Five estimate stages, colour-coded

What it is

A single stage model shared by the SmartBuild surface and the Leads 2 Build surface. Each stage has a fixed number, label, one-line hint that says who is blocked, and a fixed data-viz colour that stays the same in light and dark because the colour IS the identifier. The stage is derived from the estimate link, the intake form and the contract — read latest-first so it reports where the deal is now, not the earliest milestone it passed.

Also called: estimate pipeline stages · where is this deal · stage 1 to 5 · quote status

See it

Five estimate stages, colour-coded

Prepared for

Delia Yoder

1140 Ridge Line Rd · Fair Play

Shell package$35,948

Concrete & site$10,436

Doors & windows$6,958

Trim & finish$4,638

Total

$57,980

Signature

The estimate list with the five stage colours running down the row markers, plus the ESTIMATE_STAGES legend from estimateStages.ts (grey / amber / blue / orange / green). Sample data — no customer information appears here.

How it works

1estimateStageOf() reads the link and contract state from newest milestone backwards and returns on the first hit.
2Stage 1 Estimate (sent, waiting on the customer) → 2 Project Info (approved, collecting details) → 3 Contract Out (with the customer) → 4 Countersign (YOUR signature is due) → 5 Project (running).
3The whole list is staged in one batched round trip (loadEstimateStagesBatch) rather than 36 individual lookups.
4A design with several links keeps the FURTHEST-ALONG stage, so re-pricing a job already under contract can't walk it backwards.
5A job with no estimate link has never been sent — that is stage 1.

Why we built it

A list of 36 estimates all looked the same. Some had just gone out, some were waiting on project details, some had a contract sitting with the customer and some were live jobs, and nothing on the screen told them apart. Every estimate now sits in exactly one of five numbered, colour-coded stages, derived by the same rule whichever designer built it. The contract split is the point of the colouring: stage 3 is the customer's move and there is nothing to do but wait, while stage 4 is the builder's own signature holding the job up — revenue stalled on a signature nobody remembered to give.

The problem

No visual difference between a quote waiting on a customer and one waiting on you
Contracts stalling on the builder's own counter-signature
Status labels reporting the earliest milestone instead of the current position

Sound familiar?

“can't tell which quotes are waiting on me and which are waiting on the customer”“36 estimates and no idea which is which”“a job sat for a week because nobody signed our half”“the status says form submitted but the contract already went out”

What you get

One glance tells you who is blocked on every deal

The same five stages mean the same thing in both estimating engines

Revenue stuck on your own signature becomes visible instead of silent

What's inside

Stage filter chips (1–5, multi-select)

Five square numbered chips under the search box, each in its stage colour, toggled on together to slice the list any way you think about the phase.

Journey status pill

One pill on the selected estimate showing the furthest milestone the customer has actually reached — Sent, Opened, Estimate Approved, Form Submitted, Contract Sent, Awaiting Counter-Sign, Awaiting Start, In Progress.

See it on your own jobs

Twenty minutes, your numbers, no slide deck. We’ll build one of your real buildings in front of you and send you the estimate link at the end — yours to keep either way.

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