AI Guides / Roofing

AI and automation for roofing businesses

Roofing is won in two windows: the weeks after a storm, and the weeks a homeowner spends deciding. In the first, speed of measurement and documentation beats everything; in the second, the quote that keeps following up beats the quote that was cheapest. Both are machine work — and the measuring now costs $13 from a parking lot.

Start at step one. Stop whenever you like — nothing below is needed for anything above it to work.

Start at step one Done this before? Jump to all 12 jobs

Prices checked by hand 27 July 2026 · nobody pays to be listed here

The whole page, in order

Week 1 · free$0

Open a free Roofr Starter account and switch on your CRM's follow-up automations. Quote your next three jobs from aerial reports before anyone climbs a ladder.

Software: Roofr Starter and JobNimbus workflows

Week 2≈$13/report

Make same-day proposals the standard: measurement ordered from the driveway, report back in about two hours, branded proposal with e-signature sent that evening.

Software: Roofr measurement reports and proposals

Week 3$0–29/mo

Tighten claim documentation — photos per elevation filed against the job, ESX export for anything going to an adjuster.

Software: CompanyCam and Roofr ESX

Week 4 · measure$0

Count days from inspection to proposal, proposals chased against signed, and supplement dollars recovered. Only then decide whether anything needs building.

Software: JobNimbus reports

Step one · start here

What your current roofing software may already include

On JobNimbus, Roofr, Xero, QuickBooks, these are settings, not another subscription — check your plan includes them. On something else, search its help centre for the same feature name.

Extra software cost

$0*

if included in your plan

Hours back per month

≈16

Task 1

JobNimbus → Automated workflows and follow-ups

saves ≈6 hrs/mo

Why it matters

Roofing decisions take weeks, and the sold job usually belongs to whoever stayed in touch. Automated status-based follow-ups are included — capped at ten workflows on the Growing plan, so spend them on quote chasing, not internal notifications.

What to do

Open the official guide below. In JobNimbus, find “Automated workflows and follow-ups”. Follow the guide once, switch it on for one real job or customer first, and check that it did exactly what you expected before using it everywhere.

Check the official pricing and plan details ↗

Half a day · $0 extra if included in your current plan

Task 2

Roofr (any plan, including free) → Proposals with e-signature

saves ≈5 hrs/mo

Why it matters

The free Starter plan includes the proposal builder and e-signing — measurement to branded, signable proposal in minutes, no subscription required. Most contractors buy the reports and never use the proposals attached to them.

What to do

Open the official guide below. In Roofr (any plan, including free), find “Proposals with e-signature”. Follow the guide once, switch it on for one real job or customer first, and check that it did exactly what you expected before using it everywhere.

Check the official pricing and plan details ↗

2 hours · $0 extra if included in your current plan

Task 3

Xero or QuickBooks → Invoice and progress-payment reminders

saves ≈5 hrs/mo

Why it matters

Roofing invoices are big and staged — deposit, mid-build, completion. Automatic reminders per stage, off by default, with insurance-paid jobs excluded because the carrier's timeline is not the homeowner's fault.

What to do

Open the official guide below. In Xero or QuickBooks, find “Invoice and progress-payment reminders”. Follow the guide once, switch it on for one real job or customer first, and check that it did exactly what you expected before using it everywhere.

Check the official pricing and plan details ↗

20 minutes · $0 extra if included in your current plan

Different software? The same switch usually exists under another name.

Step two · first workflow to implement

Roofr measurement reports and proposals: Quote from the parking lot, same day.

A $13 aerial report comes back in about two hours with squares, pitch, edges and a material list. The proposal is in the homeowner's inbox that evening, while the other two roofers are still booking a ladder visit.

Do this in order

1. Create the free Roofr Starter account and load your real company details, proposal branding, payment terms, and e-signature fields.
2. Enter one staff or test property and order the aerial measurement report before anybody climbs the roof.
3. Build the proposal from that report with the real scope, exclusions, warranty, and price; do not let the measurement report invent the scope.
4. Send the proposal to yourself, sign it on a phone, and confirm the signed copy and status return to the correct property record.

Typical size

≈20 quotes/mo

Setup

Half a day

What to use

Roofr measurement reports and proposals

Roofr · Free plan + $13/report ↗

Buy or build: Buy

How you know it worked

Count it in week one, then count the same thing again in week four. If the number did not move, stop spending.

Keep this implementation simple

Use the steps above with the software you already have. Test the workflow on your own phone before adding another product or paying someone to build around it.

Step three · keep going without adding complexity

Once step two works, take the next three jobs in this order.

One at a time. Finish it, test it on real work, then start the next.

Roofr Instant Estimator + intake formTypical sizestorm weeks: multiples of baseline

Capture the storm window

After a hail event you have days, not weeks. You need an intake path that takes the address, orders the measurement and books the inspection for every caller, not just the ones who reach a person. That is the difference between a full season and a normal one.

Setup effort: 1 week

Roofr ESX + CompanyCamTypical sizeper claim

Walk into the adjuster meeting with the file done

Photos per elevation, test squares, measurement report, and an ESX file the adjuster can open in Xactimate. Scope disputes shrink when your documentation is better than theirs.

Setup effort: 1 day

JobNimbus workflowsTypical size≈15 open proposals

Chase every proposal for six weeks

Retail roofs are decided slowly — financing, spouses, second quotes. A follow-up sequence with the financing option resurfaced at week two is where the cheapest-quote competitor quietly loses.

Setup effort: Half a day

Step four · only once the first three are running

These are useful, but they are not the place to begin.

The first point where paying for a build makes sense — once the earlier steps are running.

Make.com + CRMTypical size≈200 past inspections held

Message the storm path, not the phone book

You hold addresses, roof ages and photos from every past inspection. When a storm tracks over those suburbs, a message from the roofer who has already been on the roof beats every door-knocker on the street.

Setup effort: 1 week

Does this look familiar?

These are the problems the named tools above are meant to remove.

Quote from the parking lot, same day

Capture the storm window

Walk into the adjuster meeting with the file done

Chase every proposal for six weeks

Message the storm path, not the phone book

Stop measuring twice

After thirty days

Four numbers. If they have not moved, stop and do not spend another dollar.

Number one

Quote from the parking lot, same day

Write down the current monthly number before you switch anything on. Compare it with the same number after thirty days.

Number two

Capture the storm window

Count it the same way in week one and week four. Do not change the definition halfway through.

Number three

Automated workflows and follow-ups

Use the history inside your existing software to count how often the automation actually ran.

Number four

Hours given back

Ask the person doing the work now. They will know before a dashboard does.

Every other figure here is a typical size. These four are yours.

Reference

All 12 jobs for roofing, in order of what they return.Open ↓

Wins work

Quote from the parking lot, same day with Roofr

Typical size: ≈20 quotes/mo
Buy or build: Buy · Roofr, $13/report
Effort: Half a day

Capture the storm window with Roofr Instant Estimator + intake form

Typical size: storm weeks: multiples of baseline
Buy or build: Small build · Roofr Instant Estimator + intake form
Effort: 1 week

Walk into the adjuster meeting with the file done with Roofr ESX + CompanyCam

Typical size: per claim
Buy or build: Buy · Roofr ESX + CompanyCam
Effort: 1 day

Chase every proposal for six weeks with JobNimbus workflows

Typical size: ≈15 open proposals
Buy or build: Already paid for · JobNimbus workflows
Effort: Half a day

Message the storm path, not the phone book with Make.com + CRM

Typical size: ≈200 past inspections held
Buy or build: Small build · Make.com + CRM
Effort: 1 week

Saves hours

Stop measuring twice with Roofr reports

The report attaches to the job with material quantities and waste factor calculated — the estimate, the material order and the crew sheet all read from one measurement instead of three.

Typical size: 8 hrs/mo
Buy or build: Buy · Roofr reports
Effort: 1 hour

Turn the signed proposal into the material order with Roofr material ordering

One click from signed proposal to supplier order instead of retyping the take-off — and the quantities came from the measurement, not memory.

Typical size: 5 hrs/mo
Buy or build: Already paid for · Roofr material ordering
Effort: 2 hours

Track supplements like invoices with AccuLynx

Every item the first scope missed, logged per claim with status and dollars — recovered supplements are pure margin, and untracked ones simply never get paid.

Typical size: 6 hrs/mo
Buy or build: Buy · AccuLynx (if restoration-heavy)
Effort: 1 week

File photos by job and elevation automatically with CompanyCam

Before, during, after — tagged with time and place, filed against the right job from the crew's phones. Your evidence for the adjuster, the warranty, and the homeowner who claims the gutter dent is new.

Typical size: 5 hrs/mo
Buy or build: Buy · CompanyCam, ~$29/mo
Effort: 1 hour

Chase staged payments without touching them with Xero / QuickBooks

Deposit, mid-build, completion — reminders per stage, with insurance-paid jobs excluded and lien deadlines flagged before they lapse.

Typical size: 5 hrs/mo
Buy or build: Already paid for · Xero / QuickBooks
Effort: 20 minutes

Cost the claim against the actuals with Looker Studio + CRM export

Scope dollars, supplement dollars, material and crew costs per job — assembled from records you already keep, so you learn which adjusters, suburbs and shingle lines actually make money.

Typical size: 4 hrs/mo
Buy or build: Small build · Looker Studio + CRM export
Effort: 1 week

Hand over a completion packet automatically with Make.com + CRM

Warranty terms, final photos, certificate of completion, paid invoice — one generated packet to the homeowner and carrier at job close, instead of three follow-up phone calls asking for paperwork.

Typical size: 4 hrs/mo
Buy or build: Small build · Make.com + CRM
Effort: 1 week

The stack

The tools named, priced, and judged.

Tools named in this guide, what each one is for, its price, and the verdict.
Tool	What it is for	Price	Verdict
Measurement & proposalsRoofr	Aerial measurement reports, proposals with e-signature, instant estimating and material ordering.	Free plan + $13/report ↗	Start on the free Starter plan — reports are pay-as-you-go on every tier, and the paid plans ($209/mo Essentials) only earn their keep once volume makes the guaranteed two-hour turnaround and discounts matter. Complex or tree-covered roofs still need eyes on them.
Roofing CRMJobNimbus	Pipeline, contacts, workflows and document tracking built around roofing sales cycles.	≈$25/user + base fee ↗	Flexible and well-integrated, but the Growing plan caps you at ten automations and five integrations, which serious users hit fast — price the Established tier before committing. Pricing has a base fee plus per-user layers, so get the real number for your headcount in writing.
Restoration CRMAccuLynx	Insurance claim workflows: supplement tracking, adjuster management and claim statuses, natively.	On quote ↗	The right choice only if half or more of your work is insurance restoration — it is opinionated and the onboarding is a project. Retail-heavy shops will fight it.
Job documentationCompanyCam	Photos filed against the right job automatically, tagged with time and location.	$29/mo ↗	In roofing this is not optional-nice-to-have — photo documentation is your claim evidence and your dispute defence. Skip only if your CRM's photo handling is genuinely equivalent, and test that claim before believing it.
AccountingXero	Staged invoicing, reconciliation, and the payment reminders nobody enables.	$35/mo ↗	You almost certainly have this or QuickBooks already. The reminders are free and off by default — twenty minutes in settings, no new spend.
Phone & messagingOpenPhone	A business number with a shared inbox so storm-week calls stop living on one person's mobile.	$19/user ↗	Worth it for the shared inbox in storm weeks; outside them, roofing demand is appointment-driven and your money is better spent on measurement and follow-up.
AutomationMake.com	Connecting the CRM to storm-path messaging and completion packets without code.	$9/mo ↗	The engine behind the reactivation and packet rows. Powerful, and very easy to build something fragile that breaks quietly — keep the scenarios few and boring.
AssistantChatGPT Team	Answering the crew's and office's recurring questions — warranty terms, shingle specs, claim process steps — from your own documents.	$25/user ↗	Only earns its keep once your real warranty terms and processes are loaded. It must never draft a supplement or touch a claim number.

Do not bother

Three things not to buy yet.

Buying storm-lead lists.

The lead seller sold the same addresses to four other roofers, and the homeowner knows it — five door-knocks deep, everyone looks like a scammer. Your own past-inspection list converts better and costs nothing.

AI-generated insurance supplements.

Inflated or templated supplements are how roofing companies end up flagged by carriers. Document more than anyone else and claim precisely what the documentation supports — the tool's job is filing evidence, not inventing line items.

A drone program before the volume justifies it.

A $13 aerial report already does the quoting job. Buy the drone when you are regularly inspecting roofs the satellite imagery genuinely cannot resolve — steep, complex, or under canopy — not because it looks good in marketing.

Sources