Question

I have a small carpentry business in alberta Canada and i need some help doing full house quotes accuratly, and faster for me so i loose less time on the job site. I would like to hear back if you have the type of sortware that i am looking for. Thanks alot.

Answer

I'll tell you a few of the ways Smart Contractor can make estimating faster and more accurate so you can think about whether any of this would apply to your needs.

First, Smart Contractor can import take-off item lists from construction design (CAD) systems, so if you do any computer based design (with systems like Xactimate, AutoCad, CadSoft, PlanSwift, OnCenter, etc.), you can export the take-off item list from the CAD system and import it directly into an estimate in Smart Contractor.

If you don't use a CAD system, Smart Contractor is designed with the idea that the kind work you do is going to be somewhat similar from one job to the next, so Smart Contractor allows you to create job templates, or item assembly templates, that you can copy into a new job to make a new estimate. The templates can be set up with unit costs for materials, subcontracts, labor, equipment, and other costs, so once you copy the templates into a new job, all you have to do is set the unit counts for that job and you're done.

There is no limit to the flexibility in how you can set up the item assembly templates. Any assembly can have any number of sub-items; and each sub-item can have any number of sub-items, etc., so you can create an assembly with any number of levels, broken down to any level of detail (down to the number of nails or screws).

I don't know if you do rough or finish carpentry, but to give you an example of how this works, say you're a fence builder: you can create an assembly that includes everything it takes to install a 10 foot section of a particular type of fence (you could have a different assembly for each type of fence). When you go to estimate a job for 200 feet of fence, all you would do is pull assembly for the 10 foot section and enter a "count multiplier" of 20. That would instantly give you an estimate for all of the materials, labor, etc. necessary to build the 200 feet of fence. Then you would just add in the assemblies for gates, or corners, etc.

If you are a framer, you could define assemblies for the construction of walls by lineal feet (or meters), and you could define assemblies for floors, roofs, and openings by square feet (or meters). So when you go to estimate framing a house, you would copy in the wall assembly and enter the number of lineal feet of wall to multiply it out.

If you are a finish carpenter, you can define assemblies for anything you do by any unit of measure that you want. For example, you could have an assembly for installing the trim for a window by lineal foot (of the perimeter), or by the square feet (of the opening), or by "each" (for a lump sum for each window), etc.

There is also a lot of functionality built into Smart Contractor to allow you to manage the different products you might use in a job. For item assemblies that typically use the same products (framing), you can include the products in the item assemblies so they get pulled into the job with the item assemblies. If the product prices are unchanged, once you pull the item assemblies into the job and enter the count multipliers, you're done estimating. If the product prices change, then all you need to do is go and update the product prices in the product database (you can have separate prices for each vendor), and Smart Contractor will automatically update the prices for products used in the job.

For item assemblies that would typically use different products for each job (windows, doors, trim), you would probably leave the products out of the assembly templates, but then pull specific products into the job to complete your estimate.

On the subject of products, again depending on what type of construction you do, and whether you work directly with owners, you may need to create estimates that offer different options and/or alternative items. Smart Contractor makes that very easy to do, and the job estimate will list separate estimate totals for the inclusion of each option or alternative. Also, if you are working directly with the owners, you may need to keep track of allowance items. Smart Contractor makes that very easy to do as well.

Even though you only asked about how Smart Contractor can help you with estimating, estimating is only the beginning of what Smart Contractor can do to save you time. Once you have an estimate, Smart Contractor can automatically generate a job schedule, purchase orders, and allow you to track your actual costs against the estimate, automatically generate invoices, integrate with QuickBooks, etc.