Guide · November 6, 2026
Turn a client walkthrough recording into a draft estimate
💬 CommentsYou walk the job with the client for forty minutes. In the truck you remember half of it. At night you type the estimate from memory and forget the closet door they asked for. A recording keeps every detail. The work is turning it into lines.
Record so the recording is usable
Whatever recorder or phone app you use, a few habits make the text useful later:
- Say the room before you talk about it: "Hall bathroom."
- Say sizes out loud: "tub wall, five by eight."
- Repeat what the client wants and what they do NOT want done.
- Say who buys the materials, and any deadline or permit.
- End with one line: "Scope is demo, tile, vanity, glass door."
From the transcript to lines
Read the transcript with a pen. Group it by room. Write each task as a line with a quantity. Anything without a size gets a question mark and a call to the client. Then price it, and read the result before it goes out.
That reading step matters most. A draft is a head start, not a finished estimate.
How it works in WorkTime CRM
Connect your PLAUD recorder once in Settings → Connections → PLAUD. After that, every recording with a transcript lands in the PLAUD Inbox within about 5 minutes.
The AI tells a client meeting from a site visit, a call or a quick idea, and suggests which client it is about. You confirm with one tap. It prepares the scope of work by room, with a "not included" list and questions to clarify.
Press "Open in AI Estimate" and the rooms load into the AI Estimate page one section at a time. You check the lines, press ✨ AI, and the price comes from the trade's catalog and your own pricebook. Nothing is sent to the client. The draft waits in Estimates.
Questions
Does the CRM send the estimate by itself?+
No. The draft is never sent. You read it, change it and send it yourself.
What about quick ideas I record for myself?+
Quick ideas are kept apart and never make client estimates.
What does it cost?+
WorkTime CRM is free for 7 days, no card needed, then $99 a month per company. The PLAUD recorder is a separate product with its own account.
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Original on app.worktimealliance.com/guides/voice-recording-to-draft-estimate