Setup and help guide

BuildScope for ServiceM8

Open a ServiceM8 job, send it to BuildScope, build the Scope of Works, then send the PDF, the notes and the line items back to the job. This page covers the whole thing, start to finish.

BuildScope needs its own subscription. The add-on is free in the ServiceM8 Add-on Store, but BuildScope is a paid subscription billed separately at buildscope.app. You can trial it free first, and payment is only ever taken on our own site, never inside ServiceM8.

01 Set up your BuildScope account

BuildScope is a separate product with its own account. If you have not signed up yet, do that first at buildscope.app. You get a free trial to test the whole workflow before you pay for anything.

Whoever connects the add-on needs to be an owner or admin on the BuildScope side, and needs the rights to install add-ons on the ServiceM8 side. If you run the business, that is you.

02 Install the add-on in ServiceM8

In ServiceM8, go to Add-ons and install BuildScope. You only do this once for the business, not once per staff member.

Installing puts a Create Scope with BuildScope button on every job card. It does not move any data on its own.

03 Connect the two accounts

In BuildScope, open Account and choose the Integrations tab. Find the ServiceM8 card and click Connect.

You are sent to ServiceM8 to approve the connection, then straight back. The card changes to Connected and shows which ServiceM8 account it is linked to.

You sign in on ServiceM8's own site. BuildScope never sees your ServiceM8 password.

One ServiceM8 account links to one BuildScope organisation. If you try to connect an account that is already linked somewhere else, BuildScope tells you rather than quietly taking it over.

04 Send a job across

Open any job in ServiceM8 and click Create Scope with BuildScope. A window opens confirming the job came across, with a link straight to it.

What comes with it: the job description, the job number, the site address, the client name, and the site and billing contacts. The description lands in the chat as your starting brain dump, so the estimator already knows what the job is before you type a word.

Click the button twice on the same job and BuildScope says Already in BuildScope and takes you to the job you already have. It will not create a duplicate.

Only the job you click is sent. BuildScope does not read the rest of your job list.

05 Build the Scope of Works

From here it is normal BuildScope. Add what the ServiceM8 job card does not know: what you saw on site, measurements, materials, access, anything that changes the price. Type it or use the mic.

BuildScope writes the scope the way an estimator would: preliminaries first, then trade sections in build order, with PC and PS allowances kept separate and priced line items underneath.

Review it line by line, adjust quantities and rates, set your margin, choose whether GST is shown, and add exclusions and clarifications.

06 Send it back to the job

When the scope is right, click Send to ServiceM8. Four things land on the original job:

The Scope of Works PDF, attached to the job diary
A diary note listing your exclusions and clarifications
The line items, written into Items & Services with the right GST
The quote description, updated to match the scope

Quote it, send it and run the job in ServiceM8 exactly as you do now.

Changed something and want to send it again? Go ahead. BuildScope replaces its own line items and leaves any rows you added yourself alone.

What moves between the two

ServiceM8 to BuildScope, when you click the button on a job:

Job description
Job number
Site address
Client name
Site and billing contacts
Job status

BuildScope to ServiceM8, when you click Send to ServiceM8:

Scope of Works PDF, into the job diary
Exclusions and clarifications, as a diary note
Line items, into Items & Services
Quote description

Nothing else is read, and nothing is written until you press send. The full detail, including how long anything is kept, is in the ServiceM8 Integration Privacy page.

Managing the connection

Everything lives in one place: Account, then the Integrations tab in BuildScope.

Connect links the two accounts. Owners and admins only.
Disconnect removes BuildScope's access straight away. Your BuildScope jobs stay put.
If the connection breaks, for example because it was switched off at the ServiceM8 end, the card tells you and you reconnect from the same button.

You can also switch the add-on off from inside ServiceM8. Either way, access ends.

If something goes wrong

The button is not on my job card

The add-on is not installed yet, or you are looking at the mobile app rather than the Online Dashboard. Install it from Add-ons in ServiceM8 and refresh the job.

It says ServiceM8 is not connected

The add-on is installed but the two accounts are not linked. In BuildScope go to Account, then Integrations, and click Connect on the ServiceM8 card.

It says the job is already in BuildScope

That is the duplicate guard doing its job. The link in that window takes you to the scope you already started.

Send to ServiceM8 failed

Usually the connection has expired or been switched off at the ServiceM8 end. Open Account, then Integrations in BuildScope and reconnect, then send again. Your scope is not lost.

I cannot see the Send to ServiceM8 button

That button only shows on a job that came from ServiceM8. A job you started by hand in BuildScope has nothing to send back to.

Still stuck? Email admin@buildscope.app and tell us the job number. We answer every one.

Common questions

Does BuildScope replace ServiceM8?

No. ServiceM8 runs your jobs, your staff and your invoicing. BuildScope does one job: it writes the Scope of Works and prices it, then hands it back. Everything after that stays in ServiceM8.

Do I need a separate BuildScope subscription?

Yes. The add-on is free in the ServiceM8 Add-on Store, but BuildScope itself is a paid subscription billed at buildscope.app. There is a free trial, and you are never asked for card details inside ServiceM8.

Does it work on the ServiceM8 mobile app?

Not yet. The add-on runs on the ServiceM8 Online Dashboard. BuildScope itself works fine on a phone, so you can build the scope on site in a browser, it is just the job card button that is dashboard only for now.

Does BuildScope email the quote to my client?

No. BuildScope puts the PDF and the line items on the job. You send it from ServiceM8, the same as always.

Will it read my other jobs?

No. A job is only sent when you open it and click the button. There is no background sync and no bulk import.

What happens if I disconnect?

BuildScope loses access to your ServiceM8 account immediately. Scopes you already built stay in BuildScope, and PDFs, notes and line items already sent stay on your ServiceM8 jobs. Reconnecting later relinks the same jobs instead of duplicating them.

Can two people in the business use it?

Yes. The connection is set up once for the business. After that anyone on the job card can send a job across, and it lands in your shared BuildScope account.