Glossary
Definitions of terms used in Readybuild.
A
Actual Finish Date The date when all production work was completed on a project. This is distinct from the Substantial Completion Date, which marks when the project became usable by the owner. Automatically set when a project moves to the "Complete" production stage. See Production Dates.
Actual Start Date The date when production work actually began on a project. This records when a crew first started working on the job site, as opposed to when production was planned or scheduled to begin. Used to calculate actual production duration and compare against predicted timelines. See Production Dates.
Accounts Payable (AP) Money owed to vendors for goods or services received. Tracked through bills and purchase orders.
Accounts Receivable (AR) Money owed to your company by customers. Tracked through invoices and payments.
Activity A logged interaction with a customer or task, such as a call, meeting, email, or note. Activities can be scheduled (future) or logged (past) and may sync with external calendars like Google Calendar or Outlook.
Activity Result A predefined outcome for completed activities (e.g., "Appointment Completed", "Left Voicemail"). Used to track what happened during scheduled activities.
Allowance A budget amount set for customer selections. If selections exceed the allowance, the difference is an upgrade cost.
Area A section of an estimate grouping related work (e.g., "Kitchen", "Master Bath"). Used to organize line items and assemblies.
Assembly A pre-built package of related estimate items that are commonly used together. Assemblies are created in Admin > Estimating and can contain multiple components with quantities and options.
Assembly Estimating An estimating mode where pre-built assemblies are added to quickly generate estimates. Contrast with Detailed Estimating, which uses individual components.
B
Bill A vendor invoice for goods or services you've purchased. Bills are matched to purchase orders and can sync with QuickBooks.
Board A visual Kanban-style view showing projects organized by stage in columns. Readybuild has three boards: Sales, Design, and Production.
Burdened Rate Labor cost including payroll taxes and benefits. Calculated as the base hourly rate multiplied by a burden percentage to reflect true labor expense.
Built Revenue Revenue recognized on production projects using the percentage-of-completion method. Period built revenue is calculated as the change in completion percentage multiplied by the contract value during a specific time range. For example, if a $100,000 project moves from 50% to 60% complete, the built revenue for that period is $10,000 (10% × $100,000). Cumulative built revenue is the total recognized to date (contract value × current % complete). Used for revenue recognition accounting and tracking over/under billing status. See Built Revenue Report.
C
Campaign A specific marketing initiative or promotion used to track lead sources.
Change Order A formal document recording changes to the original project scope, typically affecting price or schedule. Change orders can be sent as separate contracts for customer approval.
Component An individual estimating item with labor and material costs, pricing, and markup. Components can be used standalone in detailed estimating or combined into assemblies for faster estimates.
Contact A person or company in your database - customers, leads, vendors, or other business relationships.
Contingency A buffer amount added to estimates to account for unexpected expenses or scope changes.
Contract A formal agreement sent to customers for signature. Contracts can include estimate details, terms and conditions, and payment schedules. Contract types include Project Proposals, Design Services Agreements, Deposit Agreements, and Change Orders.
Contract Finish Date (also Contracted Finish Date) The promised completion date for a project, representing a commitment to the customer. When a project proposal contract is fully signed, this date is automatically calculated from the Contract Start Date plus the Project Duration specified in the contract terms. Used to measure on-time delivery by comparing against the Substantial Completion date. See Production Dates.
Cost Code A hierarchical accounting category used to organize and track expenses across projects. Cost codes control job costing rollups and reporting.
Credit Memo A document crediting a customer for overpayments, returns, or adjustments to invoices.
Custom Field A user-defined data field added to capture information specific to your business.
D
Daily Log A record of work performed on a job site each day, including crew, hours, and activities. Daily logs can be shared with customers through the client portal.
Dashboard The home screen showing key metrics, tasks, and widgets relevant to your role.
Department An organizational unit within your company (e.g., Sales, Production, Design). Used to categorize team members and filter reports.
Detailed Estimating An estimating mode where individual components are added line-by-line for precise cost breakdowns. Contrast with Assembly Estimating, which uses pre-built packages.
Design Stage A stage in the design pipeline tracking planning and design progress (e.g., "Design Concept", "Plans Submitted", "Plans Approved").
Division A business unit or location within your company, often with separate profit and loss tracking.
E
Earned Revenue Projected monthly revenue calculated from production hours, labor rates, and margin percentages. Used for financial forecasting and WIP reporting.
Equipment Tools, vehicles, or machinery tracked for scheduling and assignment to projects.
Estimate A detailed breakdown of project costs including labor, materials, and markup. Estimates can use Assembly Mode (pre-built packages) or Component Mode (individual items). Each project can have multiple estimates.
F
Field A data entry point on a form or record.
Field Receipt A quick purchase order created on-site for immediate material needs. Includes receipt capture and expedited processing.
Financing Payment plan options offered to customers, allowing them to pay for projects over time with specified terms.
Form A custom checklist or data collection document attached to projects (e.g., "Pre-Construction Checklist", "Final Walkthrough").
G
Gantt Chart A timeline view showing project tasks, durations, and dependencies. Used for scheduling and resource planning.
H
Holiday A company-wide or location-specific day off that affects scheduling and time tracking calculations.
I
Invoice A bill sent to a customer requesting payment for work or products. Invoices can be created from payment schedules or manually, and sync with QuickBooks.
J
Job Costing Tracking actual costs (labor, materials, etc.) against the estimated budget for a project. Organized by cost codes to identify variances and profitability.
L
Lead A potential customer who has expressed interest but hasn't yet become a customer.
Lien Waiver A legal document from vendors or subcontractors releasing lien rights upon payment. Can be attached to bills.
Line Item An individual entry on an estimate, quote, invoice, or purchase order.
M
Macro Schedule A high-level calendar view showing major phases and milestones across multiple projects simultaneously.
Manufacturer A product brand or maker. Used to categorize selection catalog items and estimate components.
Markup The percentage added to cost to determine selling price.
Merge Field
A placeholder in templates that gets replaced with actual data (e.g., {{customer_name}}).
Mileage Travel distance logged by employees, typically for reimbursement or job costing purposes.
Municipality A local government jurisdiction (city, township) associated with permits and building codes.
My Work A personal dashboard showing tasks, activities, and items assigned to the current user.
O
Opportunity Type A category for types of work (e.g., "Kitchen Remodel", "Addition"). Controls default markup rates and estimating modes.
P
Pay Type A classification for how employees are compensated (e.g., hourly, salary, per diem). Affects time entry and payroll calculations.
Payment Schedule An installment plan attached to contracts, specifying due dates and amounts throughout the project lifecycle.
Permit A building permit required by a municipality. Tracked with applied date, received date, and status throughout the project.
Pipeline The progression of stages that projects move through, from lead to complete. Readybuild has three pipelines: Sales, Design, and Production.
Predicted Finish Date The planned date when production is expected to be complete. Initially set from contract terms when a project proposal is signed, but can be adjusted for planning purposes. Auto-calculated from the Predicted Start Date plus Duration (in weeks), using business days and excluding weekends and company holidays. See Production Dates.
Predicted Start Date The planned date when production is expected to begin. Initially set from contract terms (Starts Within) when a project proposal is signed, but can be adjusted for resource planning and scheduling. Changing this date automatically recalculates the Predicted Finish Date while maintaining the same Duration. See Production Dates.
Portal The customer-facing website where clients can view project status, make selections, sign contracts, and submit payments. Also called the Client Portal.
Production Stage A stage in the production pipeline tracking active job progress (e.g., "In Production", "Punch List", "Final Inspection").
Project The main record representing a job or opportunity, linked to contacts and containing estimates, schedules, and documents.
Purchase Order (PO) An official order sent to a vendor for materials or services.
Q
Quote (Vendor Quote) A pricing request sent to a vendor or supplier. Used to get competitive pricing before creating a purchase order. Not to be confused with customer proposals - see Contract.
R
Retainage A percentage of payment held back until project completion or a specific milestone. Common in construction contracts as security for completion.
Role A set of permissions defining what actions a user can perform in the system. Roles are assigned to team members.
S
Sale Stage A stage in the sales pipeline tracking opportunity progress (e.g., "New Lead", "Appointment Set", "Proposal Sent").
Schedule A timeline of activities and tasks for a project. Can be viewed as a calendar, Gantt chart, or list.
Selection Catalog A company library of finish options, products, and upgrades that customers can choose from, with pricing and images.
Selections Customer choices for products and finishes within allowance categories.
Signee A person designated to sign a contract (customer, co-owner, or company representative).
Source How a lead or customer found your business (referral, website, etc.).
Stage A step in a pipeline representing the current status of a project.
Substantial Completion The stage when a construction project is deemed sufficiently completed to the point where the owner can use it for its intended purpose. Only minor punch list items may remain.
Substantial Completion Date The date when substantial completion was achieved on a project. This is a separate field from the Actual Finish Date, allowing you to track when the project became usable by the owner independently from when all production work finished. Automatically set when a project moves to the "Complete" production stage (if not already set). Used to measure on-time delivery (compared against Contract Finish Date) and calculate cycle time reports. See Substantial Completion.
Subcontractor A vendor providing specialized labor or services on projects (e.g., plumber, electrician, HVAC technician).
T
Team Member An employee or user in your company with access to Readybuild.
Template A reusable document, email, schedule, or estimate that can be applied to new projects.
Time Entry A record of hours worked, associated with a project and employee.
U
Upgrade The additional cost when a customer's selection exceeds the budgeted allowance.
V
Variance The difference between budgeted/estimated amounts and actual costs.
Variance Code A category explaining why actual costs differ from budget (e.g., "Customer Change", "Estimating Error", "Market Conditions").
Vendor A company or individual you purchase materials or services from. Includes suppliers, subcontractors, and service providers.
W
Widget A component on the dashboard displaying specific information or metrics.
Working Days Business days available for work, calculated as calendar days minus weekends (Saturday and Sunday) and company holidays. Used in reports to normalize productivity metrics across periods with different numbers of holidays.
Working Week A metric representing the equivalent number of full 5-day work weeks in a period. Calculated as total working days divided by 5. For example, 252 working days equals 50.4 working weeks. Used to compare revenue productivity across periods with varying holidays.
WIP (Work in Progress) Projects that are currently in the production phase. Also refers to the WIP Report showing financial status of active jobs.
Won/Lost The final outcome of a sales opportunity - either closed successfully (won) or not (lost).
Work Scope A detailed description of work included in an estimate. Displayed to customers on contracts and proposals.