Job Start Sheet

Last reviewed May 2026 · Job Start Sheet

The Job Start Sheet is the central pricing object for every job. It's where you set the base price, upgrades, and allowances — and it's the contract anchor for everything downstream: margin tracking, 1099 calculations, and the buyer's final price.

What is the Job Start Sheet?

Every job in Lotwright has exactly one active Job Start Sheet. It stores:

• Base price and your markup percentage
• All buyer upgrades and their margins
• Warranty allowances (210 warranty coverage)
• The final sales price
• A snapshot of all values at the time the buyer signs

The Job Start Sheet pulls pricing defaults from your markup table in Settings → Master Data. When you create a new job, the active markup table is applied automatically.

How the pricing math works

Lotwright uses the Shinn Consulting formula for production homebuilder pricing:

• Base cost × markup % = Base sell price
• Add upgrade margins (each upgrade's sell price minus its cost)
• Total = Final sales price

All math happens live as you type — there's no "recalculate" button. The gross margin percentage is shown in the header as you work, so you can see immediately whether a price change affects your margin.

Adding upgrades

Click Add Upgrade to add a buyer selection (e.g., hardwood floors instead of carpet, a larger island, upgraded appliances). For each upgrade you enter:

• The upgrade category (pre-loaded from your Settings → Master Data upgrade list)
• The cost to you
• The sell price to the buyer

The margin on each upgrade contributes to your overall job gross margin. Lotwright flags any upgrade with negative margin (sell price lower than cost) so you can catch pricing errors before signing.

Send for signature

When pricing is finalized, click Send for Signature. Lotwright generates a PDF of the Job Start Sheet and marks it as Pending Signature. The buyer signs via DocuSign or Adobe Sign (depending on your integration settings).

Once signed, the Job Start Sheet is locked — no further edits to the base numbers. If a change is needed post-signature, you create a Change Order from the job detail page.

Price snapshot

When the buyer signs, Lotwright takes a snapshot of all pricing values. This snapshot is what appears on reports and in the job's permanent record. Even if you later change your markup table in Settings, the signed job's historical pricing stays exactly as it was at signing time.

Minimum sell price

Your markup table includes a minimum sell price — the lowest you'll accept for this plan to hit target margin. The Job Start Sheet shows a warning if the final sales price falls below the minimum. This isn't a hard block (you can override), but it requires deliberate action so undersells don't happen by accident.