dashboard to begin the walkthrough.

The walkthrough is where you capture everything needed to build your estimate. Add one card per room or work area. For each area, select the work types being done, enter measurements, and write detailed notes about what needs to be done. The more specific your notes, the better your proposal scope of work will be. Take photos of existing conditions from the Before Photos section on each area card.

After completing the walkthrough, tap Next to generate your estimate. BidForeman calculates all quantities and costs using your labor rates. Review the line items on the estimate page. You can adjust your margin percentage — margin is added on top of all costs and is how you ensure profitability. When the numbers look right, move to proposal.

On the proposal page, choose how pricing appears to your customer: Full Itemized shows every line item with costs, Grouped by Area shows a subtotal per room or zone, and Total Only shows a single project price. Tap Generate Proposal. BidForeman writes a professional introduction, scope of work, and terms in about 30 seconds.

Tap Send to Customer and enter your customer's email address. The proposal is sent as a professional email from proposals@bidforeman.com with your company email as the reply-to. Your customer receives a link to review and sign the proposal — no login required. They sign with their finger on a phone or mouse on a desktop.

After the customer signs, the job moves to Booked automatically. To create an invoice, you must first convert the proposal to a contract. Open the job in Job Manager, find the Proposal Signed section, and tap Convert to Contract. This locks the pricing and labels the document as a formal contract. Both you and your customer can access it at any time.

Once the job is converted to a contract, you can create an invoice from the Invoices section. The invoice auto-populates from the contract with the customer name, job name, and total. Set a due date, add payment instructions if needed, and send it directly to your customer by email.