Use Change Orders to document and manage changes to a job after the original estimate has been sold and signed. You can build the new scope, share it with your customer, and approve it to update the job without changing the original estimate.
Before you begin
Change Orders are available on the redesigned job detail page for jobs created from a Standard Estimate when the feature is enabled for your account. You also need Add & Edit Jobs: Full Access.
Keep these points in mind:
If the job has not been created or started yet, edit the original estimate instead.
You can have only one Change Order in Draft or Sent status at a time. After it is approved, rejected, or deleted, you can create another one.
Change Orders are created from the redesigned job detail page. You cannot create them from Jobs Classic.
The original estimate remains unchanged. Change Orders update the job's copy of the scope.
Step 1: Create a Change Order
Open the redesigned job detail page
Go to the Work Details tab
Click Create change order
If the job already has Change Orders, click View change orders, then create the new Change Order from the side panel.
For jobs created before Change Orders was enabled, confirm that you want LMN to copy the estimate's work areas and items to the job.
🛑 Important: Confirming the setup for an older job cannot be undone. Afterward, changes to the estimate no longer flow through to the job.
Step 2: Build the Change Order
The Change Order page saves your work automatically. You can leave a draft and return to it later.
Rename the Change Order if needed.
💡LMN automatically numbers Change Orders in sequence.
Select the Estimator and add an optional description.
Click Add work area
Enter a Work Area Name, and optionally use the dropdown to select a Cost Code. Click Save
Click + Add Item to add items from your Price List
💡Use the Search Items bar or use the tabs to filter items by category: Labor, Materials, Equipment, Subs, or Other.
Hover over each item to reveal the Add button. Click on all desired items. Item(s) will appear on your Work Area table.
Update item Names, Quantities, Unit Costs, Unit Prices, Profit Margins, Notes, and Sales Tax as needed.
Use the trash icon to remove Items that should not be inclueded.
As you build the Change Order, LMN displays the current job totals, the impact of the Change Order, and the new totals for:
Hours
Job Costs
Total Price
Estimated Net Profit
Nothing changes on the job while the Change Order is in Draft or Sent status.
Step 3: Share the Change Order with Your Customer
Open the Change Order
Click the Download icon to save a PDF, or click Print icon to open a print preview
Send the PDF to your customer using your usual communication method
Update the Change Order status to Sent
⚠️The PDF includes the Change Order name, Job ID, Estimator, and scope details. It uses the Customize Client View settings from the original estimate.
Customer approval currently happens outside LMN. Online review and e-signature through Web Proposals are not available for Change Orders yet, so update the status manually after your customer responds.
Step 4: Approve the Change Order & Update the Job
After the customer approves the change:
Open the Change Order
Click Approve & update job
Review the confirmation message and click Approve & update job
🛑 Approval cannot be undone. If the Change Order removes a work area with scheduled visits, LMN warns you before approval.
After approval, LMN updates the job's:
Work areas and items
Estimated hours
Job costs and overhead
Estimated net profit
Crew app tasks
Jobs Classic estimated figures
⚠️
New work areas become Tasks crews can use in the Crew App, and edited work areas update their existing Tasks.
Removed work areas no longer appear for future timesheets.
Crews are not notified automatically; they see the updated tasks the next time they open the job.
Step 5: Update the Schedule & Invoices
Approving a Change Order does not automatically update your schedule or invoices yet.
Schedule
Future scheduled and waitlisted visits for a removed work area are deleted.
Completed visits are always kept.
Added hours are not added to existing visits. Update the schedule manually to make room for the additional work.
Invoices
Approving a Change Order does not update scheduled or future invoices. Update your invoices manually by adding a one-time invoice for the change or adjusting your existing invoice schedule.
If your account shows a billing mismatch indicator, use it to compare the amount billed with the approved total. The approved total includes the original estimate plus approved Change Orders.
Change Order Statuses
Status Type | Description |
Draft | You are still building the Change Order. |
Sent | You have shared the Change Order with the customer. You can still edit it or move it back to Draft. |
Approved | The Change Order was approved and the job was updated. Approved Change Orders cannot be edited or deleted. |
Rejected | The customer declined the Change Order. Rejected Change Orders are final and cannot be reopened or edited. Create a new Change Order if you need to try a different version. |
⚠️ Draft and Sent Change Orders can be deleted from the More menu.
⚠️ Deleted Change Orders are removed from the job's history and are not counted when the next Change Order is numbered.
View Change Order History
On the job, click View change orders to open the Change Orders side panel. Each Change Order shows its name, date, status, and a summary of what changed. Open a Change Order to review its full scope at that point in time.
Approved Change Orders cannot be reversed. To undo an approved change, create a new Change Order that adds back or removes the work.
Troubleshooting
If you do not see Create change order, confirm that:
Change Orders is enabled for your account.
You opened the job in the redesigned job detail page
The job was created from a Standard Estimate.
You have Add & Edit Jobs: Full Access.
The job does not already have a Change Order in Draft or Sent status.
Change Orders are not currently available for service-estimate jobs, jobs without an estimate, or Jobs Classic jobs. For those jobs, follow the existing Change Orders | Best Practices workflow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Change Order create a new job?
The Change Order stays on the original job, so crews, scheduling, and job costing remain connected to one job.
Does approving a Change Order change the original estimate?
The signed estimate remains the record of the original approved scope. Change Orders update only the job.
Can I have more than one open Change Order?
Only one Change Order can be in Draft or Sent status at a time. You can create another after the current one is approved, rejected, or deleted.
What happens to timesheets that were already submitted?
Existing timesheets remain. If the Change Order changes the cost or price of an item tracked on timesheets, LMN recalculates the cost of time and materials already logged against that item. Hours and costs already logged against a removed work area still count in job costing.
Who can create and approve Change Orders?
Anyone with Add & Edit Jobs: Full Access can create, edit, send, reject, and approve Change Orders. There is no separate Change Orders permission in the current version.
Need more help? Contact our Support Team by email at lmn-support@granum.com, through Live Chat, or by phone at (888) 347-9864.