Owner approval lists.

How to · 5 November 2026

An owner approval list is a priced list of what a boat needs, which the owner approves, declines or asks about one item at a time, from a link, with no account. This is how to build one, send it, and read what comes back.

Start a list

1. Open the boat and tap its Approvals tab.
2. Tap New list, name it, for example "Spring shopping list", and tap Make list. You need a connection for this step. Items you add after that can be saved offline.
3. Tap Add section if you want to group the items, for example "Engine room". Sections are optional.
4. Tap Add item.

The Menu offers Approvals to owners, admins and techs.

Fill in each item

For each item, enter the name under Item, the Qty and a Category such as Electrical, Engine or Plumbing. The category is fixed once the item is made. Then set the price:

• Price per unit is what the owner will see. The line total is the price times the quantity.
• Get an estimate asks for a suggested price. If you have priced the item before, it offers your past price. Otherwise it offers an AI estimate, and you tap Use to take it. Review it first. The owner only ever sees the price you save.
• Tick Safety item (the owner must confirm a decline) for anything where saying no matters. The owner gets an extra warning before a decline goes through.

Fuel and dockage can sit on a list so you can track them, but they are kept out of the approved total the owner sees, and are shown on their own line. Tap Save. Every item needs a price you have set before the list can be shared. Until then the page shows how many items need a price check, and Share with the owner stays greyed out.

Send the owner the link

1. Tap Share with the owner. It opens the Share tab.
2. Choose how long the link works: 7, 30 or 90 days.
3. Tap Create link. This needs a connection.
4. Tap Share to send it through your phone's own share sheet (Messages or Mail), or Copy to paste it wherever you like.

Copy it now. The link is shown once, and afterward the app only keeps when it expires and when it was last opened. YachtGrade does not send the list for you. You send the link yourself, to whoever you choose. If you lose it, tap New link, which replaces the old one, or Stop to make the old one stop working at once. Close the list (the owner's link stops) ends it for good, and you can reopen it later.

What the owner sees

The owner opens the link on a phone with no sign-in. The page leads with your company's name and logo and the boat's name. Under To decide each item shows its quantity, price and category. On each one the owner taps:

• Approve
• Decline, with an optional reason
• Question, which needs a few words

For a safety item, declining brings up a warning that it will not be done, and the owner has to tap Decline anyway. Approve all approves everything still waiting, after a confirmation, and leaves safety items for their own decision. A bar at the bottom keeps a running Approved total. Items you have marked purchased move to the Purchased tab. The owner can add their name, which is optional. Without one, decisions are recorded as Owner. If their signal drops, the page says their choices are not saved yet instead of pretending they were.

See what they decided

Back on the Approvals tab, each list shows its status (Draft, With the owner or Closed) and counts: items, the approved amount and how many are purchased. Open the list and each item wears its answer: Approved, Declined, Question or Waiting, with the owner's comment. The Activity tab keeps every decision and every change after sharing, newest first, with the time and who made it.

If you change an item's price after the owner decided, saving sends that item back to them undecided, and the screen warns you before you do it. When you buy something, tick Purchased on the item, and add the actual price if you want it kept.

Common questions

Does YachtGrade email the list to the owner?
No. You make the link and you send it, from your own phone, to the person you choose.

Why is Share with the owner greyed out?
The list is empty, or at least one item has no price yet. Add the price and the button turns on.

Can the owner see the AI estimate?
No. The owner's page carries each item's name, quantity, category, safety flag and the price you saved. How you arrived at the price stays with you.

Does the owner need an account?
Not for the link. They tap it and decide. Owners who do have an account see their lists when they sign in, as giving owners access explains.

The link stopped working. What now?
It may have expired, been stopped, or the list may be closed. On the Share tab, tap New link, or reopen the list, then send the new link.

More how-to guides

• Getting started with YachtGrade
• Put YachtGrade on your home screen
• Trouble signing in
• Join your company from an invite
• Settings and language
• Add a boat and build its equipment profile
• Set up a boat by walking it
• Equipment, engine hours and parts
• Documents and renewals
• Photos and the cover photo
• Set up a boat inspection checklist
• Run a boat inspection on your phone
• Photos and answers with no signal
• How the boat health score works
• Show boat owners what changed
• QR codes and maintenance by engine hours
• Findings and the to-do list
• Finish a check and send the report
• Answer checks by voice
• Photos not uploading
• Make a fire and safety plan
• Maintenance schedules
• Add techs and set permissions
• Teams and assigning work
• Schedule visits on the calendar
• Give boat owners access
• Vendors and estimates
• Customize checklist templates
• Your logo and email on reports
• Fleet trends and reviews
• Export your data and billing
• Remove or archive a boat
• Common questions and fixes

YachtGrade was designed by a USCG 100-ton captain who spent five years managing, detailing, running and selling boats in South Florida, after four years building IT systems for businesses. Who built it →