Question

How would you compare Smart Contractor to Xactimate?

Answer

Xactimate is a CAD (Computer Assisted Design) system that allows you to develop detailed designs (blueprints) for construction projects. Once you have a design, it can then print out an item take-off - a detailed list of all of the materials you need to complete the project.

Smart Contractor does everything you need to do after that. You can import the item take-off list from Xactimate into Smart Contractor. Using the item take-off list, Smart Contractor will generate...

• an estimate
• a proposal or contract
• a job work schedule
• an allowance schedule (list of allowance items with allowance amount and "order by date")
• a draw schedule
• vendor/subcontractor quote requests
• vendor/subcontractor purchase orders
• employee work orders

Then, Smart Contractor will allow you to enter actual material costs and actual labor hours against the estimate. There's no duplicate data entry - you only enter the count and unit cost of purchases, and actual labor hours, if they vary from your estimate.

Smart Contractor automatically tracks and accounts allowance variances, and allows you to easily manage change orders

Using that data, Smart Contractor will then generate customer invoices (which can also be printed as AIA G702/G703 payment applications).

Finally, you can then enter your customer payment receipts.

Using all of this data, Smart Contractor will then provide complete job accounting and job management reporting.

In the mean time, Smart Contractor also allows you to track any and all types of documents or files associated with a job. Documents and files can be located anywhere on your computer, your network, or on the internet.

Smart Contractor also allows you to post any and all information about a job to a private website for your customer so they can have access to their updated job information on the internet any time of day or night.

Last but not least, Smart Contractor integrates with QuickBooks so QuickBooks can perform all of the heavy lifting that it is so good at: payroll, check printing, bank reconciliation, and financial reporting.

To summarize, the difference between Smart Contractor and Xactimate is, Xactimate is a construction project design program, and Smart Contractor is a construction estimating, project management, and accounting system. The combination of Xactimate, Smart Contractor, and QuickBooks gives you a complete, integrated, end to end construction design, management and accounting system.