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How-to · Commercials

From certified claim to issued certificate.

A certificate is raised from the record it certifies, so its figures are read straight from the claim and nobody retypes them. Built-in templates cover the standard documents, and every word of your own templates is yours to change.

Built-in templates Wording wired to your data Numbered on issue
ProjectCharlo CPS
TitleSet up a claim certificate
Contactai@charlo.com.au
RevB
StatusIssued for use
Sheet1 of 1
Section 01 · The idea

Certificates are raised from records, not typed from scratch.

A certificate always belongs to something: a certified claim, an approved variation, an extension of time. You raise it from that record, so the number on the page is read out of the ledger rather than typed in by hand. Before you start you need a certified claim, which is guide 10.

·The button lives on the record

Certifying a claim earns it a certificate.

  • On the claims ledger. Every claim row carries Issue certificate.
  • Certified rows only. The button is live on a certified row and greyed on a draft, which tells you to certify the claim first.
  • The figures come with it. Certified this claim, retention, GST, amount due.
  • Variations and EOTs work the same way, from their own registers.
Why it mattersA certificate is a contractual document. Raising it from the record it certifies is what makes it defensible six months later.
FIG 01The claims workspace for PO-1004 with the certified claim 1 row in the ledger and its Issue certificate button ringed in orange
Claim 1 is certified, so its Issue certificate button is live.

·Templates: built-in, or your own

You write the words. Charlo fills the values.

  • Built-in templates come with Charlo. A Progress Claim Certificate and a Variation Certificate sit under Organisation templates from day one, so you can issue without authoring anything.
  • Fields pull single values: certificate number, project, date, contractor. Blocks pull whole tables: the contract summary, the payment summary. Both fill in when the certificate is raised.
  • Raised against is fixed when a template is created, and stays put.
  • It saves as you go. A Saved chip appears in the header; there is no save button to hunt for.
Two homesAn organisation template is offered on every project. Duplicate to project makes a copy that one project can reword without touching the original.
FIG 02The certificate template editor with the template name, a Raised against chip, a template logo box, a toolbar of Bold, Insert field, Insert block and Preview ringed in orange, the document body with blocks marked Filled in when the certificate is raised, and a rendered page preview on the right
The editor on the left, a live preview of the printed page on the right.
Section 02 · Walkthrough

Set up the wording once, then issue.

Templates and the register both live on the Certificates tab in Commercials. If the built-in wording suits you, skip straight to step 06 and issue.

01Open the templates list

The shelf is not empty: the built-ins are already on it.

  • Open Commercials, pick the project, go to Certificates.
  • Switch from Register to Templates.
  • Templates are grouped into Organisation templates and This project. The built-ins carry a Built-in chip.
  • Click New template to author your own.
Do this onceAn organisation template is built once for the whole business. Later projects get it for free.
FIG 03The Certificates tab on the Templates view listing the built-in Progress Claim Certificate and Variation Certificate under Organisation templates, with the New template button ringed in orange and the Letterhead button top right
The built-ins are already there. New template adds your own beside them.

02Choose blank or ready made

Two ways in.

  • Blank template gives an empty page with your name as the heading.
  • Start from a starter gives a finished certificate, already wired to Commercials.
  • Take the starter. Editing it down is faster than building up.
Not lockedA starter creates an ordinary template. Every word in it is yours to change afterwards.
FIG 04The New certificate template dialog offering Blank template and Start from a starter, with Start from a starter ringed in orange
Blank page, or a starter that already knows where the figures live.

03Pick a starter

Each starter is tied to one kind of record.

  • Progress Claim Certificate is the detailed one, with contract, claim assessment and payment summaries.
  • Progress Payment Certificate is the standard one, with contract and payment summaries.
  • Both carry a Progress claim chip, which is the record they can be raised against.
  • Back returns to the previous choice.
One template per kindA progress claim template cannot be used on a variation. Make a separate template for each kind you issue.
FIG 05The Start from a starter dialog listing Progress Claim Certificate and Progress Payment Certificate, each with a Progress claim chip, with Progress Payment Certificate ringed in orange
The starter list. The chip tells you what the template can be raised against.

04Name it and decide who gets it

Two decisions, then the editor opens.

  • Type a Name. It shows in the template picker later, so keep it plain.
  • Raised against is already set by the starter and cannot be changed.
  • Choose Every project in the organisation or This project only.
  • Click Create template.
Pick organisationUnless this project has genuinely different wording, keep one template for the business and duplicate it when a project needs to differ.
FIG 06The New certificate template dialog with the Name box ringed in orange, a Raised against chip reading Progress claim set by the starter, Available to radio buttons on Every project in the organisation, and the Create template button ringed
Name, reach, create. The type is already decided by the starter.

05Check the letterhead and the logo

The business details every certificate prints.

  • Click Letterhead at the top right of the Certificates tab.
  • The details are inherited from the organisation's record: name, ABN, phone, address, email, website. Manage in Project Central is where they are edited.
  • Tick Use project override only when one project genuinely prints different details.
  • Logos live in two places: on the organisation in Project Central, or per template via Upload logo in the editor. A certificate raised with no logo says so at the top of the page and prints business details alone.
Set onceKeep the details on the organisation record and every project, and every certificate, inherits them.
FIG 07The Certificate letterhead dialog showing details inherited from the organisation with a Manage in Project Central button, a project override checkbox and a project logo override upload
Inherited from the organisation, with a per-project override for exceptions.

06Check it in the preview

See the printed page before anyone else does.

  • Open the template. The preview pane is already there, on the right.
  • Preview is a toggle: click it to hide the pane and give the editor the full width.
  • Fix wording in the editor and watch the pane redraw.
The numbers are made upThe pane is stamped Preview only, sample values, and that includes the names: a sample project and a sample contractor, not this project's. Read the heading, the party details and the closing sentence, because those are the lines people actually read.
FIG 08The template editor panel showing the template name, Raised against chip, template logo upload, the Bold, Insert field, Insert block and Preview toolbar, the editing surface and the rendered page preview
The preview uses sample values. Only the letterhead is your real one.

07Raise one from a certified claim

Back to Cost control, then Claims.

  • Open the commitment and find the certified claim in its ledger.
  • Click Issue certificate on that row.
  • Charlo offers the built-in Progress claim template. Take it, or click Use another template to pick your own. Only templates raised against a progress claim are offered.
  • Click Create certificate. It opens as a draft, and nothing is numbered yet.
Nothing numbered, but something realCreating the draft takes no number, and the number is only taken when you issue. The draft itself sticks: close the modal and it sits in the register as a draft row, so go and delete it there if you did not want it.
FIG 09The Issue certificate dialog headed Progress claim certificate for Claim 1, offering the built-in Progress claim template with Use another template and Create certificate buttons
The built-in template is offered first. Use another template picks yours.

08Read the draft

The whole certificate, filled in with the real figures.

  • The header reads Values are live until this is issued. Issuing locks the wording and takes a number.
  • Refresh values re-reads the record if something changed behind you.
  • The payment summary foots against the claim: certified this claim, less retention held, amount due, GST, total payable. The closing sentence quotes the same figures.
  • Delete draft throws it away and takes no number. Issue certificate when the page reads correctly.
Missing logoA line at the top warns if no logo is set on the template or the project. The certificate still prints, with business details alone.
FIG 10The draft Progress claim certificate with a DRAFT chip, the Progress payment table listing certified this claim $75,000.00, less retention held $7,500.00, amount due this certificate $67,500.00, GST $7,500.00 and total payable $75,000.00, the closing sentence quoting the same figures, and Close, Delete draft and Issue certificate buttons
The payment summary is read straight from the claim. Values stay live until you issue.

09Confirm the issue

One last gate, because this one sticks.

  • Charlo asks to confirm, and says what happens: locked and numbered.
  • Click Issue certificate to go ahead.
  • Cancel leaves it as a draft.
Changed your mind laterAn issued certificate is not edited. Supersede in the register raises a replacement and keeps the original on the record.
FIG 11A small Issue certificate confirmation dialog reading Issue certificate? It will be locked and numbered, with Cancel and Issue certificate buttons
The confirm step spells out what issuing does.

10Find it in the register

Every certificate the project has raised, in one place.

  • Go to Certificates, then Register.
  • Rows are grouped by the commitment they were raised against.
  • Each row shows its number, type, template, source record, status and issue date.
  • Open reads it, Download PDF gives you the file to send, Supersede raises a replacement.
  • New certificate at the top right covers the project-level certificates that have no record behind them.
TraceableSource record is the link back. Claim 1 on PO-1004 produced certificate No. 1, and that stays true forever.
That is the setGuide 09 built the schedule, guide 10 assessed and certified the claim, and this one turned it into a document. The next claim starts the loop again at guide 10.
FIG 12The Certificate register grouped under PO-1004 Hydraulic services package, with a single row ringed in orange showing number 1, type Progress claim, source record Claim 1, an Issued status and Open, Download PDF and Supersede buttons
Numbered, issued, and traceable back to the claim it certifies.
Section 03 · More help

Ask Dylan any time.

WhereThe Help button sits in the bottom-left corner of Charlo CPS. It opens Dylan, Charlo's help assistant: ask a question in plain words and Dylan answers from the how-to guides. The Library button in the panel opens the whole How-To Library.
Before thisSet up a trade breakdown claim, then Assess a progress claim.
AskStuck on your own certificate? Send a real example to ai@charlo.com.au.