User Guide

Step-by-step guides for every TrestleBook™ feature.

Getting Started

🚀

First Setup

Launch the app, set up your profile with business info, and your default organization is created automatically.

📊

Dashboard

Your home screen shows a daily briefing, key stats (outstanding balance, overdue pay apps, pending waivers, expiring COIs), and quick actions.

🔍

Smart Search

Tap "Jump to any feature..." to instantly find any screen, project, pay app, or AI tool across the entire app.

Core Tabs

🏗

Projects

Create projects with contract amounts, addresses, and project numbers. View change orders, SOV items, and field completion photos directly from project details.

📄

Pay Applications

Create AIA G702 pay apps with SOV line items, choose from 10 PDF templates, generate PDFs, email them, and track through Draft → Submitted → Approved → Paid.

💳

Expenses

Log expenses with AI-powered voice entry or quick text input. Auto-categorize, filter by category, and track by project for tax time.

Construction Documents

🔒

Lien Waivers

Generate conditional and unconditional waivers. Track by project, payment, and signature status.

📝

Preliminary Notices

File 20-day preliminary notices to protect your lien rights before deadlines expire.

Mechanics Liens

File mechanics liens when payment is overdue. Track filing deadlines by state.

🔄

Change Orders

Create change orders linked to projects, track approval status, and see them in project details.

📋

Contracts & Submittals

Version-controlled contracts with key terms. Submittal log with approval workflow and RFI tracking.

Punch List & Closeout

Track and resolve items before final payment. Manage dispute letters for unresolved issues.

Payments & Financial

💰

Payment Log

Log and track all payments received for pay apps. Payments are auto-created when marking pay apps as paid.

📈

Reports

View revenue, expenses, net income, and business overview by time period. Expense breakdown by category with visual charts.

📦

Export to Accounting

Export pay apps, expenses, and payments by date range to QuickBooks IIF, Xero CSV, or Generic CSV format.

🏦

Material Financing & Prices

Finance materials up to 120-day terms. Track commodity pricing and project impact.

Field & Site Work

📝

Daily Logs

Record daily field reports with crew counts, weather conditions, and work completed.

📷

Photo Documentation

Capture site photos with GPS location, timestamp, and project tagging. View photos in project details.

🔧

Safety & Toolbox Talks

Log safety inspections, incident reports, and toolbox talk records with crew attendance.

Compliance & Reporting

🛡

COI Management

Track certificates of insurance with expiration monitoring. Get alerts before policies expire.

📋

Certified Payroll

Generate WH-347 reports for public works projects. Track prevailing wages by state with Davis-Bacon rates.

💰

Bonds & Surety

Track performance, payment, and bid bonds. Monitor bond capacity and expiration.

Operations

🏢

Organizations

Manage multiple business entities. Your default "My Business" organization is created on first launch. Add more as needed.

Tasks

Create and track tasks across categories: Pay Apps, Lien Waivers, Compliance, Field Work, Safety, and Admin.

AI Hub Business

🤖

24 AI Tools

Access autonomous agents (Get Paid Pipeline, Lien Rights Guardian, Payment Enforcer, COI Watchdog), the Construction Assistant, and specialized tools for payments, documents, analytics, compliance, and voice input.

💬

Construction Assistant

Ask anything about your projects, payments, and documents. Get contextual answers powered by on-device AI.

Daily Briefing

Prioritized morning report ranked by dollar impact. See overdue items, expiring deadlines, and action items at a glance.

📨

Email Composer

AI-drafted payment reminders, dispute responses, and follow-ups. 8 email types with professional templates.

📈

Cash Flow & Analytics

Cash Flow Prophet, Profitability Radar, Risk Heatmap, GC Payment Scorer, and industry benchmarking tools.

Team Team Plan

👥

Team Collaboration

Invite up to 5 team members, assign roles, and share project dashboards. Cloud sync keeps everyone in sync via Cloudflare.

Data & Privacy

iCloud Sync

All data syncs automatically to iCloud for backup and multi-device access. Works for all users, free and paid.

🔒

Offline-First

TrestleBook™ works fully offline with a local SQLite database. All AI runs on-device. Your data never leaves your phone unless you enable team sync.

📅

Calendar Sync

Sync due dates, deadlines, and compliance dates to your device calendar automatically.

Subscription Plans

🆕

Free

3 organizations, 5 projects, 3 pay apps/month, 20 expenses/month. iCloud sync, basic features, and 5 AI queries/day.

Pro — $14.99/mo

Unlimited projects, pay apps, and expenses. Full reports, all PDF templates, and unlimited AI queries.

💼

Business — $29.99/mo

Everything in Pro plus 24 AI tools, autonomous agents, advanced analytics, and compliance features.

👥

Team — $44.99/mo

Everything in Business plus up to 5 team members, cloud sync, shared dashboards, and priority support.