Price, approve, and track field change orders with OpenAI, Gmail, and Google Sheets

Quick overview

Extra work found on a job gets priced from your own price book, approved in writing by the client from a link, and tracked until billed. Crews log changes by form or email with photos; you review prices before anything is sent.

How it works

1. A crew member logs the change from their phone on the form, or by email to a Gmail label, with photos.
2. OpenAI turns the notes into line items and a plain explanation for the client. Prices come only from your Price book tab and labor rate, plus your markup and tax, worked out in code.
3. You get an email with a review page. Adjust any price, then press Send.
4. The client gets a link, reads the change and approves by typing their name, or declines. You and the crew are told either way, and the job's contract total updates in Google Sheets.
5. Every hour it reminds clients who have not answered and expires stale change orders. Each week it emails you approved changes that are not billed yet.

Setup

1. Add Google Sheets, Gmail and OpenAI credentials, plus Google Drive if you want job photos saved.
2. Run Create my spreadsheet once and paste the spreadsheet ID into Your settings.
3. In Your settings, enter your email and your n8n address. Set photo_folder_id to a Drive folder ID, or leave it blank.
4. Replace the example jobs and price book rows with your own.
5. Publish, then share the form link with your crew. For email intake, add a change-orders Gmail label. To test, add your own email as the client on example job 1001 and approve a change from your inbox.

Requirements

• Google Sheets, Gmail and OpenAI credentials in n8n; Google Drive is optional for photos

Customization

• Edit the Price book tab, labor rate, markup and tax in Your settings, and the reminder and expiry timing