Foreman AI icon Foreman AI icon Foreman AI

← Back to Help Center

Help Center / Cost Catalog

Create an approved rate book Foreman AI can reuse on every job

Store trusted labor, material, equipment, subcontractor, supplier, and markup rates in one reusable company catalog.

Cost Catalog vs Company Brain

The Cost Catalog contains reviewed, approved rates Foreman AI can reuse. Company Brain contains supporting documents and historical evidence.

A price found in a bid or closeout should be reviewed before being promoted into the Cost Catalog.

  • Cost Catalog = approved reusable rates
  • Company Brain = document evidence
  • Budget Builder = current job estimate

Add and import rates

Open Company Brain, select Cost Catalog, then add a cost item or import an existing CSV/Excel price book.

  • Cost code and category
  • Description and unit
  • Supplier
  • Labor, material, equipment, subcontractor
  • Markup, direct cost, and sell price

Manage it by asking Foreman AI

You can use normal chat to add or update approved catalog items. Foreman AI writes the requested changes through the same Cost Catalog used by Budget Builder.

Add ready-mix concrete at $165 per cubic yard to our Cost Catalog.
Change framing labor to $72 per hour.
Update this supplier and set markup to 18%.
Move this item into the Concrete category.

Use approved rates in a budget

Open the Budget tab and choose a Cost Source. Catalog First or Catalog Only prioritizes approved Cost Catalog matches when Price Items or Reprice All runs.

Catalog updates do not silently rewrite old budgets. Existing rows keep their pricing snapshots until you explicitly reprice them.

Related Help Center guides