Event estimate: sheets, summary and Excel

Fill in the estimate

1. Open the project → the «Preparation» step → the «Estimate» card («Open the estimate» or «Make an estimate»): the estimate opens full screen. At the top there are the arrow back to the «Preparation» step, the project name, the state «Saved» or «Saving…», the Aura Guide icon, the «Save» button and «⋯». Old links to the «Documents» tab → «Estimate» lead to this same screen.
2. In the strip above the table enter the «Client budget»: the overall target; choose RUB, EUR or USD beside it. The rest of the strip is calculated by itself: «Per estimate», «Actual», «Paid» and «Left». On a phone the strip is a card instead: the estimate total, a «plan of …» bar, «Actual», «Paid» and «Remaining»; the budget target is entered on a computer.
3. Choose a category sheet, for example «Decor» or «Technical support», and click «Position»: the row appears on the open sheet. On a computer five fields are edited right in the row: «Name», «Qty», «Price», «Amount» (calculated by itself) and the «For the client» checkbox. The rest (unit, days, supplier, actual, paid, link, note and your own columns) is in the «Position» window: «⋯» at the end of the row → «All fields». On a phone an item is a card like «40 pcs × 850 ₽» with its amount; tap the card and the «Position» window opens from below.
4. To split a sheet into parts, click «Section» and enter a «Section name», for example «Ceremony» or «Banquet». The «+ item» button in the section header adds a row straight into it. «⋯» at the end of a row opens «Row actions»: «All fields», «Up», «Down» and «Delete the item». A row is moved to another sheet or section in the «Position» window, in the «Move to sheet» and «Move to section» fields.
5. If the floor plan has catalog items or 3D models that are not in the estimate, «The floor plan has N items that are not in the estimate» appears above the table. «Add to the estimate» adds them as items, with the quantity equal to how many times they stand on the project's plans, and a catalog item comes with its daily rental price; the note says «From the floor plan». An item with the same name typed by hand counts as already added. Save any unsaved estimate edits first.
6. Fill in «Supplier», «Link» and «Note» in the «Position» window when you need to keep the source of the price and the supplier's terms. Enter «Actual» and «Paid» there by hand once the final cost and the payments are known.
7. Check the «Summary» and click «Save»: on a computer the button is in the top bar, on a phone it is pinned to the bottom of the screen with «There are unsaved changes» or «All changes saved» next to it. Wait for the state «Saved».

• If you leave the page with unsaved edits, AURA asks for confirmation. If a colleague saved the estimate first, your edits stay on the screen and above the table you are offered «Load latest version».

Sheets and the Summary

1. A new estimate opens with the sheets «Decor», «Floristry», «Technical support», «Decor rental», «Logistics» and «Staff». Setup and teardown get no sheet of their own: they are written as items inside the sheet of their part of the work. If the studio has a default method, the estimate starts with its sheets.
2. The «Summary» always comes first and builds itself: a row for each sheet with its planned amount and the «For the client», «Cost», «Actual» and «Paid» amounts. Sheets without items are folded into one line «Empty sheets: …» (on a phone «N more sheets without items»). Click a sheet name to open it. To the right of the table (in a folded line on a phone) is the «Client total» block.
3. Sheets are chosen on the tabs above the table, on a phone in the «Sheet:» list. «+ Sheet» adds a sheet of your own (on a phone «New sheet» is in «⋯» beside the list). Any sheet of the estimate can be renamed, moved or deleted: open the sheet and click «⋯» («Sheet actions»), with «Rename», «Move the sheet left», «Move the sheet right», «Upload a rental company's estimate» and «Delete sheet». You can also rename by double-clicking the tab of the open sheet.
4. A sheet name can be up to 31 characters and cannot contain [ ] : * ? / \ or an apostrophe: that way Excel and Google Sheets open it without errors. The names «Summary» and «Uncategorized» are taken.

• The «Uncategorized» sheet appears by itself when the estimate has rows outside sheets. It holds rows saved before sheets existed: nothing in an old estimate is lost or recalculated.
• Rows from «Production → Estimate» go to the sheet with the same name as their section, for example «Textiles» or «Logistics». The rest go to «Uncategorized».
• If the sheet being deleted has items, AURA says how many and asks what to do with them: «Delete with the lines» (the estimate totals are recalculated) or «Keep the lines» (they move to «Uncategorized»). An empty sheet is deleted at once. Everything takes effect after «Save».
• In an estimate started earlier the «Light» sheet is now called «Technical support» and its rows stay on it. Empty «Furniture», «Textiles» and «Setup and teardown» sheets are gone, and a «Decor rental» sheet took their place. Sheets that already have items stayed as they were: rename or delete them yourself.
• «Setup and teardown» lines and calculator lines («Textiles», «Frame and structures» and others) that have no sheet of their own in the estimate go to the sheet of their work: light, sound, trusses and screens to «Technical support», floristry to «Floristry», rental to «Decor rental», the rest to «Decor». A line can be moved in the «Position» window.

A rental company's estimate on the «Decor rental» sheet

1. Open the «Decor rental» sheet and click «Upload a rental company's estimate» above the table. On any other sheet the same command is in «⋯» («Sheet actions»).
2. Choose the file the rental company sent you or that you downloaded from its site: XLSX, XLS, CSV, PDF, JPG or PNG. In «Rental agent» type the company name: it goes into «Supplier» of every item. In «Link to the rental company's site» you can paste the address of the catalog or of an item page.
3. Click «Upload and read». The file is first saved in «Estimate files» with a note of the sheet it was uploaded for, then AURA shows the items it found: name, quantity, price and amount, and the total.
4. Check the list and click «Add to the sheet». The items land on the open sheet, the sheet and «Summary» totals are recalculated. Click «Save».
5. No file, only a link to the item? Leave the file empty, type the company and the link and click «Find the item by the link»: AURA opens the page and takes the name, price and picture if the page shows them; AURA keeps the picture itself, so the item does not depend on the rental company's site. The picture shows as a thumbnail by the line's name, in the «Position» window and in the client version, and in Excel as a link in the «Picture» column. Click «Add a line with the link». If the page cannot be read, the item gets the company name and the link, fill in the price yourself.

• Reading is free and works without AI. Excel and CSV are read by the header row: «Name», «Qty» and «Price» or «Amount» are needed («Price per day», «Rental price», «Amount, RUB» also work). In a PDF a line is taken only when the quantity times the price (or times the days and the price) equals the amount.
• If the lines were not read for free (a picture, a scan, a PDF whose numbers did not add up), AURA says so and the file stays in «Estimate files». Such a file can be given to AURA: the «Read with AURA» button, with the price of «Estimate assistant» under it. The project owner pays; if no lines are found or reading fails, the charge is returned. Lines read this way get the note «Read by AURA from a picture: check it against the file».
• If you upload the same file again, its items are updated, not duplicated. A line without a price in the file comes with price 0 and the note «Not counted in the file».

Estimate columns

1. Open «⋯» → «Columns» (editors see this item). For each sheet, check which columns to show: «Unit», «Days», «Supplier», «Actual», «Paid», «Link», «Note» and «For the client». «Name», «Qty», «Price» and «Amount» are always visible. The «Position» window does not show hidden columns either.
2. In the same window, add up to 5 custom columns per estimate: text, number, amount or percentage. The «Studio only» checkbox hides a column from the client.
3. The «Notes for the studio only» and «Link for the studio only» checkboxes decide whether the client sees notes and links. By default they are hidden.

• AURA does not accept formulas in cells: a row's amount is always Qty × Price × Days, and markup, discount and tax are set on the «Summary».
• If the «Days» column is hidden on a sheet, «Qty» shows the total quantity for all days: this is also how the client and the Excel file see it. The row amount does not change.

How the amounts are calculated

A row's amount equals Qty × Price × Days and is rounded to the cent; empty «Days» count as 1. A sheet total adds up its rows, and «For the client» counts only rows marked «For the client».

On the «Summary» the calculation goes in order: markup is added to the «For the client» amount, the discount is subtracted from the result, then tax is added (simplified tax or VAT is set as a percentage with a label). «Client total» equals the amount plus markup minus discount plus tax. «Cost» takes a row's cost price, or the row amount if there is none. «Margin» equals «Client total» minus tax and cost.

Example: 120 chairs for 2 days at 350.50 give 84,120.00. If the amount for the client is 100,000.00, markup 10%, discount 5% and tax 6%, then the markup is 10,000.00, the discount 5,500.00, the tax 6,270.00, and «Client total» is 110,770.00.

«Per estimate», «Actual», «Paid» and «Left» are still shown above the table. «Left» equals the client budget minus «Per estimate»; it does not show an account balance and is not recalculated from actual payments.

In «Production → Estimate» the quantity is already shown with the days included, and its total does not include the «Summary» markup and tax. That is why «Client total» here may differ from the production estimate total.

If the studio has the single money model switched on, «Summary» counts the total the same way as «Production → Estimate», Excel and PDF: the «Tax, commission and rounding» block appears under the calculation with the tax mode (not subject to VAT, simplified tax with VAT, VAT on top or «included»), the agency commission and the rounding, and the cost takes only lines where it is given. Details are in the article about the production estimate.

Studio method

1. Set up sheets, sections, columns, markup and tax in one estimate. Click «⋯» → «Studio method» → «Save as a method» and give it a name.
2. The «Use for new projects» checkbox makes the method the starting one: the studio's new estimates open with its sheets.
3. In another project, click «⋯» → «Studio method» and choose a method or the built-in template «Wedding», «Corporate event» or «Production and build». While a new estimate has no items and has not been saved yet, the page says «The estimate is empty for now. Start from a ready template or add the first item.» and the «Start from a template» button opens the same templates: click the one you need.

• A method keeps the sheets, sections, column visibility, custom columns, markup and tax with their labels. It does not keep rows, the discount or what is shown to the client.
• Nothing is lost when a method is applied: rows move to sheets with the same name, and sheets and custom columns with data that are not in the method stay at the end.
• Methods are seen and applied by editors of the studio's projects. The studio owner and the method's author can rename it, delete it or turn on «Open in new estimates». A studio can have up to 50 methods.

Client version

1. Open «⋯» → «Client version (preview)» to see the estimate through the client's eyes. It has no «Supplier», «Actual», «Paid», «Cost» or «Margin» columns, no rows with «For the client» unchecked and no columns marked «Studio only».
2. On the «Summary», in the «Client total» block, turn on «Show to the client in the project» and save the estimate. Project members without edit rights will see «Estimate» in the project's «Documents» and can download it in Excel.
3. «⋯» → «Show the client» opens the «How do you want to show the client?» window: from there you can open the presentation (it has a slide with the estimate), send the frames for approval or download a PDF. The article about showing the client has the details.

• The server sends the client only the allowed fields, so internal amounts cannot be seen even through API requests. A client who has access only to selected options for approval does not see the estimate.
• If the studio has not turned on «Show to the client in the project», the estimate screen tells a member without edit rights «The brief, timing and files are visible to the project owner and editors». If it has, «View only: the owner and editors can make changes» stands above the estimate and nothing can be edited.

Upload your own estimate from Excel

1. Open «Estimate» and the «Estimate files» line under the table (the number of files is in brackets). Click it to unfold the upload block: click «Upload document» or drag up to 10 files at a time into the block. XLSX, XLS, CSV, DOCX, PDF, PPTX, JPG, PNG, WebP and TXT up to 25 MB are accepted. If some files fail the check, the rest are saved, and below the block you can see which file was not uploaded and why.
2. Click «Open»: an Excel spreadsheet (.xlsx or .xls) is shown sheet by sheet, and sheets are switched with the buttons above the table. A PDF opens in the built-in viewer, and a Word document is shown as text with headings and tables.
3. «Download» saves the original file. For an updated estimate, click «Replace with a new version»: the list keeps the new version, and the earlier ones are available under «Previous versions».
4. «Edit» lets you rename the file, add a note or move the document to «Schedule», «Client brief», «Preparation assistant» or «General documents». «Delete» removes the document with all its versions, and it cannot be restored.

• Formulas in an uploaded spreadsheet are not recalculated: you see the values that Excel saved in the file. The viewer shows up to 5000 rows and 60 columns per sheet; the full file is available via «Download».
• Files with macros (.xlsm, .docm, .pptm, and .xls with VBA macros or Excel 4.0 macro sheets), password-protected files and the old .doc, .ppt, .xlsb and Excel 95 formats are not accepted: save the document as .xlsx, .docx or .pptx without macros or a password.
• The limit is the same for all accounts: up to 5 GB of documents per project, including old versions. A document can be deleted by the project owner or by the member who uploaded all of its versions.
• An uploaded estimate is kept next to the AURA table and does not move its line items into it automatically.

Download Excel and CSV

1. Open «⋯» and click «Download Excel for the studio» or «Download Excel for the client». Save the estimate first: the file is built from the saved version, and while there are unsaved edits these lines are unavailable and say «Save the estimate first» under them.
2. In the file, the «Summary» comes first, followed by a sheet for each category. Row amounts, sheet totals, markup, discount, tax and «Client total» are written as formulas, so you can change them right in Excel or Google Sheets.
3. The client file contains only the client's version: no costs, suppliers, actuals, payments, margin or hidden rows, and markup, discount and tax rows with zero are left out.
4. «Download CSV» in the same menu still exports a flat table with items, suppliers, quantity, price, actuals, payments, currency, links and notes.

• Amounts can be entered with a comma; prices and percentages allow up to two decimal places. The quantity must be positive, and there can be up to 2000 line items across all sheets.
• Changing the currency does not convert anything. Check and adjust the amounts yourself. There is no CSV import back into the estimate. You can keep your own estimate alongside it in the «Estimate files» line.
• «Paid» does not start a money transfer and is not synced with a bank. This estimate also does not change your balance or AI generation limit in AURA.
• When several people work at the same time, the system warns about a new version so that a colleague's changes are not overwritten.
• Studios with the «Production» section have «Send to production» in «⋯»: the window offers «Take the project's estimate rows into the order» and creates an order from the saved estimate; unsaved edits do not reach the order.

Studio method on the phone

With beta access to the estimate builder, open the project's estimate and «Studio method». Save the current changes first. The method takes the saved sheets, sections, columns, markup and tax. Items, the discount and client access are not copied into it.

In the library you can save up to 50 methods of your own, change the name and description, choose the starting one for new estimates and delete the ones you do not need. Estimates already created keep their structure. A method can be edited by its author and the studio owner.

To apply a method to the current project, go back to the estimate and open «Estimate templates». Estimate methods and task templates store different data.

Related guides

• How to invite someone to a project and to the visual board
• Project documents: how the preparation sections fit together
• Event schedule: steps, contacts and printing
• Structure drawings: arch, circle, backdrop, podium
• Production estimate: cost and client price