Requesting estimates can be a critical part of the maintenance operation. The process below will outline the steps to create, assign, and manage estimate requests using Property Meld.
- Creating and assigning an Estimate
- How to View Vendor Submitted Line Items
- Applying Mark-ups
- Owner Approval On Estimates
- Accepting a Vendor's Estimate
- Managing Estimates
- Searching or Filtering for Estimates
Creating and Assigning an Estimate
Step 1:
After creating a new Meld, click on the Estimates tab located at the top of the Meld card and click REQUEST ESTIMATES.
Step 2:
Select the vendors you would like to send the estimate request to from the drop-down menu, then choose the desired Estimate Due Date (optional) and click Send Request.
NOTE:
The list of vendors will appear in the Pending tab of the Estimates page. 
Step 3:
Once a vendor has sent back their estimate, they will appear on the Pending page under the Estimates tab. Once submitted you can click Request Approval to request owner approval or click Approve to assign the Meld to the Vendor for the work to be scheduled.
NOTE: For more information on requesting owner approval on a Meld, please see Owner Approval on Estimates.
How to View Vendor Line items
Step 1: Navigate to the Meld that you have requested the estimate on and click on the Estimates tab. On the estimate you wish to view the line items for, click the Line Items button. 
How to Apply a Markup
Step 1: Navigate to the Meld that you have requested the estimate on and click on the Estimates tab. On the estimate you wish to view the line items for, click the Line Items button. 
Step 2: From the Line Items tab, scroll down to the PM Fee field and enter the desired markup amount. 
Step 3: Click SAVE DRAFT, if you need to come back to this later or SAVE AND SUBMIT to save changes and update the estimate. Now you can proceed to Owner Approval on Estimates if needed. 
Note: The notes section is only editable to vendors upon the initial submission of the line items. The notes will not be visible to the owner on an owner approval request if the Hide Line Items option is checked.
Owner Approval on Estimates
Requesting Owner Approval on Estimates
Step 1: You can only request owner approval on an estimate after the vendor has submitted their line items. Navigate to the Estimates tab of the Meld, then check the check box next to the estimate or estimates that you'd like to request the property owner's approval on.
Step 2: Once you've selected the check box(s), the Request Approval button in the lower right-hand corner of the card will light up. Before clicking Request Approval, be sure the Hide Line Items check box meets what you'd like. To see how to view line items on an estimate please refer to How to View Line Items and Enter a Markup on an Estimate.
When checked, the owner will not be able to view the individual line items entered by the vendor, only the whole amount.
When unchecked, the owner will be able to view all line items entered by the vendor. The owner will not be able to see your markup as a line item, but they will see the vendor's line-item breakdown and the total amount.
When finished, click Request Approval. This will automatically send the request to the owner using the owner approval template that can be customized using these instructions How to Customize Owner Email Notifications.
Viewing Owner Approvals on Estimates
Pending Owner approvals will show in the Approval Requested section of the Estimates tab on the Meld.
Approved owner approvals will show in the Approved section of the Estimates tab on the Meld and on the Info tab of the parent Meld by clicking the Request Details.
Managing Owner Approval on Estimates
Canceling Pending Owner Approval on an Estimate
Step 1: Navigate to the Approval Requested section on the Estimates tab of the Meld and click Cancel Request next to the approval request you wish to cancel.
Restarting Owner Approval on an Estimate
Step 1: Go to the Meld with the owner-approved estimate and click Restart Approval.
Step 2: Make necessary changes and click REQUEST APPROVAL.
Acknowledging Owner Approval on an Estimate
Step 1: Go to the Meld with the owner-approved estimate and click Acknowledge.
Step 2: Click the Acknowledge button.
Accepting a Vendor's Estimate
Once the vendor has submitted their line items or the owner has approved the estimate you will need to mark one of the estimates as approved. See step 3 from How to Create a New Estimate Request for instructions on how to approve the winning estimate.
Managing Estimates
Estimates are managed on the Estimates tab of the Meld. Here they are separated into Pending, Approval Requested, and Approved. They may be in various statuses on these pages.
Here are the statuses covered:
After requesting an estimate using the How to Create a New Estimate Request help article, the Estimate may move through the following statuses.
Pending Vendor Acceptance:
Once an estimate is requested, it will be sent to the vendors selected. This will appear in a “Pending Vendor Acceptance” status and can either be accepted or rejected by the vendors.
In Progress:
An estimate will show "In Progress" when an estimate has been accepted but has yet to be submitted by a vendor.
Vendor Rejected:
An estimate will show "Vendor Rejected" when the vendor has declined submitting an estimate.
Submitted:
This status will appear when a vendor has submitted an estimate proposal and is waiting for approval from the property manager.
Pending Approval:
After owner approval has been requested, the Meld will go into a Pending Approval status and remain here until the Owner has approved or rejected the approval request.
Owner Rejected:
If the owner has rejected the )Owner Approval request, the status will reflect as Owner Rejected. If you'd like to make changes and restart the owner approval process, please refer to Restart the Owner Approval Process on an Estimate.
Approved:
Once the estimate has been approved by the property manager, it will move into the Approved tab of the estimate Meld. This will also automatically assign this Vendor to the actual work Meld.
Closed
Once the Meld has been completed, it will move into a "Closed" status. A "Closed" status will also appear if an estimate request has been canceled.
Searching or Filtering for Estimates
When attempting to locate estimates, you can filter inside the Filtering Options drop-down menu. There is a "Pending estimates" option under the "Meld Status" category and there is also an "Estimates" option that will let you filter by whether or not an estimate exists.
