Change Orders in OpenSolar

Summary

This page explains how to use change orders on sold projects — from initiating a change in OpenSolar through customer acceptance, contract signing, and updated payments. It covers how you set up a change order, what your customers see on the Online Proposal, and how CashFlow and Checkout handle pricing and milestones after a change order is accepted.

What is a change order?

A change order lets you update a sold project when the system, pricing, or contract terms need to change after the original sale. Each change order is stored as its own record — numbered Change Order #1, Change Order #2, and so on — so you keep a clear audit trail of what changed and when.

Change orders are built for post-sale work: you do not need to unmark the project as sold or reset the original sale checkout. When the customer accepts, OpenSolar updates the sold system and payment selection to match the change order and records a Change Order Accepted event.

Interactive Demo

Before you begin

• The project must be sold — Project Sold enabled with Contract Date, Sold System, and Payment Option Sold completed in the Sale section.
• You need at least one additional system option in Design that qualifies for the change order (see criteria below).
• Link the payment options you want customers to choose from on the Payments tab before sharing the proposal.
• Select a Change Order Document Template for the change order contract. Note: you can create your own templates in document templates if you do not wish to use the default option provided. 

While a change order is in progress, core sale fields in the Sale section are locked. Finish the change order in the Change Order accordion below, then save the project.

How to initiate a change order

1. Open the sold project and go to the Manage tab.
2. Expand the Sale accordion.
3. Click Initiate Change Order.

OpenSolar creates a new change order accordion (Change Order #1, Change Order #2, etc.).

4. Select a Change Order Template.
5. Choose the System Option the customer will select if they accept this change order.
6. Click Review and accept change order when you are ready to send it to the customer.
7. Save the project.

Preparing systems and payment options

Systems eligible for change order

A system qualifies when it meets all of the following:

• Not previously sold
• Visible to customer
• Offers a payment option linked on the Payments tab (shown in the change order accordion for reference)

Create or update system options in Design, then link payment options on Payments. The change order proposal shows the payment options tied to each offered system — customers are not limited to the payment option from the original sale.

Payment options on the change order proposal

Customers can choose from every payment option linked to the change-order system on the Payments tab — for example Cash and an integrated finance loan on the same system.

What customers see

When customer review is enabled and a change order contract is ready:

On the Online Proposal

• The primary action reads Accept Change Order (or Review Change Order where that label applies).
• The customer selects from the eligible system options you offered.
• They choose a payment option linked to that system (Cash, loan, or other options you configured on Payments).
• They review updated pricing and figures for the change order.

Signing and checkout

The customer signs the change order document — not the original install contract. Supported paths include OpenSolar embedded e-signature, DocuSign, and PandaDoc, depending on your org configuration.

• Clicking Accept Change Order opens Checkout.
• Sign Contract presents the change order document.
• Additional steps appear only when needed:
  • Secure Financing — if the customer switches to integrated finance (for example from Cash on the original sale). 🇬🇧 Finance Marketplace is not shown in the UK change order checkout path.
  • Make Payment — if the new payment option requires a deposit (for example switching from integrated finance without a deposit to Cash with a deposit).

After the change order is accepted

When the customer completes the change order:

• The change order accordion shows Complete.
• The signed change order contract (PDF) is saved to the project Documents repository.
• A new entry appears in Transactions for the change order signature.
• Sold project details update to the system and payment option the customer chose.
• If required, you can initiate Change Order again to start the next change order in the sequence.

Change orders and CashFlow

On CashFlow-enabled sold projects, accepting a change order updates payment surfaces to match the latest completed change order — without requiring you to manually reload the page.

What updates automatically

After acceptance, these surfaces stay in sync:

Milestone amounts sum to the current job price after the change order.

Deposit already paid before a price-reduction change order

If the customer already paid the deposit and the change order lowers total job price below what was collected for deposit:

• The deposit milestone stays marked paid and shows the amount actually collected.
• An informational alert appears above the transactions table explaining:
  • How much was collected toward deposit before the change order
  • The deposit now expected at the updated price
  • That the extra amount counts toward remaining payments
• Remaining unpaid milestones adjust so all milestones sum to the new job price.

You do not need extra steps beyond completing the change order for these payment details to update.

Deposit requested but not yet paid

If a deposit was requested but not paid when the change order completes:

• The existing deposit request stays open at the original requested amount.
• Later milestones are recalculated so the schedule sums to the new job price.
• On Checkout, the customer may be brought to Make Payment for the original deposit amount.

When no alert appears

No deposit overpayment alert is shown if:

• No deposit has been collected yet, or
• The change order does not reduce the expected deposit below what was already paid.

Price increases and multiple change orders

• If the change order increases price, milestones reflect the higher total — no overpayment alert.
• If multiple change orders are completed, CashFlow follows the most recently completed change order.

Sequential change orders

After Change Order #1 is complete, click Initiate Change Order again to create Change Order #2, and so on. Each builds on the current sold state. Earlier completed change orders remain in the accordion for reference.

Related articles

• Create a Change Order document 
• How to use Optimized Checkout
• Integrated Finance - Overview
• Tips for getting the most out of CashFlow
• Configure payment options and milestones