Create a change order when you need to make a change to the estimate and want the client to approve the change before you make it part of the estimate. A change order must contain cost items. You can add existing cost items from your catalog or from the estimate itself, or you can create new cost items, which are saved to the catalog.

To open a job in the Manage Estimates screen, click Estimating > Estimating > Manage Estimates in the All Tasks pane. Then select the job you want to open, and click OK.

You can remove a cost item as part of the change order by adding a new copy of the cost item and selecting to deduct it. The original cost item is not actually removed from the estimate; however, it is "canceled out" by the negative quantity cost item.

When you add the first cost item to a change order in an estimate job, whether you add it or insert it, you must select the estimate WBS code that the application will use to track change orders when they are posted to the estimate. The WBS code is renamed "Change Order" and is disabled.

You can delete a change order. If you have already posted the change order and it appears disabled (grayed out) on the Change Orders tab, the cost items in the estimate will not be affected.

If the Allow creation of Change Order Requests for Change Orders? checkbox in Estimating Preferences screen is selected, you will not be able to set the status of a change order or post a change order to the estimate. You must use the Enter Change Management Record screen and the Create a Change Order process in the Projects module to include the change order in the project.