Setting Up Your First Project

Walkthrough of project creation including project name, address, build type, and lender info.

Create the project

1. Select **New Project** on the **Projects** page, or **Create Project** on the empty-state card.
2. Type a **Project Name** — required, for example *123 Main Street Build*.
3. Choose **What are you building?** — **New Home Build**, **Remodel / Renovation**, or **Addition / Expansion**. It changes wording and tips only.
4. Select **Create Project**.

That is the whole form. New projects start as **Bank Loan** with **10%** retainage and a **$0** loan amount.

Then add the details in Project Settings

Open the status badge on the project card and choose **Project Settings**:

• **Property Address** and **ZIP / Postal Code (for Weather)**
• **Funding Source** — **Bank Loan** for full compliance, or **Cash / Self-Funded** to turn hard blocks into warnings
• **Lender Name**, **Total Loan Amount ($)**, **Retainage (%)** and **Bank Contact Email** — shown for bank loans; retainage is what the lender holds back from each draw
• **Permit Number**
• **Lien Waiver Requirements** — when a waiver is needed, the dollar threshold, and whether an unconditional waiver is also required

Set the waiver rules before you log payments — they decide which expenses the app asks waivers for.

> TIP: Have your loan documents to hand for the settings step. Retainage and loan amount feed your draw requests and lender packet.

What happens next

Go to **Budget** and enter your line items. Expenses, draws, the schedule of values and the lender packet all read from the budget, so an empty budget leaves the rest of the app empty.