Question 1

Beds: Begin here if you are just getting started with Sections

Accepted Answer

This guide introduces you to working with Sections in Elevation Advisor, using the Beds section as a detailed example. While we’ll focus on creating and managing beds within a proposal, the steps and best practices outlined here apply broadly to all landscape sections. By the end, you’ll have a solid understanding of how to measure, structure, and populate any section with confidence.

To illustrate the process, we’ll use a real-world example from a landscape designed by our co-founder’s company.

Elevation Advisor Sample Design

This design is divided into two distinct areas:

The first area, outlined in blue, represents what the client originally requested. In the proposal, we refer to everything within this blue boundary as the Patio Area.
The second area, outlined in red, is called the Garden Area. This portion is presented in the proposal as optional additional work the client may choose to include.

Focusing on the Patio Area, you'll notice a patio, planting beds, various plants, and a walkway. Each of these individual components is treated as a Section in Elevation Advisor.

A Section is any distinct part of a landscape design, such as a patio, bed, or walkway, that can be measured, scheduled, and priced independently within a proposal.

Measuring Beds in the Patio Area

Let’s begin by measuring the beds within the b

Question 2

Onboarding Checklist

Accepted Answer

Welcome to Elevation Advisor!

Before you dive into creating proposals or exploring Profit Genie, this checklist will walk you through the essential setup steps to ensure your numbers are accurate, your pricing is profitable, and your business is ready to run at full speed.

Think of this as your guided path to success, each step builds the foundation for smarter decisions, better margins, and more confidence in every proposal you send. It only takes a little time to set up, but the payoff is huge.

And don’t forget that there is a “See How it Works” video at the top of every page. It should help you understand the page and what is being asked for

Let’s get you dialed in and ready to go!

✅ STEP 1: Complete the Profit Genie Wizard

Navigate to: Profit Genie

Enter company name
Add # of full-time and part-time field employees
Set workdays per week and daily work hours
Choose your construction season dates
Enter # of observed holidays

|| ℹ️ Why it matters: This determines how many working days are available to cover your annual overhead, forming the foundation of your entire financial model.

✅ STEP 2: Add Equipment

Navigate to: Catalog > Equipment

Set fuel prices (unleaded, diesel, off-road)
Create equipment categories
Add your owned or financed equipment
Mark items as overhead if not billed per job

| 💡 Be conservative with “days used per year” to ensure cost recovery.

✅ STEP 3: Add Labor

Go to: Profit Genie > Labor

Question 3

Edging

Accepted Answer

If this is your first time working in landscape sections, we recommend reviewing the Beds article first. It walks through the basics and uses the same sample project referenced here.

In the Elevation Advisor sample design, there’s a small amount of edging located in the blue-outlined area along the edge of the lawn.

Adding Edging to Your Proposal

If you haven’t already added edging:

Click Edit in the top right corner.
Select Edging from the template library.
Click Save to add it to your proposal.

Materials & Labor

Once Edging is selected, move to the Materials/Labor area. You’ll see one option labeled Edging Type with a blue Connect Item button.

Click Connect Item to choose your specific product and enter the quantity.
In our example, we used 25 ft of Ace of Diamond plastic edging.
To add more materials, click +Add Material and choose from the Materials sidebar.
To adjust labor, double-click the Crew Hours value and enter the time manually.

Figure 1: Entering Edging materials and labor.

Finalizing the Section

Once materials and labor are set, you can:

Change Crew Size, Add labor, equipment, or subcontractors

Question 4

Navigating the Proposals Page

Accepted Answer

The Proposal Page in Elevation Advisor is your central hub for managing every proposal you've created. As you begin building and sending proposals, it will populate with a running list of every job you've quoted. This view helps you quickly find, sort, and take action on proposals at every stage of the sales process.

Figure 1: Proposal Page, displaying a list of proposals with filtering and sorting options.

At the top of the screen, you’ll find a search bar where you can type in a client’s name or other unique information to locate a specific proposal. To the right of that is the "Filter by Status" dropdown, which lets you sort proposals based on where they are in the sales journey:

Draft: Proposals you're still working on and haven’t sent yet. These are editable and flexible as you finalize measurements, materials, and packages.
Sent: Proposals that have been sent to the client but not yet opened. These are locked from editing but can still be resent or printed.
Viewed: Proposals the client has opened but hasn’t accepted yet. This status helps you gauge engagement.
Accepted: Proposals the client has signed off on; these move automatically to the "Proposals to Schedule" list, signaling that it's time to begin planning the work.
Rejected: The proposal has been rejected by the client.

You can also fil

Question 5

Adding Landscape Work Areas

Accepted Answer

In Elevation Advisor, you organize your proposal using Landscape Work Areas to keep things clear and focused.

To help better understand Proposals, we’ll use a real example of a landscape created by our co-founder’s company. In this Elevation Advisor sample design a customer called about building a new patio in their backyard. During the conversation, they mentioned missing gardening but lacking space. You suggested adding optional Garden Boxes and improving the rest of their backyard in the same proposal, which they loved.

At the bottom of the screen, you'll be asked how many Landscape Work Areas are in this project (e.g., Patio Area, Backyard, Front Yard). For this design we have:

The Patio Area (outlined in blue) is what the client originally requested.
The Garden Box Area (outlined in red) is the optional addition.

Figure 1: Landscape Areas setup, allowing users to define Landscape Areas like Front Yard or Backyard.

Enter "2" for the number of Landscape Work Areas, then click Next. Rename the first area as Patio Area and the second as Garden Box Area, then click Next.

Landscape Work Areas help structure your proposal clearly and function as a powerful sales tool within the ISPS system.

Assigni

Question 6

Removal

Accepted Answer

If this is your first time working in landscape sections, we recommend reviewing the Beds article first. It walks through the basics and uses the same sample project referenced here.

In the Elevation Advisor Sample Design , there’s a large concrete patio in the blue-outlined Patio Area that needs to be removed before installing a new paver patio.

Adding the Removal Section

If you haven’t already added a Removal section to your proposal:

Click Edit in the top right corner.
Select Removal from the template library.
Click Save to add it to your proposal.

Measuring the Removal Area

Open the Removal section and enter the dimensions of the area to be removed.

Figure 1: Entering measurements for the Removal Section.

In our example:

Width: 10’
Depth: 4”

You can enter these values in the measurements grid, or simply input 150 sqft under Square Footage if you prefer a single value.

Truck Time Setup

Below the measurements grid is the Truck Time section. This helps calculate how long it will take to haul away debris.

If you're using your own equipment, uncheck the Haul-Off Service box.
If you're hiring a company, leave it checked an

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