When a new invitation to bid arrives, or you add one manually, Riffle creates a Project Record: a single place that holds everything about that project. It is your single source of truth, built to keep you organized, informed, and aligned with your team. A Project Record:
Keeps your data organized and accessible to everyone on your team.
Eliminates guesswork about which version or file is current.
Keeps you aligned with real-time updates from the company you're bidding with, through automatic activity tracking.
Builds a living history of every project your company touches and attaches it to your contacts.
A Project Record is organized into tabs. The tabs you see grow as a project moves forward, so you only ever see what's relevant to the stage the project is in.
The Tabs Every Project Starts With
From the moment a project arrives in RiffleCM, it has three tabs:
Overview
Your starting point. It shows the key project information at a glance, such as due dates, location, contacts, bidders, and current status, and it is where you make quick edits like renaming the project, changing its status, or adjusting the team and bidders. The cards on this tab also change as the project moves through its phases.
Documents
Your central place to upload and organize all project files, such as drawings, specifications, addenda, and general correspondence, plus links to outside resources.
Activities
A running feed of updates and messages tied to the project. It automatically pulls in bidder sources, addenda, clarifications, and other messages from the bidding company(ies) related to the project. You don't need to post or reply here. It is a live record of outside communication so your team stays informed via one centralized location.
After You Accept an Invite: The Estimate Builder
When you press "Accept" and the project becomes an Opportunity, a new tab appears:
Your estimate's grand total drives the pipeline data you see on the Opportunities page, so be sure it is filled in for every opportunity!
Estimate Builder
Where you build-out your project inventory and create the estimate for the project. You can build it line by line, with sections, quantities & unit costs, and Riffle keeps a running grand total for you.
Note, it's not required that you use the estimate tool. If you would rather enter a grand total for an estimate you built elsewhere, you can type a manual grand total on the Overview tab, which disconnects the project from the estimate builder.
Related: How to Build an Estimate in Riffle
After You Win: The Work in Progress Tabs
Once you win a project and press Begin project planning, it moves into the Work in Progress phase and a full set of project management tabs opens up. The Estimate Builder stays available so you can still see your full history of work, and your Documents and Activities tabs stay right where they were.
Plan
Construct your project plan by adding the deliverables and action items needed to keep track of what is left to do. You can even batch-create tasks for a deliverable, saving time while keeping specific to-do's top-of-mind.
Cost Tracking
Track your actual costs against the project's contract value. This tab stays locked until the project has a contract value, which comes from your finished estimate or a manual grand total.
Submittals
Manage the submittals you owe the company before work gets underway.
POs
Turn the materials on the project into purchase orders, organized by vendor, and track what has been ordered.
Receiving
Track what actually shows up on site against what you ordered.
Billing
Track every invoice on the project, see what you have billed and collected, and keep your retainage straight.
Change Orders
Manage change orders from when the work is identified to when the work is completed.
Note: You will still see the Estimate Builder tab in the WIP phase, but will not be able to edit or create new estimates. Once your project has moved into the WIP phase, subsequent proposals are built from the Change Orders tab.
Related: Plan & Track Your Project
Related: Manage Your Job Costs
Related: Track Your Purchase Orders (POs)
Related: Receiving Materials
Related: Manage Project Billing
Related: How to Manage Change Orders
Why Project Records Matter
A Project Record keeps every piece of information about a project in one place, from the moment the invitation to bid arrives to final closeout. Everyone on your team can see the same details, estimates, documents, and updates, which makes it easier to stay coordinated and confident at every stage.
As Riffle continues to grow, your Project Records will keep expanding into powerful collaboration hubs, helping you move from invitation to closeout with less effort, more clarity, and full team alignment.