Appraisal Bureau manages inventory, valuations, and appraisal reports within a secure central hub. The platform is designed to support both artwork owners and service providers.
1. Create Your Organization
An Organization represents the core account structure. A single user can create unlimited Organizations, each with its own users and workspaces.
Organizations typically represent:
Individual collectors, corporate collections, family offices, institutions, museums, etc.
Art Advisors may set up an Organization with a Workspace for each of their clients. This gives the Art Advisor permissions to perform Owner actions on behalf of their clients, such as generating appraisal reports and sharing to third parties.
Each Organization has two permission levels:
Administrators: Full access, including organization settings, user management, and the ability to see values.
Members: Can access the Organization but cannot change settings or view appraisal values.
Only Administrators can view appraised values and manage Appraisal Reports.
2. Set up Workspaces
Within each Organization, you can create unlimited Workspaces to manage distinct projects, clients, business units - or whatever structure fits your use case for Appraisal Bureau.
A few key things to know:
Workspaces are created by Organization Administrators
Users must be added to each Workspace individually, even if they already belong to the Organization
A single user can belong to many Workspaces across multiple Organizations
Workspace-level permissions include:
Viewer: Access to basic cataloguing details, restricted from valuation data.
Editor: All Viewer access + ability to upload/edit artwork data and documents
Manager: Full access to Workspace settings and the ability to view appraised values
Only Workspace Managers and Editors can see valuation figures and appraisal documents.
Permissions can be adjusted from:
Organization Settings (Admins only)
Workspace Settings (Managers only)
Account Policy Note:
If you are removed from an Organization and are not a member of any other Organization, your account will be deleted after 30 days. This action is not reversible.
If you are removed from a Workspace, you will still retain access to the Organization, but you will no longer see any artworks or valuations in that Workspace.
3. Upload Artworks
Artworks are uploaded at the Workspace level, so ensure you're in the correct Workspace before adding items.
There are two ways to upload artworks:
Upload a Single Artwork
From the Dashboard or the Portfolio Page, click “Add Artwork” and follow the prompts to manually input metadata and upload images for one object.
Upload Multiple Artworks
From the same “Add Artwork” button, select “+ Multiple Artworks”
On the next screen, download the provided CSV template, which includes defined fields and examples
Fill out the template, using a consistent naming convention for each artwork
Name your image files to match the artwork names in the CSV exactly (you can use any naming system—just be consistent)
Zip your images and upload both the completed CSV and image zip via drag and drop or browse/upload
You’ll see how many artworks and images were submitted. If there are any errors (e.g., mismatches or missing fields), you’ll receive messages to correct them.
Once uploaded, you’ll see the new items in your Portfolio for that Workspace.
Archive or Delete Artworks
To Archive: Use the “Archive” button on an individual artwork page or select multiple artworks from the Portfolio page and choose the bulk “Archive” action. Archived artworks can be restored at any time.
Toggle “Show Archived” in the Portfolio view to access them.
To Delete: Choose “Delete” on an artwork page to permanently remove the item from your Workspace. This action is irreversible.
4. Subscribe to Valuations
Valuation subscriptions are per artwork and include:
Fair Market Value (FMV)
Retail Replacement Value (RRV)
Marketable Cash Value (as applicable)
Choose your preferred frequency:
Yearly
Semi-Annually
Quarterly
These values serve multiple use cases:
Insurance · Financial Reporting · Collateral Loans · Charitable Donation · Acquisition · Potential Sale · Tax & Estate Planning · and more.
Once subscribed and a delivery date is selected, your valuation is underway. You’ll be notified by email once your appraisal is ready to view. Anyone with access to the artworks will receive the automated notification that appraised values have been updated, including service providers.
5. View Valuations
On each artwork’s page, you’ll see the date of the Last Appraisal for that artwork:
FMV is valid for 6 months
RRV is valid for 1 year
You may only generate Appraisal Reports for artworks with valid appraised values. If you generate a report with multiple works, any without valid valuations will not be included in the report.
6. Generate Appraisal Reports
Generate reports either:
From the Portfolio Page by selecting multiple artworks
From an Individual Artwork Page
Before generating:
Adjust the Owner and Requestor (if needed)
If a different Requestor is added, you will be prompted to update the mailing address, which is included in the Appraisal Report.
Select the Purpose (e.g., Insurance, Donation, Estate). Appraisal Bureau’s API will apply the correct value type automatically.
The USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Practice) compliant report for each purpose varies, which is automatically addressed by Appraisal Bureau's API with each request.
Once generated, your report will:
Appear in the “Reports” tab in the left-hand navigation
Be attached to each included artwork in its detail view
Each report has a unique ID and is stored by Appraisal Bureau. This is mandatory as Appraisal Reports are legal documents and we are required to keep reports and workfiles accessible for a minimum of 5 years in the case of audit or litigation.
7. Adding People to Your Organizations and Workspace
Both Art Owners and Service Providers can manage team members by inviting them to their organizations or workspaces.
Step 1: User Account Setup
Before someone can be added to an organization or workspace, they must first create a user account on the platform.
Step 2: Sending an Invitation
An Admin within the organization can send an invitation to the user.
Step 3: Accepting an Invitation
The invited user will:
Navigate to the Invitations tab in the left-hand navigation bar.
Go to Organizations to view pending invitations.
Choose to Accept, Reject, or Block the invitation.
Workspaces
The same process applies for Workspace invitations.
Super Admin Settings
A Super Admin may configure an organization so that when members are added, they are automatically added to specific workspaces.
This ensures smooth onboarding and access across teams, whether you're managing valuations, logistics, or insurance workflows.