Now that you're familiar with the basics of Selections, it's time to unlock the full potential of Buildertrend's advanced selection features to enhance your project workflows.
Learn how to copy selections and choices to streamline your workflow and cut down manual entry.
Create selections that are dependent upon other selections using the Hierarchy view.
Adding choices to your budget and estimate before the choice is approved in order to better track your financials.
Create Purchase Orders when choices are selected and Invoice your clients for their selections.
Take a deeper dive into tools like Allowances, which help manage budgets with precision by setting cost limits for specific items or categories.
Explore client participation settings to control how and when clients engage with selections, whether they’re approving choices, adding their own, or simply reviewing options.
You can also involve subcontractors and vendors more directly by granting them permission to suggest choices and provide pricing, improving accuracy and reducing manual entry.
These advanced capabilities help you streamline processes, reduce manual entry, and keep everything aligned from design to delivery.
Advanced Selections Overview Help Center Video
Allowances
Buildertrend’s Allowances feature provides a clear and efficient way to manage client budgets within the Selections process. By assigning a specific budget to either single or shared Selections, you give clients visibility into their spending limits while guiding them toward informed decisions.
Any cost differences between the set allowance and the actual selection choice are automatically tracked, making it simple to identify overages or savings. This not only improves financial transparency but also helps streamline budget adjustments and communication with clients.
Allowances Help Video
Creating an Allowance
Begin by navigating to the Allowances tab on the Selections dashboard and click New Allowance.
Fill out the Allowance Information and Allowance Amount, when finished, click Save.
Allowance Fields
Title – The name or label of the allowance, used to identify the budget allocation.
Selections – Links the allowance to one or more existing selection items where the budget will apply.
Notes – Additional context or instructions related to the allowance, such as client expectations or installation details.
Allowance Amount:
Flat Fee – A single total budget amount allocated for the selection(s).
Line Items – A breakdown of the total allowance into individual components or materials for more detailed budgeting and tracking.
Assigning the Allowance to Selections
When creating a Selection, you can have the selection item pull from a single allowance or a shared allowance.
Single – Indicates that this is the only selection item that will be made towards an allowance.
Shared – Indicates that multiple selections will be made towards an allowance.
💡Pro Tip
Shared Allowances let you assign a single allowance amount across multiple selections, for example, a "Flooring Allowance" covering selections like carpet, hardwood, and tile.
This setup gives your client flexibility to make trade-offs, such as choosing a more affordable carpet to offset the cost of premium hardwood, while still staying within the overall budget.
Client Collaboration
Buildertrend’s Selections tool makes client collaboration simple and transparent. Clients can easily log into their portal to review available choices, approve selections, leave comments, and even provide digital signatures.
This keeps everyone on the same page, speeds up decision-making, and reduces the need for back-and-forth communication, ensuring your project stays on schedule and your clients stay engaged every step of the way.
Client Collaboration Help Video
Establishing Client Participation
Choose how involved you want your client to be in the selection process by navigating to the Participation tab within the specific selection item.
Allowed to Approve Choices Only – The client can only review and approve available selection choices.
Allowed to Add/Edit & Approve Choices – The client can add or modify selection choices in addition to approving selection choices, offering flexibility if they want to explore or suggest their own options.
Choices added by clients are not automatically approved; you will be required to add cost information, including the client price.
The client will not have access to your internal cost. After that information has been entered, the client will need to approve.
Subcontractor Collaboration
Collaborating with your subcontractors, vendors, and installers in Buildertrend's Selections tool enhances accuracy and speeds up the decision-making process.
You can grant tailored permissions that allow them to add Selection Choices, input pricing for materials or services, and stay informed on approved items.
This reduces back-and-forth communication, ensures clarity on expectations, and helps keep your projects moving forward smoothly with everyone on the same page.
Subcontractor Collaboration Help Video
Establishing Subcontractor Participation
Choose how involved you want your sub/vendors to be in the selection process by navigating to the Participation tab within the specific selection item.
Vendors – Choose the subcontractors or vendors you want to involve in the selection process.
Allowed to Viewing/Price Requests Only – Grants selected vendors access to view the selection and respond to pricing requests, without the ability to make changes.
Allowed to Add/Edit Choices – Allows selected vendors to add new options or modify existing selection choices.
Installers – Assign subcontractors or vendors who will be responsible for installation. They will only see the approved choices,vno pricing or editable access is granted.
Interested in Learning More? 📚
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If you have any questions or require additional support, feel free to chat with us, send an email: support@buildertrend.com, or give us a call at 1-888-415-7149. We’re always happy to help.