How to Generate a Foundation Order

Send a clean, focused document to whoever is pouring the foundation, with the base size, foundation size, and grave details on it.

Written By Dennis Rodin

Last updated 7 days ago

A Foundation Order tells the cemetery (or a third-party contractor) exactly what foundation needs to be poured for a monument. It's cleaner than the shop ticket because it only includes what the foundation pourer needs.

To generate one, open the order, click Document Generation at the top right, and select Generate Foundation Order from the dropdown.

The popup

Most fields auto-fill from the order:

  • Cemetery, section, lot, and grave

  • Memorial type

  • Decedent name (or names if there are multiple), printed in bold on the PDF

  • Base size

  • Foundation size

You can also fill in:

  • Number of graves the foundation covers

  • Centering: where on the lot to center the foundation

  • Notes for whoever is doing the pour

Everything you enter here prints on the Foundation Order PDF, so the installer gets the full picture on one page.

If your order doesn't have plot data filled in, those fields stay empty and the popup re-balances on its own. On the PDF these appear as line items, with a Base row and a Foundation row (Item / Size / Type / Qty.).

The Type column on the Foundation row prints the foundation material set on the stone: Concrete or Granite.

A stone can also be sold with no foundation at all. If Foundation Material on the stone is set to None, there is nothing to pour, so Generate Foundation Order is greyed out for that stone. If a Foundation Order is asked for anyway, MonuDesk answers "This stone has no foundation. Set a foundation material on the order before generating a Foundation Order."

New stones start at None, so set the foundation material on the stone in Edit Order before you come here. Stones that were already in MonuDesk before this change keep the foundation they always had, so no old paperwork changes.

The Base row only prints when the stone actually has a base. A stone sold without one no longer carries a made-up "0 x 0" Base row on the sheet you hand the cemetery or your setter. A base that exists but has never been sized still prints, as Not specified, so a real part of the order can't quietly disappear off the document.

Who is doing the pour?

At the top of the popup you pick who you're sending this to:

  • Cemetery (default): the document will be addressed to the cemetery on the order, using the cemetery's contact info.

  • Vendor: switches the recipient to a third-party contractor. A vendor search field appears, and you pick whichever vendor is doing the pour.

The recipient block on the PDF updates accordingly. Only one mode is active at a time.

The From block, the sender side of the document, is the office location this order belongs to, printed with that office's name and address rather than the head company's. A cemetery dealing with one of your branches sees that branch's details.

Foundation type

Click Specify foundation type (optional) and tick one of Above Ground, Ground Level (Flush) or Recessed. This is the placement, not the material. It prints on the line directly beneath Concrete or Granite in the Type column of the Foundation row. Leave it unspecified and the Foundation row just shows the material on its own.

Select images

The popup has a Select images section with a thumbnail for every image on this order. Tick up to two to print them on the Foundation Order; the cap is shown on screen as Maximum 2 images per document.

It is no longer limited to files filed under Drawing. Every image on the quote or order is offered: a design drawing, a sketch from the Sketch & Inscription step, a reference photo, a shot of the existing stone, and the Cemetery Location Map that MonuDesk saves for you when you pin the plot on the map. The map also prints on the Foundation Order automatically, in its own Cemetery location section, so the pour sheet shows where the plot is without you ticking anything. Only image files (JPG, PNG and the like) can be printed on a document, so PDFs and other attachments are not listed.

Nothing is ticked for you here. The Foundation Order opens with no images selected, so you have to tick the drawing you want every time you generate one. That is the opposite of the quote, invoice, receipt, contract and shop ticket, which open with the monument artwork already ticked. The cemetery location map does not need a tick — it prints in its own Cemetery location section whenever the order has one.

The selector only reads files that are already on the order. You cannot upload from inside the popup. If nothing is listed it reads "Upload a drawing or reference image in Notes & Files to include it here." Upload the file under Notes & Files first, then reopen the popup.

After you click Generate

The PDF is created and automatically saved to the order's Notes & Files. Like the other generated documents (invoices, receipts, contracts), the Foundation Order is stored as a Financial Document, and it is not forced to internal. Only the shop ticket is locked to internal-only Instructions. Like every generated document apart from the shop ticket, it is saved customer-visible (External), so it shows in the Customer Portal; flip it to Internal on the file if you would rather keep it from the customer. You can download it from the popup or from the Notes & Files tab anytime later.

Your logo prints on the Foundation Order. If you have uploaded a logo it prints at the top of the PDF, in the position you picked for it (left, center or right). MonuDesk uses the logo belonging to the order's own office location when that office has one, and falls back to the company logo on Settings → Company Profile when it does not. If you have no logo anywhere, the Foundation Order looks exactly as it did before.

Every page of the PDF also carries your company name in bold above Powered by MonuDesk in the footer, with the page number in the bottom corner.

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