Quick Answer: D-Tools Cloud is a cloud proposal and project management platform built for AV, smart home, and security integrators that streamlines both bidding and change orders in one system. Integrators can quickly build accurate and attractive proposals from a product library of nearly 2 million products from 1,800+ brands, with automatic labor estimates and accessory prompts. Clients review and e-sign from any device. Later, scope changes are handled as change orders that show adds in green and removals in red, go to the client for approval, and merge into the project bill of materials once approved.
Slow proposals lose bids, and unmanaged change orders quietly erase margin. Both problems come from the same root cause: pricing, scope, and approvals scattered across spreadsheets, vendor sites, email threads, and phone calls.
Efficiency in bidding is vital. According to the D-Tools 2025 Year in Review, covering nearly 100,000 signed contracts and more than 250,000 proposals in D-Tools Cloud, integrators that delivered a proposal within 48 hours successfully closed 88% of the time. Those that took more than 60 days to produce a proposal closed 69.6%. Of course, complex projects require more time to design and often require multiple versions, but it is clear that producing a quote quickly and accurately impresses the prospective client and results in a higher close rate.
Mismanagement of change orders can be just as costly. D-Tools’ Change Order Special Report found integrators are more than five times more likely to earn additional revenue from change orders than to lose money on them. In D-Tools Cloud project data, 43% of integrators earned positive change order revenue, 49% broke even, and 8% lost money, so disciplined change order management can be profitable. It’s a best practice for integrators to get every change order in writing, because seemingly minor changes are a common source of scope creep.
Cloud software keeps the product library, the proposal, the signature, the change order, and the invoice in one connected record.
The best cloud tools for bidding and change orders share seven traits. Use this as a checklist when comparing options:
While general-purpose e-signature and document tools can cover features such as e-signatures, integrator-specific platforms like D-Tools Cloud are built to cover all seven of these features.
These capabilities in D-Tools Cloud help integrators build fast, accurate and attractive proposals and bid responses.
Integrated Product Library — D-Tools Cloud includes nearly 2 million products from 1,800+ brands with dealer-level pricing, images, and specs. Pricing refreshes near real time through API integration, so bids reflect current costs without manual vendor-site lookups.
Automatic labor estimating and accessory prompts — The platform estimates installation labor time for each product while you build the proposal, and prompts for required accessories such as TV mounts or projector lifts. iModernology’s Austin branch manager says linked accessories “make sure that I don’t forget certain parts in a large system.”
AI-assisted quoting — AI-assisted workflow embedded in D-Tools Cloud provide natural-language search of the product library, bills of materials built from templates and prior jobs, pre-mapped labor phases, an automatic margin engine, and branded proposals generated from templates. D-Tools estimates this AI feature saves 6 to 8 hours per proposal.
Live revisions — Large systems average 8 to 9 versions before signing, so revision speed matters. In D-Tools Cloud, a proposal is an editable, priced document that can be reissued in minutes, and changing one line updates the rest of the proposal.
Multimedia proposals, packages, and Alternates — Proposals can include product images, video, and visual system layouts, plus one-page QuickQuote options for simpler jobs. Alternates let integrators present good, better, and best options from one standard design. AudioWorks President Matthew Irvin said, “Instead of three separate proposals, we used our standard design.”
All of those features matter because D-Tools data shows proposals reaching clients within 48 hours close at 88%, versus 69.6% for proposals taking more than 60 days.
Change orders are part of doing business. They are not necessarily a negative occurrence. There are three main causes of change orders:
For integrators, change orders can be good for business, which is why it is even more vital to manage them properly. Indeed, integrators are five times more likely to earn additional revenue from change orders than to lose money. According to the D-Tools 2023 Change Order Special Report, which draws on aggregated, anonymized data within D-Tools Cloud, change orders represent about 2% of total project revenue. The report also reveals:
It is not uncommon for a six-figure project to have three or more change orders, each with multiple revisions, and retrofit projects are less likely to have change orders than new construction. Many dealers compile small changes into one change order for signature, but integrators say once the changes cumulatively hit the $1,000 threshold, it is time to trigger a change order.
Also, it is a good idea to issue internal change orders and then document and analyze them post-project. This helps build best practices for future projects.D-Tools Cloud handles client-facing and internal change orders, and its filters and pricing summaries make bulk review straightforward.
In D-Tools Cloud, a change order is a customer-approved change to an existing project, such as adding a location, removing a system, or swapping a TV. Step-by-step, the workflow within D-Tools for handling change orders is:
Using software such as D-Tools Cloud to manage change orders is more efficient than using simple spreadsheets or email in multiple ways, including:
A: D-Tools Cloud is purpose-built for AV, smart home, and security integrators. It combines a product library of nearly 2 million products, automatic labor estimates, e-signature proposals, and a change order workflow that merges approved changes into the project bill of materials.
A: Open the project, click the Change Order tab, and click Create Change Order. Add, remove, or replace products, review the changes (adds in green, removals in red), preview what the customer sees, and send it for approval by email or in person.
A: The changes merge into the project’s bill of materials and update the project. If needed, you can reverse an approval by changing the change order’s status back from Approved.
A: No. The customer sees only the changes within the change order.
A: D-Tools 2025 data shows proposals reaching clients within 48 hours close at 88%, compared with 69.6% for proposals taking 60 or more days.
A: Yes. Alternates let integrators present tiered options from one standard design instead of building separate proposals.
A: D-Tools has AI-assisted quoting workflows embedded in D-Tools Cloud, including natural-language product search, template-built bills of materials, automatic margin rules, and branded proposal generation. D-Tools estimates savings of 6 to 8 hours per proposal.
A: Yes. Clients can comment on and e-sign proposals from any device, and D-Tools Payments captures deposits at signing and handles progress billing, recurring payments, and final invoicing.
A: According to D-Tools’ 2023 Change Order Special Report, 43% of integrators earned positive revenue from change orders, 49% broke even, and 8% lost money. Integrators were more than five times more likely to gain revenue than lose it.
A: It is recommended to compile less-expensive changes into a single change order for the client to sign, rather than sending many small ones. A single request of about $1,000 will likely warrant a change order quickly.
For integrators, the cloud proposal tools that matter most are the ones that connect bidding and change orders in a single record. D-Tools Cloud does this by pairing a deep product library, automatic labor and accessory logic, and fast revisions with a change order workflow that shows exactly what changed, gets client approval, and updates the project bill of materials. The result is faster bids, fewer forgotten parts, and change orders that protect margin instead of eroding it.
Start a free D-Tools Cloud trial or request a demo to build a proposal and a change order in your own account.