Getting started for GCs
Audience: General contractors · 8 min
Prerequisites
- A mybuildx account with Contractor ID ($20/mo) and, for takeoffs, Studio ($200/mo at studio.mybuildx.com)
- Your trades, service area, and license/insurance details
Steps
- Research the job. Look up the scope on buildx.pro/costs to anchor your budget spine before talking price.
- Build the budget spine. Take off quantities, push them into a budget, then level sub bids against the same lines. One set of numbers from takeoff to invoice.
- Hire subs. Search ContractorsNearMe.ai for the trade, compare profiles, and send bid invites. Subs respond against your scope lines, so leveling takes minutes.
- Schedule and staff. Assign crews per job, track capacity, and log RFIs against drawings. Subs join by link invite and need no login.
- Open the customer portal. Share the portal link with the property owner: milestones, photos, messages, and Good/Better/Best proposals with allowances.
- Bill on draws. Tie progress invoices to completed milestones, track retainage, and sync to QuickBooks. Change orders get signed before work starts.
Done when
- A live job has a budget spine with leveled sub bids
- Crews are scheduled and the customer opened the portal link
- Your first draw invoice matches completed milestones
What you'll see
