Help & Documentation

Before you create your first estimate or invoice, set up your company details so everything looks professional.

1. Go to Settings from the sidebar.
2. Fill in your company name, address, phone, and email.
3. Upload your company logo — this appears on estimates, proposals, contracts, and invoices.
4. Set your default tax rate, deposit percentage, and payment terms (e.g., Net 30).
5. Click Save.

Customers are the foundation of everything in Kontrak. Every estimate, contract, and invoice is linked to a customer.

1. Go to Customers from the sidebar.
2. Click the + New Customer button.
3. Enter their name, email, phone, and address.
4. Click Save.

Once a customer is created, you can create estimates, contracts, and invoices for them.

An estimate is a detailed cost breakdown you send to a potential customer to win the job.

1. Go to Estimator from the sidebar.
2. Click New Estimate.
3. Select the customer and optionally a project.
4. Choose Residential or Commercial (CSI) mode.
5. Add line items for labor, materials, equipment, subs, and other costs.
6. Set your markup, overhead, and profit percentages.
7. Review the total and click Save.

Once your estimate is ready, you can turn it into a professional proposal with contract terms that the customer can sign.

1. Open your saved estimate.
2. Click Generate Proposal.
3. Review the combined proposal and contract document — it includes your scope of work, pricing, and contract clauses.
4. Send it to your customer via email or share the link.
5. The customer reviews it, signs it online, and you’re ready to start work.

After the contract is signed, you can invoice your customer for deposits, progress payments, or the final balance.

1. Go to Invoices and click + New Invoice, or click Create Invoice from a contract.
2. Select the customer and project.
3. Add line items or choose from the contract draw schedule.
4. Set the due date.
5. Click Send to email the invoice to your customer.
6. Your customer can pay online via Stripe (if configured) or you can record a manual payment.

The Dashboard is the first thing you see when you log in. It gives you a real-time snapshot of your business at a glance.

Stat Cards

Six cards across the top show your key numbers:

• Customers — Total number of customers in your account.
• Active Projects — Projects currently in progress.
• Open Estimates — Estimates that haven’t been accepted or declined yet.
• Active Contracts — Contracts that have been signed and are in progress.
• Invoices Due — Invoices that have been sent but not yet paid.
• Revenue Collected — Total payments received. The Revenue and Invoices cards include sparkline trend charts.

The Quick Actions section lets you jump straight into common tasks without navigating through the sidebar:

• New Customer — Add a new customer record.
• New Project — Create a new project.
• New Estimate — Start building a new estimate.
• New Contract — Generate a new contract.
• New Invoice — Create a new invoice.

The dashboard calendar shows important dates with color coding:

• Green — Project start dates.
• Red — Project end dates.
• Blue — Invoice due dates.

Below the calendar, the activity feed shows the last 8 actions taken across your account, so you can quickly see what’s been happening.

The search bar at the top of the dashboard lets you find anything across your account — customers, projects, contracts, and invoices.

1. Click the search bar or press / on your keyboard to focus it.
2. Start typing a name, project title, or invoice number.
3. Results appear instantly as you type.
4. Click a result to jump directly to that record.

The Customers page is your central directory for everyone you do business with.

1. Click + New Customer to add a customer.
2. Fill in their first name, last name, address, city, state, phone, email, and any notes.
3. Click Save.

Use the search bar and filters at the top to quickly find customers. Click any customer to edit their details or view linked projects, estimates, and invoices.

Each customer has a unique portal link that gives them read-only access to their projects, estimates, contracts, and invoices.

1. Open a customer’s record.
2. Click the Portal button.
3. Copy the link and send it to your customer via text, email, or any messaging app.

No login or account is required for the customer — the link is their access key.

Kontrak automatically tracks Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) — the total revenue collected from each customer across all their projects and invoices.

This helps you identify your most valuable customers and prioritize your follow-up and marketing efforts.

Leads are potential customers who haven’t committed to a project yet. The Leads page lets you track and manage your sales pipeline.

1. Go to Leads from the sidebar.
2. Click + New Lead.
3. Enter the lead’s contact information and any notes about the opportunity.
4. Set the lead’s status to track where they are in your pipeline.
5. Click Save.

When a lead is ready to move forward, you can convert them into a full customer record with one click.

1. Open the lead’s record.
2. Click Convert to Customer.
3. Their contact information is automatically transferred to a new customer record.
4. You can then create projects, estimates, and invoices for them like any other customer.

Projects are the central hub for a job. They link together your estimates, contracts, invoices, field logs, and more.

1. Go to Projects from the sidebar.
2. Click + New Project.
3. Select the customer, enter the project name, start date, end date, and contract total.
4. Set the project status (e.g., Pending, In Progress, Completed).
5. Click Save.

From a project’s detail view, you can see all linked estimates, invoices, contracts, field logs, and financial data in one place.

Change orders let you document scope changes after a contract has been signed. This keeps your project financials accurate and creates a paper trail.

1. Open the project.
2. Click Add Change Order.
3. Describe the change and enter the additional (or reduced) amount.
4. The project’s contract total is automatically updated to reflect the change order.

Kontrak supports two estimating modes so you can match the way your customers expect to see costs:

Residential Mode

Uses simple categories: Labor, Materials, Equipment, Subcontractors, and Other. This is best for homeowners and smaller jobs where a clean, easy-to-read breakdown is all you need.

Commercial (CSI) Mode

Organizes line items by CSI MasterFormat divisions (e.g., Division 03 — Concrete, Division 09 — Finishes). This is standard for commercial projects and is what general contractors and project managers expect to see on larger bids.

You can choose the mode when creating a new estimate. Switching modes re-organizes how your line items are grouped.

The Pricebook is your personal catalog of common line items with saved prices. Instead of typing the same items on every estimate, you can pull them in with one click.

1. Go to Pricebook and add your commonly used items — materials, labor rates, equipment costs, etc.
2. When building an estimate, click Add from Pricebook.
3. Select the items you want and they’ll be added with the saved prices and quantities.
4. Adjust quantities or prices as needed for the specific job.

Every estimate has settings that control how your final price is calculated:

• Markup % — Applied to your base cost. This is your general margin on materials and labor.
• Overhead % — Covers your fixed business costs (office, insurance, trucks, etc.).
• Profit % — Your net profit target on top of costs and overhead.
• Tax % — Sales tax applied to the total. Set this based on your local requirements.

These stack on your base cost to give you the final customer price. Your defaults come from Settings, but you can override them on each estimate.

When building an estimate, you can select which contract clauses will be included when you generate a proposal. These are the legal terms that protect both you and your customer.

1. In the estimator, look for the Contract Clauses section.
2. Check the clauses you want to include (e.g., payment terms, change order policy, warranty, dispute resolution).
3. When you generate a proposal, these clauses are automatically appended as the contract section.

You can manage your clause library from the Contract Builder.

A proposal is the document your customer sees. It combines your estimate details with contract terms into one professional package.

1. Open a saved estimate.
2. Click the Generate Proposal button.
3. The system creates a proposal with your company branding, scope of work, pricing, and selected contract clauses.
4. Preview it, then send it to the customer via email or share the unique link.

Customers can view the proposal, approve it, and sign it online — all without creating an account.

The Pricebook is your personal database of materials and their prices. It saves you from re-typing the same items and prices on every estimate.

1. Go to Pricebook from the sidebar.
2. Click + Add Item.
3. Enter the item name, unit (e.g., each, LF, SF, CY), and price.
4. Click Save.

You can edit or delete items at any time. Use the search bar to quickly find items in a large pricebook.

When building an estimate, you can pull items directly from your pricebook instead of entering prices manually.

1. In the Estimator, click Add from Pricebook.
2. Search or browse your pricebook items.
3. Select the items you need — they’re added as line items with your saved prices.
4. Adjust quantities as needed for the specific job.

The Task Book is your single source of truth for labor rates, trades, and task-to-cost mapping. It connects directly to the estimator and payroll so your pricing stays consistent across every estimate.

Three Tabs

• Tasks — Your library of work tasks with crew size, production rates, and billing rates.
• Labor Rates — Base pay rates by trade, with burden percentages and loaded rates automatically calculated.
• Burden Config — Configure burden components (FICA, FUTA, SUTA, Workers’ Comp, Health Insurance, PTO) that get applied to labor rates.

Each task represents a specific piece of work with all the cost details needed for accurate estimating.

1. Go to Task Book from the sidebar.
2. Click + Add Task.
3. Enter the task name, category (e.g., Electrical, Plumbing, Concrete), and description.
4. Select a labor designation from your labor rates to set the base hourly rate.
5. Set the crew size and production rate (output per hour).
6. Optionally add additional crew members, equipment, and material keywords.
7. Click Save.

The task’s billing rate is automatically calculated from the base rate, burden percentage, and overhead & profit markup. You can duplicate tasks to quickly create variations.

The Labor Rates tab lets you define pay rates for each trade, and the Burden Config tab controls the employer cost components that get added on top.

1. On the Labor Rates tab, click + Add Trade.
2. Enter the trade name and base hourly rate.
3. The burden % from your config is applied automatically to calculate the loaded rate.
4. Set your O&P % (overhead and profit) to calculate the final billing rate.

On the Burden Config tab, toggle individual components on or off and set their percentages. Click Apply to All Trade Rates to update every trade at once.

The Estimates page shows all your saved estimates in one place. You can filter by status, search by customer or project name, and sort by date or amount.

1. Go to Estimates from the sidebar.
2. Use the status filters to show only Draft, Sent, Accepted, or Declined estimates.
3. Click any estimate to open it in the Estimator for editing or to generate a proposal.

Each estimate is linked to its customer and project, so you can navigate between them easily.

Every time you save an estimate, Kontrak creates a snapshot of the current version. This means you can always look back at previous versions to see what changed.

This is especially useful when you’ve revised pricing multiple times or need to compare what was originally quoted vs. what the final number ended up being.

In Kontrak, a proposal and contract are one document. The top half is the proposal (scope of work, pricing, timeline) and the bottom half is the contract (legal clauses, payment terms, signatures).

This means your customer only needs to review and sign one document, not two. When they approve it, you have both a detailed project agreement and a binding contract in one place.

When you send a proposal, your customer gets a link to view it. Here’s how approval works:

1. The customer opens the proposal link in their browser.
2. They review the scope of work, pricing, and contract terms.
3. They type their name and draw their signature on screen.
4. They click Approve & Sign.
5. You get notified, and the contract status changes to Signed.

Both signatures (yours and the customer’s) are stored with timestamps for your records.

Your clause library is a collection of reusable contract terms. Kontrak comes with common clauses, and you can add your own.

1. Go to the Contract Builder.
2. Open the Clause Library.
3. Click + Add Clause to create a new one.
4. Give it a title (e.g., “Weather Delay Policy”) and write the clause text.
5. Save it. Now it’s available for any future estimate or contract.

You can edit or delete clauses at any time. Changes only affect future proposals, not ones already sent.

When a customer signs and approves your proposal, Kontrak can automatically create the first invoice (typically a deposit invoice) based on the contract’s payment schedule.

This saves you a step — the invoice is ready to send as soon as the contract is signed. You can review it before sending, or send it immediately.

You can create invoices from scratch or generate them from a contract.

1. Go to Invoices and click + New Invoice, or use the Invoice Builder.
2. Select the customer and optionally link a project and contract.
3. Add line items with descriptions, quantities, and prices.
4. Set the due date and any notes.
5. Click Send to email it, or copy the shareable link.

Invoices are automatically tracked as Draft, Sent, Viewed, Paid, or Overdue.

Let your customers pay invoices online with a credit card or bank transfer through Stripe.

1. Go to Settings and find the Stripe section.
2. Click Connect Stripe and follow the prompts to link your Stripe account.
3. Once connected, every invoice you send will include a Pay Online button.
4. When a customer pays, the invoice is automatically marked as Paid and the payment is recorded.

Stripe deposits funds directly into your bank account (typically in 2 business days). Stripe charges a processing fee (usually 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction).

When a customer pays by check, cash, wire, or any method outside of Stripe, you’ll want to record it manually.

1. Open the invoice.
2. Click Record Payment.
3. Enter the amount, date, and payment method (check, cash, wire, etc.).
4. Add an optional note (e.g., check number).
5. Click Save.

You can record partial payments. The invoice will show the remaining balance until it’s fully paid.

The payment modal appears when you click Record Payment on an invoice or when a customer clicks Pay Online.

For you (the contractor), the modal lets you enter payment details for offline payments and see the payment history for that invoice.

For your customer, the modal shows the amount due and a secure Stripe checkout form where they can enter their card or bank details.

All payments — whether online or manual — appear in the invoice’s payment history, giving you a complete record.

If you bill customers on a regular schedule (e.g., monthly maintenance, weekly services), recurring invoices save you from creating the same invoice every period.

1. Go to Recurring Invoices from the sidebar.
2. Click + New Recurring Invoice.
3. Select the customer.
4. Set the frequency (weekly, monthly, etc.), amount, and start date.
5. Add line items describing the recurring charges.
6. Click Save.

Kontrak automatically generates invoices on schedule. You can review them before sending or set them to auto-send.

You can edit, pause, or cancel a recurring invoice at any time.

• Edit — Change the amount, frequency, or line items. Future invoices will use the updated details.
• Pause — Temporarily stop generating invoices without deleting the schedule.
• Cancel — Permanently stop the recurring invoice. Previously generated invoices are not affected.

The Expenses page lets you record and categorize every business expense so you have accurate records for tax time and financial reporting.

1. Go to Expenses from the sidebar.
2. Click + Add Expense.
3. Enter the amount, date, vendor, category, and a description.
4. Optionally link the expense to a project for per-job cost tracking.
5. Click Save.

Kontrak supports receipt scanning with OCR (optical character recognition) to automatically extract expense details from photos of receipts.

1. When adding an expense, click Scan Receipt or use the camera capture button.
2. Take a photo of the receipt or upload an existing image.
3. OCR reads the receipt and auto-fills the amount, date, and vendor fields.
4. Review the extracted data, make any corrections, and save.

Kontrak uses an envelope budgeting system to help you manage cash flow like the pros. Every dollar that comes in gets automatically split into four “envelopes”:

• Tax — Money set aside for quarterly estimated taxes.
• Pay — Your personal pay (owner’s draw or salary).
• Expenses — Operating costs, materials, subs, overhead.
• Profit — What’s left after everything else. This is your business savings.

This system is based on the “Profit First” approach — by allocating money as soon as it comes in, you always know what’s actually available to spend.

You can customize how much of each payment goes into each envelope.

1. Go to Finances.
2. Find the Envelope Settings section.
3. Adjust the percentages for Tax, Pay, Expenses, and Profit.
4. Make sure they add up to 100%.
5. Click Save.

Common starting percentages for contractors: Tax 15%, Pay 50%, Expenses 30%, Profit 5%. Adjust these as your business grows.

Kontrak can connect to your bank account through Plaid to pull in transactions automatically.

1. Go to Finances.
2. Click Connect Bank Account.
3. Follow the Plaid prompts to securely log in to your bank.
4. Select the account you want to connect.
5. Transactions will sync automatically going forward.

Your bank credentials are handled securely by Plaid — Kontrak never sees or stores your login information.

If you’re self-employed, you need to pay estimated taxes every quarter. Kontrak’s tax estimator helps you figure out how much to set aside.

It looks at your income, expenses, and entity type to estimate what you’ll owe the IRS each quarter. You can view this in the Finances page or the Tax Center.

The Job Financials page gives you a detailed financial breakdown for each project — budget vs. actual spending, revenue collected, and profit margins.

1. Go to Job Financials from the sidebar.
2. Select a project to view its financial summary.
3. Review budget vs. actual for labor, materials, equipment, and subcontractor costs.
4. See total revenue collected vs. costs incurred to understand your real profit on each job.

This is your go-to view for understanding whether a job is making or losing money.

Job Financials includes a 12-week cash flow projection that helps you plan ahead and avoid cash crunches.

The projection looks at your expected revenue (from outstanding invoices and contract milestones) against your expected expenses to show when money is coming in and going out.

Overhead Rate Auto-Suggestion

Kontrak can suggest an overhead rate based on your actual business expenses. This helps you set more accurate markup percentages on your estimates so you’re covering your true costs.

Pay applications (pay apps) are the standard way commercial projects bill for work completed. Kontrak supports the AIA G702/G703 format used across the construction industry.

1. Go to Job Financials and select a project.
2. Open the Pay Apps tab.
3. Click + New Pay App and set the billing period start and end dates.
4. For each line item in your Schedule of Values, enter the current billed amount or percent complete.
5. Review the calculated totals: previous billed, current billed, stored materials, total completed, balance to finish, and retainage.
6. Click Submit Pay App when ready for review.

Pay apps carry forward previous billing automatically, so each application builds on the last.

The Schedule of Values is the line-item breakdown of your contract that pay apps are billed against. It’s the foundation of progress billing.

1. In Job Financials, go to the SOV tab.
2. Click Add Line to add cost codes with descriptions and original values.
3. Alternatively, click Create from Import to pull line items from an uploaded file.
4. Once your SOV is finalized, click Lock Baseline to prevent further edits to original values.

Change orders automatically update the SOV with CO adds and deducts, giving you revised values for each line item.

Retainage is the percentage of each payment that the owner holds back until the project is substantially complete. Kontrak tracks retainage automatically on every pay app.

• Each pay app line item shows the retainage percentage and retainage amount withheld.
• The pay app summary shows total retainage held across all billing periods.
• When the project reaches substantial completion, you can submit a final pay app to release the retainage.

Pay apps follow a clear workflow from creation to payment:

• Draft — You’re still entering billing amounts.
• Submitted — Sent for review and approval.
• Approved — Accepted by the owner or GC.
• Rejected — Returned for revisions (click Reopen for Edits to make changes).

Once approved, click Generate Invoice From Pay App to create a matching invoice. You can also Export CSV, Print, or Print AIA for a formatted G702/G703 output.

Kontrak supports two types of workers:

W-2 Employees

Regular employees where you withhold taxes and pay employer taxes (Social Security, Medicare, FUTA, SUTA). You’re responsible for their payroll taxes.

1099 Contractors (Subcontractors)

Independent contractors who handle their own taxes. You just pay them for their work and issue a 1099-NEC at year end if you pay them $600 or more.

1. Go to Payroll.
2. Click + Add Employee or + Add Contractor.
3. Enter their details: name, address, SSN/EIN, pay rate, filing status, and withholding allowances.
4. Click Save.

When it’s time to pay your employees:

1. Go to Payroll.
2. Click Run Payroll.
3. Enter hours worked (or confirm salary amounts) for each employee.
4. Kontrak calculates federal income tax, state income tax, Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%), and any other applicable withholdings.
5. Review the net pay for each employee.
6. Click Submit Payroll to finalize.

Kontrak also tracks the employer portion of taxes (matching Social Security, Medicare, FUTA, SUTA) so you know your total payroll cost.

After running payroll, Kontrak generates a pay stub for each employee showing:

• Gross pay — Total earnings before deductions.
• Federal tax withheld
• State tax withheld
• Social Security & Medicare
• Net pay — Take-home amount.
• Year-to-date totals

You can print or download pay stubs for your records and for your employees.

Track all payments to your 1099 subcontractors so you have accurate records for tax time.

1. Add each sub as a 1099 Contractor in the Payroll section.
2. When you pay them, record the payment with the amount, date, and description of work.
3. Kontrak tracks the year-to-date total for each sub.
4. At year end, anyone who received $600 or more gets a 1099-NEC generated automatically.

As a self-employed contractor, you’re required to pay estimated taxes four times a year (April 15, June 15, September 15, January 15).

Kontrak’s Tax Center helps you:

• See how much you should pay each quarter based on your income.
• Track what you’ve already paid.
• Generate 1040-ES vouchers you can print and mail, or use the amounts for online payment at IRS.gov.

If you pay a subcontractor $600 or more in a calendar year, you must file a 1099-NEC with the IRS and give a copy to the sub.

Kontrak tracks all sub payments and can generate 1099-NEC forms at year end:

1. Make sure all sub payments are recorded in the Payroll section.
2. Go to Tax Center and find the 1099 Tracking section.
3. Review the list of subs who crossed the $600 threshold.
4. Click Generate 1099s to create the forms.
5. Print and distribute to your subs by January 31, and file with the IRS.

The Schedule C is the IRS form where sole proprietors report business income and expenses. Kontrak provides a worksheet that organizes your data into Schedule C categories:

• Gross income — Total revenue from invoices and payments.
• Cost of goods sold — Materials and direct job costs.
• Business expenses — Organized into IRS categories like advertising, insurance, vehicle, office, etc.
• Net profit — Your taxable business income.

This worksheet is not a tax return — it’s a summary you can hand to your accountant to make filing faster and easier.

A W-9 is the IRS form you collect from subcontractors and vendors to get their tax ID (SSN or EIN). You need this to file their 1099 at year end.

Kontrak helps you track which subs have a W-9 on file and which ones you still need to collect from. You can mark a sub’s W-9 status in their profile.

The Tax Center includes a year-end checklist to make sure you don’t miss anything before filing your taxes:

• Reconcile all invoices and payments.
• Review and categorize all expenses.
• Collect W-9s from all subs paid $600+.
• Generate and distribute 1099-NECs by January 31.
• Review your Schedule C worksheet.
• Calculate final quarterly estimated tax payment.
• Export all data for your accountant.
• Back up your records.

Check off each item as you complete it. The checklist resets each year.

Kontrak adjusts tax calculations based on your business entity type. You set this in Settings. Here’s a quick overview:

Sole Proprietorship

The simplest structure. You report business income on your personal tax return (Schedule C). You pay self-employment tax (15.3%) on net income.

Single-Member LLC

Treated the same as a sole proprietorship for tax purposes unless you elect S-Corp status. Provides liability protection.

S-Corporation

You pay yourself a “reasonable salary” (subject to payroll taxes) and take the rest as distributions (no self-employment tax on distributions). Can save money once you earn above ~$60–80K net.

C-Corporation

The business is a separate tax entity. Profits are taxed at the corporate rate (21%), and distributions to you are taxed again (double taxation). Rarely used by small contractors.

The Bid Day page streamlines the chaos of bid day with automation tools for both GC (General Contractor) and Subcontractor modes.

GC Mode

Manage incoming sub bids, compare pricing from multiple subcontractors per trade, and assemble your final bid. Track which subs have submitted and which are still outstanding.

Subcontractor Mode

Track your bid submissions to GCs, manage deadlines, and keep records of what you’ve submitted and at what price.

1. Create a new bid event and add the trades you need covered (electrical, plumbing, HVAC, etc.).
2. As sub bids come in, enter them under the appropriate trade.
3. Compare pricing side-by-side to find the best value.
4. Select your winning subs and finalize your bid.

For public works projects, Bid Day includes DOL compliance features to help you verify that subcontractor bids meet prevailing wage requirements.

The Vendors page is your directory of material suppliers and equipment rental companies.

1. Go to Vendors from the sidebar.
2. Click + Add Vendor.
3. Enter the vendor name, category (supplier, rental, etc.), contact info, and account number.
4. Click Save.

Use the search and filter tools to quickly find vendors by name or category. Vendor records are used when creating purchase orders.

Purchase orders (POs) help you formally order materials from vendors and track deliveries.

1. Go to Purchase Orders from the sidebar.
2. Click + New PO.
3. Select the vendor and optionally link a project.
4. Add line items with descriptions, quantities, and unit prices.
5. Set the delivery date and any special instructions.
6. Click Save or Send to email the PO to the vendor.

Each purchase order has a status that you can update as it moves through the process:

• Draft — PO created but not yet sent.
• Sent — PO sent to the vendor.
• Received — Materials have been delivered.

Keeping PO statuses current helps you know what materials are outstanding and plan your project schedule accordingly.

The Material List page helps you track all materials needed for your projects in one centralized view.

1. Go to Material List from the sidebar.
2. Select a project or view all materials across projects.
3. Add items with name, quantity, unit cost, and supplier.
4. Track what’s been ordered, received, and what’s still outstanding.

Material lists work with your purchase orders and pricebook to keep material management streamlined.

The Subcontractors page lets you manage all your subs on a per-project basis — contract amounts, payment tracking, and compliance status.

1. Go to Subcontractors from the sidebar.
2. Click + Add Subcontractor.
3. Enter the sub’s name, trade, contract amount, and link them to a project.
4. Track payments made and W-9 status.
5. Click Save.

Kontrak includes a token-based compliance portal where your subs can upload their own documents without needing a full account.

1. Open a subcontractor’s record.
2. Click Send Compliance Link.
3. The sub receives a unique link where they can upload their insurance certificates, licenses, and W-9.
4. You’ll see the uploaded documents in the sub’s profile, with statuses for what’s been received and what’s still missing.

Subcontracts let you formally track the scope and financial terms for each subcontractor on a project. Manage them from the Sub Pay-Down tab in Job Financials.

1. In Job Financials, select a project and go to the Sub Pay-Down tab.
2. Under the Subcontracts sub-tab, click + New Subcontract.
3. Enter the subcontractor name, scope of work, and contract amount.
4. Click Save.

Each subcontract becomes the basis for tracking sub pay apps, invoices, and payments for that specific sub on that project.

The Sub Pay-Down section has dedicated sub-tabs for managing the full financial lifecycle with each subcontractor:

• Sub Pay Apps — Track progress billing from subs, similar to your own pay apps but from the sub’s perspective. Click + New Sub Pay App to create one.
• Sub Invoices — Record invoices received from subs. Click + New Invoice to add one.
• Payments — Record payments made to subs. Click + Record Payment to log each payment with amount, date, and method.
• Job Cost Summary — View a consolidated summary of all sub costs on the project. Use the Print Summary button for a formatted report.

Each subcontractor can receive a unique portal token — a secure link that lets them upload compliance documents without creating an account.

1. Open the subcontractor’s record on the Subcontractors page.
2. Click Send Compliance Link to email or copy the unique token URL.
3. The sub opens the link and uploads their insurance certificates, W-9, licenses, and other required documents.
4. Uploaded documents appear in the sub’s profile with status indicators for what’s been received and what’s missing.

This eliminates the back-and-forth of chasing subs for paperwork. You can see at a glance which subs are compliant and which still need documents.

Lien waivers are legal documents where a subcontractor or supplier waives their right to file a mechanic’s lien against a property after receiving payment. Kontrak tracks both types:

Conditional Lien Waiver

Issued before payment clears. The waiver only takes effect once the check clears or funds are confirmed. Use this when paying by check.

Unconditional Lien Waiver

Issued after payment is confirmed. The waiver takes effect immediately. Use this after verifying payment has been received.

1. In Job Financials, go to the Sub Pay-Down tab, then the Lien Waivers sub-tab.
2. Click + Request Waiver.
3. Select the subcontractor, waiver type (conditional or unconditional), and the amount covered.
4. Track the status as the waiver moves from Requested to Received.

The Lien Waivers sub-tab gives you a clear view of waiver status across all subs on a project:

• See which subs have submitted waivers and which are still outstanding.
• Track waivers by payment period to ensure coverage for each billing cycle.
• Download or print collected waivers for your records and for the project owner.

This is especially important on commercial projects where the GC or owner requires a full set of lien waivers from every sub before processing each pay application.

The Landscape Calculator provides specialized tools for landscape estimating that handle the math for common scenarios:

Plant Calculator

Enter the area dimensions and plant spacing to calculate how many plants you need, along with material costs.

Irrigation Calculator

Calculate pipe runs, head counts, and zone layouts based on area and water pressure specifications.

Sod Calculator

Enter the area in square feet and the calculator determines how many pallets or rolls of sod you’ll need, including waste factor.

Each calculator supports delivery fee inputs so you can include transportation costs in your estimates:

• Flat fee — A fixed delivery charge regardless of quantity.
• Per-ton — A rate per ton of material delivered.
• Minimum charge — A minimum delivery fee that applies even for small orders.

The delivery fee is added to the total material cost so your estimate includes the full cost of getting materials to the job site.

The Reports page gives you visual insights into your business performance with interactive charts and data summaries.

Available Reports

• Revenue Trends — See your revenue over time with monthly or weekly breakdowns.
• Invoice Breakdown — View invoices by status (Draft, Sent, Paid, Overdue) to understand your receivables.
• Contract Value Summary — Total value of all active contracts and pipeline.
• Project Status Overview — See how many projects are pending, in progress, or completed.

All data is pulled dynamically from your account, so reports are always up to date.

The Activity Log is an audit trail that records all create, update, and delete actions across your entire account.

Each entry shows:

• What happened — The action (created, updated, or deleted) and the record affected.
• Who did it — The team member who performed the action (user attribution).
• When — The date and time of the action.

The log stores the last 500 entries, giving you a clear record of recent activity. This is especially useful for teams where multiple people are working in the system.

Field logs are daily records of what happened on the job site. They’re essential for documentation, dispute resolution, and project management.

1. Go to Field Logs from the sidebar.
2. Click + New Field Log.
3. Select the project and date.
4. Record the weather conditions, crew members on site, work performed, and any issues or delays.
5. Click Save.

You can attach photos to any field log entry to document site conditions, work progress, and issues.

1. In a field log entry, click Add Photos.
2. Use the camera capture to take photos directly, or upload existing images from your device.
3. Photos are automatically tagged with GPS coordinates (geotagging) when taken from a mobile device with location enabled.

The Time Clock lets you track hours worked by each crew member on each project.

1. Go to Time Clock from the sidebar.
2. Select the crew member and project.
3. Click Clock In when they start work.
4. Click Clock Out when they finish.
5. Hours are automatically calculated and stored.

You can view time records by employee, by project, or by date range. This data feeds into payroll and job costing so you always know your true labor costs.

The Safety Checklists page provides OSHA-based safety checklists for different job types to help you maintain a safe work environment and stay compliant.

1. Go to Safety Checklists from the sidebar.
2. Select the project and job type (e.g., roofing, excavation, electrical).
3. Review the checklist items and check off each one as it’s verified.
4. Save the completed checklist as a record.

Completed checklists are stored with timestamps, so you have documentation that safety was verified on each project.

The Compliance page helps you track all your business licenses, insurance policies, bonds, and certifications in one place — with expiration date alerts so nothing lapses.

1. Go to Compliance from the sidebar.
2. Click + Add Item.
3. Select the type (License, Insurance, Bond, Certification, or Other).
4. Enter the name, number, issue date, and expiration date.
5. Click Save.

Kontrak will alert you when items are approaching their expiration date so you have time to renew.

Use the filter tabs to view compliance items by type:

• All — Every compliance item.
• Licenses — Contractor licenses, trade licenses, business licenses.
• Insurance — General liability, workers’ comp, auto, umbrella policies.
• Bonds — Performance bonds, payment bonds, license bonds.
• Certifications — Trade certifications, safety certifications, training certificates.
• Other — Anything that doesn’t fit the above categories.

A punch list is the list of items that need to be finished or fixed before a project is considered complete. The Punch List page helps you track every item to closeout.

1. Go to Punch List from the sidebar.
2. Select the project.
3. Click + Add Item and describe what needs to be done.
4. As items are completed, mark them as Complete.
5. A progress bar shows your completion percentage so you know how close you are to closeout.

The Permits page helps you manage building permits and track their status throughout the approval and inspection process.

1. Go to Permits from the sidebar.
2. Click + Add Permit.
3. Enter the permit name, permit number, linked project, submitted date, and inspection date.
4. Set the status (Pending, Submitted, Approved, Denied, Inspection Scheduled).
5. Click Save.

Update permit statuses as they progress through the approval process. This keeps your whole team informed about what’s been approved and what’s still pending.

The Milestones page lets you break projects into phases and track progress toward completion with a Gantt-style timeline view.

1. Go to Milestones from the sidebar.
2. Select a project.
3. Click + Add Milestone.
4. Enter the milestone name, target date, and description.
5. Update the status as work progresses: Pending → In Progress → Complete.

The timeline view gives you a visual overview of where each project stands, making it easy to spot delays and plan ahead.

Kontrak supports multi-user access with role-based permissions. You can invite team members and control what each person can see and do.

1. Go to Team from the sidebar.
2. Click + Invite Member.
3. Enter the person’s email address.
4. Select their role: Owner, Admin, Estimator, or Viewer.
5. Click Send Invite.

They’ll receive an email invitation to create their account and join your team.

Each role has different levels of access:

• Owner — Full access to everything. Can manage billing, team members, and all settings. Only one owner per account.
• Admin — Full access to all features except billing and account deletion.
• Estimator — Can create and edit estimates, view customers and projects, but cannot access financial data or settings.
• Viewer — Read-only access. Can view records but cannot create, edit, or delete anything.

Roles control which navigation sections are visible to each user, so team members only see what’s relevant to their job.

The Import Data wizard helps you migrate your existing data from other platforms into Kontrak.

Supported Platforms

• QuickBooks Online/Desktop — CSV, IIF, QBO, and Excel formats.
• Buildertrend — CSV exports.
• Jobber — CSV exports.
• ServiceTitan — CSV exports.
• Procore — CSV exports.
• FreshBooks — CSV exports.
• Xero — CSV exports.
• Excel / Google Sheets — Upload spreadsheets directly.
• Generic CSV — Any CSV file with column mapping.

1. Go to Import Data from the sidebar.
2. Select the source platform or choose Generic CSV.
3. Upload your file — Kontrak auto-detects the format and maps columns automatically.
4. Review the column mapping and adjust if needed.
5. Preview the data and validate for errors or missing fields.
6. Kontrak runs duplicate detection to avoid importing records that already exist.
7. Click Import to bring the data into your account.

All imports are recorded in the import history so you can track what was imported and when.

Each customer gets a unique portal link — no account or login required.

1. Go to Customers.
2. Open a customer’s record.
3. Click the Portal Link button.
4. Copy the link and send it to your customer (via text, email, etc.).

The link is unique and secure. Only someone with the link can access that customer’s portal.

When your customer opens their portal, they can:

• View projects — See the status of their active projects.
• Review estimates — Look at estimates you’ve sent them.
• Sign proposals/contracts — Approve and sign documents online.
• View invoices — See all invoices and their payment status.
• Pay online — Make payments via Stripe directly from the portal.
• View payment history — See all past payments they’ve made.

Customers cannot edit anything — they can only view and pay. All changes come from your side.

Selections let your customers choose materials, colors, and finishes through their portal — no phone calls or emails required.

1. Open a project and click the Portal button.
2. Go to the Selections tab.
3. Click Add Category to create a selection group (e.g., “Cabinet Color,” “Flooring Type,” “Countertop Material”).
4. Add pre-defined options for the customer to choose from (e.g., “White Oak,” “Dark Walnut,” “Gray Wash”).
5. Optionally allow custom text input if you want the customer to be able to type their own choice.

Each category includes a description field where you can provide guidance, allowance amounts, or notes about available options.

When your customer opens their portal, they see the Selections tab with all the categories you’ve set up.

• Each category shows the available options as radio buttons — the customer picks one.
• If custom text input is enabled, they can type their own choice instead.
• An optional notes field lets the customer add comments or special requests for each selection.
• They click Save All Selections when finished.

You’ll see their selections in the project’s portal panel so you can order the right materials.

Change requests give your customers a formal way to ask for modifications to the project scope through their portal, instead of texting or calling you on the fly.

1. The customer opens their portal and goes to the Change Requests tab.
2. They click Submit Change Request.
3. They fill in a title and description explaining what they want changed.
4. The request is submitted with a Pending status.

You receive the request and can review it from the project’s portal panel.

When a customer submits a change request, you review it and set the outcome:

• Pending — New request, not yet reviewed.
• Approved — You agree to the change. Add notes about timeline or cost impact.
• Declined — You cannot accommodate the change. Add notes explaining why.
• Change Order — The request has been formalized as a change order with cost implications.

Add contractor notes to each request so the customer can see your response in their portal.

The Comments tab in the customer portal provides a simple, threaded communication channel between you and your customer — tied directly to the project.

1. Open a project and click the Portal button.
2. Go to the Comments tab.
3. Type your message in the comment field and click Post.
4. Your customer can see your comments and reply from their portal.

Comments show the author name and timestamp. Contractor comments are highlighted in green so they’re easy to distinguish from customer comments.

Your company details appear on every estimate, proposal, contract, and invoice. Keep them up to date.

• Company name — Your registered business name.
• Address — Your business address.
• Phone & email — How customers can reach you.
• Logo — Upload a PNG or JPG image. It appears in the header of all documents.
• License number — Your contractor license, if applicable.

Set your business entity type (Sole Proprietorship, LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp). This affects how Kontrak calculates your estimated taxes and payroll obligations.

You can change this if your business structure changes (e.g., you convert from a sole prop to an LLC or elect S-Corp status).

To accept online payments, connect your Stripe account:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Under the Payments section, click Connect Stripe.
3. If you don’t have a Stripe account, you can create one during the process.
4. Follow the Stripe prompts to verify your identity and link your bank account.
5. Once connected, a green checkmark will appear confirming the integration.

You can disconnect Stripe at any time. Existing paid invoices are not affected.

Configure email sending so you can email estimates, invoices, and proposals directly from Kontrak.

Kontrak supports SendGrid for email delivery. Enter your SendGrid API key and verified sender email in Settings.

Once configured, you’ll see a Send button on estimates, invoices, and proposals that emails the document directly to your customer.

Set defaults that auto-populate on new estimates and invoices:

• Default tax rate — Your local sales tax percentage.
• Default markup % — Standard markup for estimates.
• Default deposit % — How much you collect upfront (e.g., 50%).
• Payment terms — Standard due date terms (e.g., Net 30, Net 15, Due on Receipt).

You can always override these on individual estimates and invoices.

Stripe Connect allows each contractor to connect their own Stripe account so customer payments are routed directly to them, with the platform taking a small fee.

Payment Flow

• Customer pays an invoice — The payment goes through Stripe.
• Platform fee (2.5%) — Kontrak takes a 2.5% platform fee on each transaction.
• Net amount to contractor — The remaining amount (minus Stripe’s processing fee) is deposited directly into the contractor’s connected bank account.

This means contractors get paid directly — Kontrak never holds your funds.

1. Go to Settings and find the Online Payments section.
2. Click Connect with Stripe.
3. You’ll be redirected to Stripe to create or link your account. Follow their prompts to verify your identity and bank details.
4. Once connected, your status will show as Connected with green indicators for Charges Enabled and Payouts Enabled.
5. Click Open Stripe Dashboard to manage your Stripe account directly.

If your setup is incomplete (e.g., missing bank info or identity verification), you’ll see an Incomplete Setup status with instructions to finish.

The Cost Dashboard (found in Settings) gives administrators a clear view of the platform’s monthly service costs across all integrated services.

Service Cost Cards

• Stripe — Payment processing fees and transaction costs.
• SendGrid — Email delivery costs for invoices, proposals, and notifications.
• Supabase — Database hosting and authentication service costs.
• Plaid — Bank connection and transaction sync fees.
• Perplexity AI — AI-powered features and API usage costs.

Each card shows the current month’s cost with a breakdown of usage. The total monthly cost bar at the top aggregates all services so you can see your total operational spend at a glance.

Kontrak integrates with Perplexity AI to power AI-assisted features like price lookups and intelligent suggestions. Configure it in Settings.

1. Go to Settings and find the Perplexity AI section.
2. Enter your Perplexity API key. You can get one from your Perplexity account dashboard.
3. Click Save.

Once configured, AI-powered features will be available across the app, such as intelligent price suggestions in the pricebook.

Since Perplexity’s API doesn’t provide real-time cost data, Kontrak supports manual cost entry so you can track your AI spending alongside other service costs.

• In the Perplexity settings section, enter your monthly cost based on your Perplexity billing dashboard.
• This cost appears on the Cost Dashboard alongside Stripe, SendGrid, and other service costs.
• Update the amount monthly to keep your total operational cost accurate.

Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to your account. Even if someone gets your password, they can’t log in without the code from your authenticator app.

1. Go to Settings and find the Security section.
2. Click Enable Two-Factor Auth.
3. A QR code appears on screen. Scan it with your authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Authy, 1Password, etc.).
4. Enter the 6-digit verification code from your authenticator app.
5. Click Verify & Enable 2FA.

From now on, you’ll need both your password and the authenticator code to log in.

If you need to turn off two-factor authentication:

1. Go to Settings and find the Security section.
2. Click Disable Two-Factor Auth.
3. Confirm your choice.

Your account will revert to password-only login. You can re-enable 2FA at any time.

After a project is completed, Kontrak helps you track your warranty obligations so nothing falls through the cracks.

1. Open a completed project and click the Warranty button.
2. Set the warranty start date (typically the completion date) and warranty period (1, 2, or 5 years, or a custom duration).
3. The warranty end date is calculated automatically.
4. Add any notes about specific warranty terms or exclusions.
5. Click Save.

Warranty status is tracked automatically:

• Active — Currently within the warranty period.
• Expiring Soon — Warranty is about to expire.
• Expired — Warranty period has ended.
• Claimed — A warranty claim has been filed.

When a customer reports an issue covered under warranty, you can track it as a warranty claim.

1. Open the project’s warranty panel.
2. In the Warranty Claims section, click Add Claim.
3. Enter the date and description of the issue.
4. The claim starts with an Open status.
5. When the issue is resolved, toggle the claim to Resolved and add the resolution details.

All claims are stored with the project record, giving you a history of warranty work performed.

Completed projects unlock additional post-project tools:

Follow-Up Emails

• Review Request — Send your customer an email asking for a review of your work.
• Referral Ask — Send an email asking if they know anyone who needs similar work done.

Both emails are sent with one click from the project’s Follow-Up button, with tracking for whether each has been sent.

Closeout Packages

Generate a comprehensive closeout package that bundles all project documents into one printable report:

• Signed contract, all invoices, change orders, punch list, field logs, expense summary, and warranty information.
• Select which documents to include, then click Generate Package.
• The output includes a cover page and table of contents.

Financial change orders in Job Financials track the cost impact of scope changes on your project’s contract total.

1. In Job Financials, select a project and go to the Change Orders tab.
2. Click + New Change Order.
3. Enter a description of the scope change.
4. Enter the amount — positive for additions, negative for deductions.
5. Optionally attach supporting files (drawings, emails, photos).
6. Click Save.

Each change order is tracked with its status and automatically updates the project’s revised contract total.

Change orders flow through your project financials automatically:

• The Schedule of Values (SOV) is updated with CO adds and deducts, showing revised values for each line item.
• The project’s revised contract total = original contract + all approved change orders.
• Pay applications reflect the revised values, so your billing stays accurate.
• The project overview in Job Financials shows the total change order impact alongside your original contract amount.

To change your password, sign out and click “Forgot Password” on the login page. You’ll receive an email with a link to set a new password. For security, there is no way to change your password while logged in — the reset link verifies your email first.

Yes. Go to Team to invite team members with different roles: Owner, Admin, Manager, or Field Worker. Each person gets their own login. Roles control what each person can see and do.

Yes. Kontrak uses industry-standard security:

• SSL encryption — All data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS).
• Encrypted storage — Data is encrypted at rest in our database.
• Secure authentication — Powered by Supabase Auth with row-level security. Each user can only see their own company’s data.
• Stripe & Plaid — Payment and banking integrations are handled by PCI-compliant third parties. We never store credit card or bank login information.

Every list page (Customers, Projects, Estimates, Contracts, Invoices, Expenses) has an Export CSV button. Click it to download your data as a CSV file you can open in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet app.

You can also print or download individual estimates, invoices, and contracts as PDFs from their preview pages.

You can cancel your subscription at any time from Settings under the Billing section. Click Cancel Subscription. Your account will remain active until the end of your current billing period.

If you cancel, your data is kept for 90 days after your subscription ends. During this time, you can reactivate your account and pick up where you left off. After 90 days, your data is permanently deleted.

We recommend exporting your data (CSV and PDF downloads) before canceling.

Not yet. Kontrak is designed to be an all-in-one solution for contractors, so most things you’d use QuickBooks for (invoicing, expense tracking, basic bookkeeping, tax estimates) are built in.

If you need to share data with an accountant who uses QuickBooks, you can export CSVs from any section and your accountant can import them.

Yes. Kontrak is a fully responsive web app that works on phones, tablets, and desktops. Just open it in your phone’s browser.

You can also add it to your home screen for a native app-like experience:

• iPhone: Open Kontrak in Safari, tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen.”
• Android: Open Kontrak in Chrome, tap the three-dot menu, then “Add to Home Screen.”

Yes. Kontrak’s Import Data wizard supports imports from QuickBooks, Buildertrend, Jobber, ServiceTitan, Procore, FreshBooks, Xero, and generic CSV/Excel files. The wizard auto-detects the file format, maps columns, and checks for duplicates before importing.

Yes. Go to Recurring Invoices, set the customer, frequency (weekly, monthly, etc.), amount, and start date. Kontrak generates invoices automatically on schedule.

Use Field Logs to create daily entries with weather, crew notes, work performed, and issues. You can attach photos with camera capture and geotagging directly from your phone.

Owners see everything. Admins see everything except billing. Estimators can create estimates and view customers/projects but cannot access finances. Viewers have read-only access. Roles control sidebar navigation visibility.

Use the Compliance page to add your licenses, insurance policies, bonds, and certifications with their expiration dates. Kontrak alerts you when items are approaching expiration so you have time to renew.

Each subcontractor has a unique compliance portal link. Send it to them and they can upload insurance certificates, licenses, and W-9 forms directly — no account required. You’ll see the uploads in their profile on the Subcontractors page.

Go to Punch List, select the project, and add items that need to be finished or fixed. Mark items as complete as they’re done. A progress bar shows your completion percentage so you and your customer know exactly where things stand.