How to Use AI to Create an Estimate or Proposal

When you start to create a financial document for a project, save time and increase efficiency by using AI for estimates, proposals, invoices or change orders.

With this feature, you can quickly type in an in-depth project description, or you can use voice commands to explain your project. Our AI, AutoMate, will create document line items and categories based on your description, which you can further edit and adjust if needed.

You can create an AI-generated document from both a desktop computer or the Houzz Pro mobile app.

Create AI Financial Documents on Desktop

If you are in the office or at home and want to save time, you can quickly create an estimate, proposal, invoice or change order using our AI, AutoMate.

There are several ways to start an AI document from your desktop computer.

From Homepage

Go to your Houzz Pro homepage and select Estimate/Proposal/Invoice/Change Order from either the Create New menu (as shown below) or the Financial Documents menu. Select Create with AI from the dropdown.

Please Note: If you come from the homepage, you will need to enter a project name to continue.

From Project

Find the Projects icon in your left navigation, then select the relevant project. Once on the project overview page, select the Create New button within Financial Documents (as shown below), or select Estimates/Proposals/Invoices/Change Orders from the left menu, then select Create New at the top of the page. Select Create with AI from the dropdown menu.

From Financial Document

If you decide to create an estimate, proposal, invoice or change order from scratch, a prompt will appear at the top of the empty document to encourage you to use AI. Click Try it Now to create an AI-generated document.

You can also select AutoMate AI from the right menu of your document at any time during the creation process.

A new screen will appear where you can directly type into the text box and explain more about your project. You can also click the Microphone icon to verbally explain details about the project (be sure to give Houzz Pro access to your computer microphone).

The more details you provide, the more accurate and detailed your estimate, proposal, invoice or change order will be. Try to include specifics like:

• Type of project
• Location of the project
• Size of the project 
• Level of project finishes

Once you type in or say your description, select Generate Items with AI to start creating the document.

Your new AI estimate, proposal, invoice or change order will appear. If you are unhappy with the AI-generated document, select Remove Items to delete it and start over. If you would like to keep the document, select Done. If you forgot to mention key information, select AutoMate AI from the right menu to type in additional details.

Once created, you can then manually edit, add and delete specific line items or categories, change the document title, add a payment schedule, and more.

If you created your document by selecting AutoMate AI from the right menu, your editing experience will be a little different.

After you type in your prompt, you can review all the items that will be included your document. If you forgot to mention key information, use the Add More Details text box to type in additional details, then select Add.

With existing line items or categories, you can remove irrelevant ones by unchecking the box next to the item/category, or you can keep the document as-is.

Click Add Items to Estimate/Proposal/Invoice/Change Order if you would like to create the document. If you are unhappy with the AI-generated document, click the X to stop the creation process.

Your newly created estimate, proposal, invoice or change order will appear. Here, you can easily make manual changes to the document title, add or edit line items, add a payment schedule, and more.

Edit Financial Documents Using AI

After you create an estimate, proposal, invoice or change order, you can also use AI to quickly make edits to that document (desktop only). This includes all unapproved documents, even those originally created from scratch or from a template.

While you can use this feature in many different ways, editing a document using AI is especially helpful if you have bulk changes to make to several line items or categories at one time. Examples of useful prompts include:

• Adding a markup percentage to all line items
• Adding descriptions to all line items
• Changing all unit types to “Pieces”
• Doubling the quantity for all line items
• Improving the names of all line items
• Removing line items or categories
• Adding missing elements, such as flooring, appliances, permits, demolition, etc.

To Get Started:

Open up the relevant document, then select AutoMate AI from the right menu.

A new screen will appear where you can directly type into the text box and explain more about the requested edit. You can also click the Microphone icon to verbally explain what you want to change (be sure to give Houzz Pro access to your computer microphone).

Once complete, click Update Estimate/Proposal/Invoice/Change Order.

On the next screen, you can review all the existing line items/categories impacted by this change. You can remove irrelevant ones by unchecking the box next to the item/category, or you can keep them all selected. To make the change, click Update Estimate/Proposal/Invoice/Change Order.

Create and Edit AI Templates

You also have the option to use AI to create a new document template from scratch, as well as edit an existing template.

To get started, you will need to access your Templates page. Find the Company icon in your left navigation, then select Templates from the left menu.

Once you're on the Templates page, select Documents from the left menu to see all your current document templates. Here, you can click the Create New Template button to create a new AI template, or you can click an existing template to edit it using AI.

Create New AI Template

If you select to create a new template, a new document will open, and an automatic popup will prompt you to create the template using AI. The more details you provide, the more accurate and detailed your estimate, proposal, invoice or change order template will be.

Click Generate Items with AI to create your template.

Once created, you will see the prompt at the top. If you are unhappy with the AI-generated document, select Remove Items to delete it and start over. If you would like to add more, click AutoMate AI to provide more details. Otherwise, your new template will appear on the Template page, and you will be ready to use it for future documents.

Edit Existing Templates Using AI

Instead of creating a new template, you can also edit an existing template using AI — this includes templates that were originally created without the use of AI.

Go to the Templates page, then click on an existing template to open. Once you are on the template, click the AutoMate AI button in the right menu.

A new screen will appear where you can type in your AI prompt. The more details you provide, the more accurate and detailed your template will be. Click Update Template once complete.

You will then see a preview of the new line items added to your template based on your prompt.

You can remove irrelevant additions by unchecking the box next to the item/category, or you can keep them all selected. Click Update Template to make the change. Click the X at the top to cancel the change and keep the template as-is.

Create AI Financial Documents on Mobile

If you are onsite or on-the-go, you can quickly create a ballpark estimate, proposal, invoice or change order using our AI, AutoMate. By using voice commands to create your document, you can record project details in real-time, then return to the office to clean up the document before sending to your client.

There are several ways to start your AI document on the mobile app.

From Homepage

Go to your Houzz Pro mobile app homepage and select Estimate/Proposal, Invoice or Change Order from the Create New menu. You can also click the Create button in the bottom menu, then select Estimate/Proposal, Invoice or Change Order.

Please Note: If you come from the homepage, you will need to enter a project name to continue.

From Project

Find the Project icon in the bottom menu, then select the relevant project. Once on the project overview page, select the AutoMate button to start a new document entry. You can also select Create New, then Estimate, Proposal, Invoice or Change Order.

A new screen will appear that asks if you would like to Create with AI, Create from Scratch, or Create from Template. Select Create with AI.

Select the Microphone icon to verbally explain details about the project — you can also just directly type into the text box. The more details you provide, the more accurate and detailed your document will be. Try to include specifics like:

• Type of project
• Location of the project
• Size of the project 
• Level of project finishes

Once you say your prompt, you can edit the prompt in the text box if there are necessary changes. Select Create Estimate/Proposal, Invoice or Change Order once complete.

A new screen will appear where you can review all the items in your AI financial document. You can remove specific line items by unchecking the box next to the item, or you can keep the document as-is.

Click Add Items to Estimate/Proposal/Invoice/Change Order if you would like to create the document. Click No Thanks, Create from Scratch if you prefer to create the document manually instead.

Once created, you can easily make changes to the document title, add or edit line items, add a payment schedule, and more.