From bid to paid: how a contractor wins a project and runs it
The full arc of a project job, from pricing the plans and winning the bid to scheduling, doing the work and getting paid, and the one account that covers all of it.
June 29, 2026 · 8 min read
A lot of trade businesses live in two worlds. One week you are bidding a new install off a set of plans; the next you are running callouts and chasing an overdue invoice. Most software picks a side: takeoff tools stop the moment you win the job, and field-service tools never help you price the plans in the first place. This guide walks the whole arc, from bid to paid, and shows where each step happens in JobPlumb.
The arc in one line
Plans, takeoff, estimate, proposal, won, scheduled, done, invoiced, paid. The first four steps are about winning the work; the last five are about running it. The contractor who does both needs them to connect, not to be re-keyed between two apps.
The whole arc, one login. JobPlumb covers winning the work (takeoff, estimating, proposals) and running it (scheduling, invoicing, payments) in a single account, so a won proposal becomes a scheduled, invoiced job without retyping anything.
Start free1. Price the plans (the takeoff)
Winning a project starts with knowing what it needs. Upload the drawings, calibrate the scale once against a known dimension, and measure the quantities: square feet, linear feet, counts and volumes. This is the construction takeoff, and getting the quantities right is what keeps you from leaving money on the table or winning a job you lose money on. If you only need a quick material figure, the free calculators handle concrete, square footage, drywall and more without an account.
2. Turn quantities into a price (the estimate)
A takeoff is how much; an estimate is how much it costs. Attach a unit cost (material plus labour) to each quantity, add a markup, and you have a bid with your real margin in view. Reusable cost assemblies keep your pricing consistent from job to job. See how this works by trade on the estimating hub, for example electrical estimating or HVAC estimating.
3. Send a proposal the client can accept online
This is where most takeoff tools stop and where jobs are actually won or lost. Turn the estimate into a branded proposal link. The client opens it in their browser, reviews the line items, and accepts with a typed signature. You see the moment it is viewed and the moment it is signed, no printing, scanning or chasing a signature page.
4. Won it: now run the work
An accepted proposal is a scheduled job waiting to happen. This is the handoff that two separate apps make painful and one account makes trivial: the client, the scope and the price are already in JobPlumb, so you schedule the work, track it, and invoice it from the same place you priced it. The field-service features cover clients, scheduling, quotes, invoices and a public booking page.
5. Get paid
Send the invoice as a link and let the client pay online by card. No per-job fee from JobPlumb; you pay the standard processor rate. The same record that started as a set of plans ends as a paid invoice, with every step in between on one timeline.
Who needs the whole arc
Not everyone does, and that is fine. A cleaner running recurring service work may never touch a takeoff; a general contractor doing new builds may not need a booking page. But the electrician, HVAC tech, plumber or landscaper who services existing clients and bids new project work needs both, and paying for, and logging into, one tool instead of two is the point. Browse field service by trade or estimating by trade to see your side, or both.
Start free. Run your first takeoff and send your first invoice without a card. Estimating is free for up to two projects; the field-service tools are free for solo operators.
Start free