Build the bid

From the Bids page or a project’s Bids tab, click + New Bid. The form covers who the bid is for, what it says, and when the pricing expires.

1. Pick the customer in the Customer search. Search by name, email, or phone.
2. Every bid needs a project. Quick-create one right here instead of leaving the form.
3. Type a descriptive Title (like "Panel Upgrade, 200A") so you and the customer both recognize it later.
4. Click AI Assist to draft the Description from your title and line items. Edit the result before saving; it is a starting point, not a final draft.

The Items & Pricing section gives you three ways to add lines, and the totals update live as you type.

Cost, markup, and price

Each line has a Cost field to the left of Price. Cost is internal only: customers never see it on the bid, the PDF, or the email. Type your cost and Conduit fills the price as cost plus your markup, using the Markup % on the row, which starts at your company default (set it once in Settings > Company under Default Markup). Change the markup on any row to override it for that line, or type a price directly; your typed price stays until you change cost or markup again. Typed-in items that are not in your pricebook yet are added to it automatically when you save the bid, so the catalog grows as you work.

1. Open the Item Catalog (your pricebook) and add an item. Name, price, unit, and taxable flag carry over from the pricebook.
2. Use From Takeoff to pull measured quantities straight off a plan you already took off (see [Plans & Takeoff](/help/bids-and-takeoff/plans-and-takeoff) for the measuring side of that flow)) for the measuring side of that flow.
3. Add a manual line, enter Cost, confirm the company-default Markup computes Price, then flip Taxable to see the tax helper total move.
4. Reorder lines with the grip handle at the left edge of each row: drag it up or down, or focus it and use Space, the arrow keys, and Space again. The order you see is the order the customer sees.
5. Add a Discount, choosing a fixed dollar amount or a percentage off.
6. Set a Deposit requirement as a percent or fixed dollar amount. On acceptance, Conduit auto-generates the deposit invoice for this amount.
7. Attach a plan, photo, or contract PDF so the customer sees it attached to the bid.
8. Add a Section to group line items, then set its per-section retention override where the contract calls for a different holdback.
9. Save the bid. New bids land in Draft status.