New Features and Enhancements in Services Estimator January 2026

The following new features have been introduced in the January 2026 release of Services Estimator.

If you are upgrading from a previous version, see Upgrading to Services Estimator January 2026. This provides a summary of the items that have been added for each feature and details of any required upgrade steps.

If you are upgrading from a version earlier than Winter 2026, check the documentation for previous releases for upgrade details.

Introducing Cost Contingency in the Estimate Builder

We have introduced a new cost contingency feature that enables you to add cost contingencies using the Create Estimate Contingency window in the Estimate Builder or under the Estimate Contingencies section in the Additional Costs subtab. Additionally, you can add multiple cost contingencies to parent and child records. The cost contingencies are included in the total cost of the estimate, allowing for enhanced customization and more accurate financial confidence.

For more information, see Estimate Contingency Overview, Adding Contingencies to an Estimate, and Editing Contingencies on an Estimate.

Define Resource Schedules Using the Monthly View in Estimate Builder

We've introduced the ability to edit and save a role's schedule directly through the Monthly View in the Hours Breakdown in the Estimate Builder. This enables you to scope and plan work at a higher level for longer estimates, enabling you to operate in months and weeks directly on an estimate.

This change gives you greater flexibility and efficiency when defining resource schedules for long-term projects.

For more information, see Hours Breakdown Overview.

Enhance Estimation Accuracy with Multi-Select Scoping Responses

You can now select multiple responses on a scoping requirement, utilizing the new Multi-Select Responses capability. Admins can configure this option when setting up a requirement set, enabling them to designate certain scoping questions for single- or multi-select responses. This update ensures that scoping requirements can accurately reflect complex project needs where multiple criteria or options may apply simultaneously.

This enhancement improves the accuracy and detail of your estimates by facilitating a more nuanced capture of scoping details.

For more information, see Configuring Requirement Sets, Requirements, and Responses.

Edit and Allocate Estimate Product Hours in Guided Scoping

You can now edit the total hours for an estimate product in Guided Scoping. The total hours output from a scoping session now automatically spreads across the roles according to the Target Allocation as defined in the product template. This update facilitates consistent top-down estimating based on client-specific requirements, reducing manual effort while increasing the accuracy of quotes, reporting, and resource forecasting.

For more information, see Estimate Builder Overview.

Optimize Independent Record Pricing Strategy using Pricing Methods

We have now introduced the ability to set a pricing method on the records independent of estimate products on your estimates. This provides the flexibility to apply billing logic across different record types. This approach grants greater strategic control by decoupling pricing methods from billing types. You can now build accurate estimates using your preferred calculation logic while retaining the freedom to choose the billing structure that best fits the project.

You can define the independent record-level pricing method in the Details subtab on your estimate.

For more information, see Estimate Pricing Method Overview.

Adjust Estimate Pricing Modifiers Directly in Guided Scoping

We have now introduced the ability to edit estimate pricing modifiers directly on estimate products in Guided Scoping. This enables users to fine-tune financial variables at the moment of scoping, ensuring that technical requirements and commercial realities are aligned.

Administrators can configure scoping actions to automatically alter pricing modifiers based on specific requirements.

For more information, seeEstimate Pricing Modifiers Overview.

Customize Columns in the Estimate Builder Left Pane

You now have greater flexibility to customize the information displayed in the left-hand pane of the Estimate Builder. We have extended the column configuration capabilities to support all row types in the Estimate Builder hierarchy.

This enhancement enables you to surface critical data directly in the Work Breakdown and Hours Breakdown views. By placing these fields to the left of the divider, you ensure that key identifiers are always visible alongside your hierarchy structure, reducing the need for horizontal scrolling.

Note:

Fields can only appear once in the Estimate Builder. If a field is included in both field sets for the right and left side, the left takes precedence. The field will be moved to the left pane and automatically hidden from the right pane to prevent duplicate columns.

For more information, see Estimate Builder Lightning Component Properties.

Customize the Estimate Builder Filters Panel

We have enhanced the filtering capabilities in the Estimate Builder, providing you with greater precision and control when viewing and modifying your estimates. The Filters panel now includes:

  • Hierarchy Filtering: You can now filter records based on the estimate hierarchy. Crucially, this respects parent-child relationships: selecting a parent record automatically returns all related role requests, ensuring complete results even when records are collapsed.
  • Dependent Filter Logic: Field selections now dynamically scope available options in related filters. For example, selecting a specific estimate product will restrict the line set and task dropdowns to display only items associated with that product, preventing invalid combinations.

  • Expanded Field Support: Use the new Estimate Builder Filter Panel Fields field set to filter your estimate by any custom field or the following additional fields:

    • Discount (%)
    • Estimate Line Set
    • Estimate Product
    • External Resource
    • Task

For more information, see Estimate Builder Overview and Estimate Role Request Field Sets.

Define Billing Start Dates for Billing Groups

You can now define specific billing start dates for your billing groups, giving you greater flexibility to align billing schedules with contractual terms. This enhancement enables you to decouple the billing start date from the estimate start date, ensuring invoices are generated exactly when needed rather than defaulting to the standard frequency (for example, one month after the start date).

To provide more control over milestone generation, we have introduced a new "Custom" value that is available in the Scheduling Option column. When "Custom" is selected, the Billing Start Date column becomes editable.

For more information, see Estimate Billing Overview.

Configure Columns on the Estimate Product Overview

You now have full control over the columns displayed on the Estimate Product Overview table, enabling you to prioritize the data most relevant to your organization.

Previously, this table displayed a fixed set of default fields. Now, you can remove the standard default fields from the Estimate Product Overview, with the exception of the Name field, which remains mandatory. You can now configure the grid to display custom fields defined on the Estimate Product Instance object alongside or instead of standard fields. This flexibility applies to both independent records and estimate product instances, ensuring a consistent and relevant view of your estimate data.

Additionally, we have also introduced three new fields to the Estimate Product Instance object so you can add these fields to your Estimate Product Overview:

  • Duration
  • Margin (%)
  • Status

For more information, see Configuring an Estimate.

Customizing Estimate Cost Calculations for Billable Expenses

We have added an Add Billable Expenses to Estimate Totals field in the Services Estimator Settings custom setting. If enabled, billable expenses are included in calculations for the total cost and total amount on an estimate. Additionally, this setting removes the Billable Expense Amount line from the financial summary and replaces it with two new lines, Billable Expense Cost and Billable Expense Revenue. These are included in Total Cost and Total Revenue, respectively. This gives you greater clarity and control with regards to your estimated costs.

Deprecation Notice

The following fields on the Scoping Requirement Result object will be deprecated and deactivated in Winter 2027, ensure you no longer use these fields:

  • Scoping Requirement Response
  • Scoping Requirement Response Value

Permissions

For information about the changes to permissions in this release, see Permission Sets and Other Technical Documentation.

Fixes

Fixes are listed on the Known Issues page of the Certinia Community. You can access this page from the Community Support Hub. For a brief description of the issues that have been fixed in this version of Services Estimator, see the relevant section of the Known Issues page.