Change Orders
Record scope and schedule changes with a structured cost breakdown, then bundle approved change orders into client invoices.
What is a Change Order?
A Change Order (CO) is the formal record of any change to the original scope — extra work, omissions, design revisions, or agreed schedule shifts. Each CO captures both the cost impact (through a line-item breakdown) and the schedule impact (days added or saved), so you have a clean paper trail of how and why the project has drifted from the original contract.
Change Orders live inside each project. Open any project from your dashboard and select Change Order from the sidebar to get started.
Click "Change Orders" to expand · Then click any stage to see details
Creating a Change Order
Click Add Change Order to open the form. Each CO captures:
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Change Order ID | Auto-generated from the project code (e.g. PROJECT-CO-001) |
| Name | Optional short title for your reference |
| Date | When the change takes effect |
| Days Changed | Positive adds days to the programme; negative accelerates it |
| Description | Free-text explanation — why the change is needed |
| Currency | Inherited from your organisation's settings |
A clear description matters — it's what your client and your future self will read when reconciling the job.
Cost Line Items
Cost lines are the heart of every change order — they're what turns a description of a change into a defensible cost. The line structure mirrors the Estimation module exactly, so the workflow feels familiar and the numbers line up cleanly with the original estimate.
Every CO needs at least one cost line. Each line captures:
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Cost Type | Material, Labor, Equipment, Subcontractor, Fee, or Allowance |
| Description | What the line is for |
| Quantity and Unit | e.g. 20 m³, 5 days, 1 lot |
| Unit Cost | Builder cost per unit |
| Markup | Percentage added for overhead and profit |
| Cost Code | Optional — ties the line into your cost code library |
| Status | Complete, Incomplete, or Not Relevant |
Why cost codes matter here: when a cost code is assigned to a CO line, the amount rolls up into the Budget under that same code — so every extra metre of rebar on a CO shows next to the rebar you originally estimated. Without a code, the line still counts in the CO total, but it won't link back to your budget structure.
Use groups to organise related lines (e.g. Additional M&E Works) — they collapse and expand in the table view and roll up their own subtotal. Expand any CO row in the list to see all its lines inline without opening the form.
Attachments and Evidence
Attach a single supporting file per change order — the signed CO form, a revised drawing, an email thread, or a photo showing the condition that drove the change. Supported formats include PDF, Word, Excel, and image files (JPG, PNG, GIF).
The attachment also appears automatically in the project's Documents module under a virtual Change Orders folder, so it's easy to find even months later.
Connected Modules
Change Orders touch almost every other module in Bestrack. Understanding those connections is the quickest way to get the most out of each CO you log.
Click the root to expand · Then click any module to see how it connects
The key integrations:
- Estimation — shares the same cost types, markup logic, and cost code library, so estimators and change order writers speak the same language
- Invoices — approved COs can be bundled into any invoice with a single click
- Budget — COs show as their own section, pushing the Grand Total with every scope addition
- Schedule — days changed on each CO sum into a project-level programme shift
- Documents — attachments land in a virtual Change Orders folder automatically
Filtering and Using Change Orders in Invoices
The change order table has the essentials for navigation:
- Search — match by CO ID or description
- Date range — filter to a specific period
- Expand a row — reveal all cost line items without leaving the page
- Bulk select — tick rows to delete several COs at once
- Actions menu — edit or delete any CO individually
When you're ready to invoice the client for the extra work, head to the Invoices module, open a new or existing invoice, and click the Change Orders picker — tick the COs to include and their totals roll straight into the invoice.