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Release on May 4, 2026
Version: 53.0.0 · Release
Areas Affected
Change Orders, Contacts, Observations, Subcontracts
Highlights
- A new Observations module is now available in both the Office App and Subcontractor Portal, featuring table and Kanban views, a creation flow, detailed view modal, comments, Activity Feed integration, and PDF download.
- Users can now search for contacts directly from Outlook within Ernest, making it faster to find and link the right people without switching tools.
- The 'Balance to Finish' column in the billing table has been moved next to 'Phase Value' in both the Office App and Subcontractor Portal for easier side-by-side comparison.
What Changed
- Change Order fields for Line Item names and Custom Markup names now enforce a 255-character limit. Previously, entering very long text in these fields would cause the save action to fail and break the layout. This ensures a consistent, error-free experience when naming change order items. (Ticket)
- Users can now search for contacts directly from Outlook within Ernest. This makes it easier to find and associate the right people without needing to leave the platform or look up contact details separately. (Ticket)
- The Observations module is now live in both the Office App and the Subcontractor Portal. Users can view observations in a filterable table or a Kanban board (where cards can be dragged between status columns), create new observations, and open detailed records in a modal that includes linked items, comments, and role-based field permissions for subcontractors. Observations also appear in the Activity Feed, and individual observation PDFs can be downloaded. Note: the Activities and History tabs within observations will be added in a future update. (Ticket)
- The 'Balance to Finish' column in the billing table has been repositioned to appear directly next to 'Phase Value' in both the Office App and the Subcontractor Portal, making it easier to compare these two related figures at a glance. (Ticket)
Hotfixes Since Last Release
These fixes were deployed to production independently before this release — they are listed here for a complete record of what changed since the previous release.
May 1, 2026
- Resolved a remaining $0.01 discrepancy in subcontract billing totals that persisted after the initial rounding fix applied the previous day. (PR)
April 30, 2026
- Fixed a $0.01 rounding error in subcontract billing summaries to ensure totals are calculated accurately. (PR)
- Subcontractor billing status options have been restricted to 'Not Billed' and 'Billed' only, preventing unintended status selections. (PR)