---
title: "Change orders"
slug: portal/change-orders
url: https://projectri.com/docs/portal/change-orders
section: portal
audience: portal
app_route: "/portal/change-orders"
mobile: "/(portal)/change-orders"
updated: 2026-09-08
source: Projectri documentation
---

# Change orders

Changes to work already agreed — what the contract value and end date go from and to, what is being added or removed, and your approval.

![Change orders](https://projectri.com/docs-shots/portal-change-orders.png)

## What it is

The change orders your supplier has sent you, and your answer to each. A change
order is a variation to work already agreed: it moves the contract's value, or
its end date, or both.

## How to get there

**Change orders** in the sidebar. Like invoices and quotes, it exists only for
**primary** and **billing** contacts, because agreeing to one commits your
company's money exactly as an invoice does.

## How to use it

### Read one

1. The card names the change order and its number, with its state as a pill.
2. The block underneath leads with **before and after** — the contract value
   crossed out and replaced, with the difference beneath it, and the same for the
   end date when it moves.
3. The list below is what actually changes: what is being added, removed or
   modified. That is the reason the figure is what it is.
4. **Effective from** appears when the change order carries a date.

### Approve it

1. The consequence is stated above the buttons.
2. Press **Approve**.
3. Your name is not asked for — it is taken from the account you are signed into.
   The form is a confirmation, not a signature block.

### Decline it

1. Press **Decline**.
2. Type a reason.
3. Press the confirm button.

### Read a decided one

1. A change order you have already answered keeps its place and states the
   answer where the buttons were — who decided it and when — rather than losing
   its actions silently.

## What it affects

- **Approving changes the contract**, which is why the value and dates are shown
  as a move rather than as a delta.
- **The record names your account.** A change order cannot be signed as somebody
  else from the portal.
- **A change order arrives here and by email**, and they are the same document.
  Answering it in one place answers it everywhere.

## On mobile

The phone app has a change-orders screen, but nothing in the app's navigation
points at it — in practice you read and answer change orders in a browser.

## Limits and gotchas

- Drafts and change orders still under internal review are never shown. Only
  ones that have actually been sent to you, plus those you have already
  answered.
- Money is in the change order's own currency.
- The list holds up to 100, newest sent first.

## Related

- [Invoices](/docs/portal/invoices) — what has been billed against the contract.
- [Quotes](/docs/portal/quote) — the original price, and how signing works there.
- [Retainer](/docs/portal/retainer) — your balance for the current period.

## Related

- [Invoices](https://projectri.com/docs/portal/invoices.md): Your invoices with what is still outstanding, any credit notes applied, payments received, a pay button where card payment is available, and a way to query one.
- [Quotes](https://projectri.com/docs/portal/quotes.md): Every quote your supplier has sent you, with its reference, version, date and total — the same documents as the emailed links.
- [Retainer](https://projectri.com/docs/portal/retainer.md): How much of this period's retainer is left, what it started with, what has been carried in, and what has been used.