We've been building quickly, and JobPencil today is a meaningfully different product from where it started. This post covers the major additions — what they do, why we built them, and how to get the most out of each one.
AI-powered estimate drafting
The feature we're most excited about. Describe a project in plain English and JobPencil drafts a complete estimate — labor broken into tasks with realistic hours, materials matched to the catalog with current prices, and the extras most people forget (permits, disposal, delivery) in their own section.
Describe your deck rebuild and get framing tasks, composite decking quantities, post hardware, joist hangers, and a dumpster line item already filled in. You edit everything — the AI produces a first draft, not a finished estimate — but starting from a structured draft instead of a blank page saves real time, especially on familiar project types you've priced a hundred times.
A few things worth knowing about how to get the best results. Specifics matter: "build a deck" produces a generic draft; "tear off an existing 12x16 deck and rebuild with composite decking, new 4x4 posts on concrete footings, railing on three sides" produces something you can actually use. Size and scope are the two inputs the draft is most sensitive to. See our guide to using AI drafting for a full walkthrough with examples.
AI estimate review
Once your estimate is built — whether you drafted it with AI or built it by hand — the AI review button in the summary panel reads through what you have and flags what looks off. Missing items that this type of project usually needs. Hours or quantities that seem low for the scope. No contingency margin. No permit fee for a project type that typically requires one.
It reads the way an experienced estimator would read a colleague's draft: direct, specific, focused on what would actually change the number if it's wrong. Not a comprehensive audit — a fast second set of eyes before you send it.
Live price verification
Material prices move. Our catalog has 700+ items with starting prices, but lumber especially has weeks where prices shift 10-15%. The ✨ button on any catalog-matched material line searches the web for the current retail price at major home improvement retailers and updates the line in place, writing the verified price to your price history so the 30 and 90-day averages become real over time.
Use it on the items that matter most — the high-cost, high-volatility ones like framing lumber, composite decking, and copper — before you send an estimate where a price miss would actually hurt.
Shareable client links with Accept and Decline
The part of the estimate workflow that used to require email attachments and manual status tracking. Every estimate now has a Share button on the dashboard. Click it and you get a link your client can open in any browser — no account, no app download, no login. They see a clean, professional view of the estimate with your business name and (if you're on a paid plan) your logo and brand colors.
At the bottom of that page are two buttons: Accept and Decline. When a client clicks one, your dashboard updates immediately. Accepted estimates flip green; declined ones show in red. No more following up to find out where things stand.
Clicking Share also auto-advances a Draft estimate to Sent, since sharing it with a client is sending it. The status history means you can sort and filter your dashboard by where each job is in the pipeline.
Custom branding on exports and client links
Pro and Business plan subscribers can upload a logo and set a brand color in their profile. Both appear everywhere a client sees your work: on PDF exports, Word documents, and the shareable client link. The brand color drives the section headers and accent elements; your logo appears top-right on the document and above your business name on the client link page.
For contractors who send estimates regularly, this is the difference between a document that looks like it came from a real business and one that looks like it came from a tool. The estimates your clients receive are part of your pitch; they should look like you.
Estimate expiration dates
Standard contractor practice — "this estimate is valid for 30 days" — now has a real date attached to it. Set an expiry date in the estimate builder (there's a +30 days shortcut button) and it appears on your PDF, your Word document, and the client link. When the date passes, the client-facing page replaces the Accept button with a message that the estimate has expired and prices may have changed. Your dashboard shows an "Expired" badge on any affected estimates.
This protects you from a client accepting a quote three months later when your material costs have moved, and it creates a natural urgency that occasionally converts a fence-sitter before the deadline.
Duplicate estimate
Similar projects should start from similar estimates. The Copy button on each dashboard row clones an estimate — every line item, margin, client, tax rate, and note — into a new Draft. Open it, update what's different, and send. For contractors who do similar jobs repeatedly (deck builds, bathroom refreshes, fence installs), this is the fastest path from "I need to quote this" to a real number.
Dashboard search and filtering
The dashboard now has a search box and status filter. Search matches project titles and client names; the status filters (All, Draft, Sent, Accepted, Declined) let you see exactly what's open, what's pending a decision, and what's closed. Once you have more than a handful of estimates in the system, these make the dashboard actually useful for managing your pipeline rather than just storing your history.
Client history page
Everyone you've ever written an estimate for now has their own card in the Clients section of the nav. Each card shows their contact details, how many estimates you've written for them, how many you've won, and the total value of accepted work. The full estimate history for each client is right there, each row clickable into the actual estimate.
For contractors building repeat business, this is the first step toward a real client record — seeing at a glance whether someone is a regular, what you've done for them, and what the relationship has been worth.
Mobile improvements
JobPencil now works properly on a phone. The estimate builder, dashboard, and materials catalog all restructure for narrow screens: line items become small cards instead of cramped single rows, the summary panel drops below the form instead of fighting for sidebar space, and tap targets are large enough to actually hit accurately. Input fields are sized to prevent iOS from zooming in every time you tap one.
Contractors quote from trucks and job sites. A tool that only works at a desk isn't the right tool.
The materials catalog
We're now at 700+ items across 21 categories — lumber, drywall, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, tile, kitchen and bath fixtures, trim and molding, decking, landscaping, and more. Business plan subscribers can import a custom CSV with their own supplier pricing, which builds real price history over time and makes the 30 and 90-day averages on the catalog page mean something for your actual market.
Everything on this page is available now at jobpencil.app. The estimate builder is free to use without an account. If you've been using JobPencil since the early days, this is a good moment to come back and see what's changed.