Not every job starts inside Eano. Sometimes the client signs a paper contract, or you shook hands and emailed a PDF, and maybe they’ve already paid a deposit — all before you set anything up in the platform. Now you just want the project to live in Eano so you can track the work, bill the rest, and keep everything in one place.
The good news: you don’t have to send a contract through Eano to do this. The send-and-sign flow is for when you want Eano to capture the signature. If the agreement is already signed elsewhere, you skip that entirely and start the project directly.
Here’s the full path from “already signed offline” to “up and running in Eano.”
Step 1: Create the project directly
Normally a job starts as an opportunity — you build a scope, send it for the client to sign, and it becomes a project once they do. Since your client already signed, you skip the opportunity stage and create the project straight away. There are two ways to get there — pick whichever is closer to hand.
From the Projects tab (quickest):
Open the Projects tab and click New Project.
In the sheet that slides out, start typing the client’s name — existing clients autocomplete, so just pick yours and their details fill in. (Typing a brand-new name lets you create the client on the spot.)
Add the Project Name, choose the Project Status that best matches where the signed job stands, fill in anything else you need, and click Create Project.
From the client’s page:
In the left menu, go to People > Client and open the client.
Choose Create Project. (The client page also offers Create Opportunity — that’s the send-and-sign route, so pick Create Project here.) Eano fills in the client’s name and address for you.
Confirm, and the new project opens.
Either route gives you a project with no contract to send and no signature to wait on. Only Owners and Admins (and other roles your team has granted project-creation access) can create projects; if you don’t see the option, check with your admin.
Step 2: Bring in your scope (optional, and faster than retyping)
You don’t strictly need a line-item scope to start billing — the payment schedule alone is enough to track and collect what’s owed. But if you want the full scope in Eano (for progress tracking, change orders down the road, or so the client can see it in their portal), you don’t have to type it all out by hand. The project’s Scope tab gives you a few quick ways to bring an existing estimate in.
Upload an existing file. This is usually the fastest route when the job’s already documented. In the Scope tab, choose Upload an Existing Project or Template and drop in the file you already have — Eano reads it and turns it into editable scope lines (with quantities, units, unit costs, and markup). It handles Images, PDF, Word, Excel, CSV, and Text, up to 10 MB — so a PDF or Excel scope list you put together elsewhere comes straight in. Larger files take a little longer to process, so keep the tab open while it works.
Generate it with AI. If you don’t have a tidy file, choose Generate Estimate with AI, describe the job, and Eano drafts the line items for you. You can pick Standard for a quick pass or Advanced for deeper research before pricing — then insert what you like.
Start from a template. Reuse one of your saved scope templates, or one of Eano’s prebuilt defaults (kitchens, bathrooms, ADUs, and so on) as a starting point.
Whichever route you take, you can adjust the line items and totals afterward so the scope matches the contract the client actually signed. For the full rundown of these tools, see How to Start an Estimate and Building and Reusing Scope Templates.
A couple of notes on timing and access:
Build the scope before you start the project (Step 4). Up until you start, an admin can freely edit the scope; once you start, it locks and further changes go through a change order.
Editing the scope is an admin-level action. Owners and Admins can build and adjust it; Field Workers can view the scope but won’t be able to edit it.
Step 3: Set up the payment schedule to match the signed contract
When a project comes from a signed quote, the milestone schedule follows the quote the client signed. A project you create directly may start with default milestones or a saved milestone template instead, so review the schedule carefully and edit it to mirror what the client already agreed to.
Open the Payment Milestones tab in the project and click Edit Milestones.
At the top, switch the toggle to $ Dollars so you can enter the exact amounts from the signed contract.
Add, remove, or rename milestones until there is one for each payment in your agreement — the deposit they’ve already paid, plus each remaining phase. Give each one a clear title (e.g., “Deposit”, “Rough Framing”, “Final Payment”) and the dollar amount.
Click Save.
Now your schedule in Eano matches the deal on paper, including the payment that’s already come in.
For more on customizing milestones — dates, templates, permit vs. construction phases — see Setting Up Your Payment Schedule.
Step 4: Start the project to lock it in
Once your scope and payment schedule reflect the signed deal, you’ll mark the project as started. This is the step that turns your setup into the working baseline for the job.
Look for the green Start Project button in the top-right corner of the project header and click it. You’ll get a confirmation that spells out what’s about to happen:
Your scope and milestones lock. They become the agreed baseline, so they can’t be freely edited anymore.
Future changes go through a Change Order. This is the same as any signed job — if the work or price shifts later, you capture it as a change order rather than quietly editing the contract. (Before you start the project, the change order option stays disabled, which is why starting matters.)
Billing turns on. Once started, you can update milestone progress and send payment requests.
Confirm, and the project is live. This start action is one-way, so treat it as the handoff from setup to execution rather than something you’ll casually undo later.
A quick tip: double-check your scope and milestone amounts before you start, since this is the moment they lock to the contract. If you don’t see Start Project, make sure the project is in a signed or post-contract status and that you have admin-level access.
Step 5: Record the payment you’ve already received
Because the deposit was paid offline, you’ll log it manually so Eano’s records line up with reality.
On the Payment Milestones tab (or the Finance tab), open the milestone for the deposit.
Click Mark as Paid.
Enter the amount, the date it was paid, and the payment method (cash, check, bank transfer, and so on).
Save, and the milestone shows as Paid.
That payment now counts toward the project total, just as if it had been collected through Eano.
Step 6: Bill the remaining milestones as you go
From here, the rest of the job runs like any other project. When a phase is ready to bill, open its milestone and click Confirm & Send Invoice. Depending on your notification settings, Eano can notify the client by email and SMS; otherwise, you can confirm the invoice and share it your own way.
Step 7: Keep the signed contract on file
You can store your signed PDF in the project so it lives alongside everything else. Open the project’s All Files area and upload the contract there for safekeeping.
One thing to keep in mind: this is your own copy of the agreement, not an Eano-generated signed contract. Eano only produces its own signed PDF when a quote is sent and signed through the platform. Since this one was signed elsewhere, Eano can’t recreate that record — but uploading your copy to All Files keeps it handy whenever you need it.
A Few Things Worth Knowing
Don’t archive an old proposal to “reuse” it. If you happened to start a proposal in Eano and then archived it, that one can’t be signed anymore — you’d have to send a fresh one. For an already-signed deal, skip proposals altogether and use the direct project route above.
No scope? No problem. You don’t need to rebuild the full line-item scope to start billing — the payment schedule alone is enough to track and collect what’s owed. But if you do want the detail in, Step 2 covers the quick ways to bring an existing scope across (file upload, AI, or templates) rather than retyping it.
Working cost-plus instead of fixed milestones? You don’t need a milestone schedule at all — log expenses as the job unfolds and pull them into invoices when it’s time to bill. See Billing on a Cost-Plus Basis for that route.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to send a contract through Eano if the client already signed one? No. Sending through Eano is only for capturing a signature in the platform. If it’s already signed, create the project directly and skip that step.
Where did my deposit go after I marked it paid? It’s recorded against that milestone and counts toward the project total on the Finance tab. Nothing is sent to the client when you mark a past payment as paid — it’s just bringing Eano’s records up to date.
Can I still upload my signed PDF even though it wasn’t signed in Eano? Yes. Add it to the project’s All Files area. It’s your own copy for reference, not an Eano-generated signed contract.
Do I have to retype my scope, or can I import the estimate I already have? You can import it. In the project’s Scope tab, choose Upload an Existing Project or Template and drop in your file — Eano reads a PDF, Excel, CSV, Word doc, image, or text scope (up to 10 MB) and turns it into editable line items. If you don’t have a file, you can generate the scope with AI or start from a saved template instead. See Step 2.
I created the project but the milestones are empty — is something wrong? Not necessarily. Directly created projects can use default milestones or a saved template, but if your team’s setup doesn’t add any, you’ll see an empty schedule. Either way, review the Payment Milestones tab and adjust it to match the signed contract (Step 3).