To select an item, click on the item in the list box on the left side of the form. You can also select job items by pressing the arrow keys to move the highlight to the desired item.

When an item in the item selection box is selected, it becomes highlighted, and information about that item appears in the prompts on the right side of the screen (see below).

1. Select the item.
2. Press Ctrl-C to copy the item.
3. Position the highlight where you want to copy the item.
4. Press Ctrl-V to paste the item. You can paste an item anywhere, any number of times.

Highlight the item to be split and click Split (or type Alt-T). This will create multiple sub items under the current item. A separate sub item will be created for each "job section" that you have selected in the prompt for Job Sections: in the Edit Job form. See How Do I... Use Job Sections for more information.

Note: You cannot split an item if any of the following conditions are true:

• The item (or any of its sub items) is on a change order. An item is on a change order if either the C.O. Cancel or C.O. Add boxes (discussed below) are checked.
• The item (or any of its sub items) has been invoiced. An item has been invoiced if it appears in an invoice in the Invoice entry form.
• The item (or any of its sub items) has been purchase ordered. An item has been purchase ordered if it appears in a purchase order in the Purchase Order entry form. Purchase Orders can be viewed in the Purchase Order Listing Report.
• The item (or any of its sub items) has been purchased. An item has been purchased if it appears in a purchase transaction entered in the Purchase entry form. Purchases can be viewed in the Purchase Listing Report.

• click on the group item name, or
• click on the "+" to the left of the item name, or
• highlight the item and press the right arrow key.

Select an Job Phase from the drop-down list.

You can select from the pre-defined list of Job Phases, or you can create your own Job Phase by typing it and pressing the [Enter] key, or by clicking Add.

Click Edit to edit the Job Phase.

Click "=" to set sub-items to the same Job Phase.

The Job Phase is used for a number of purposes:

• The Job Phase is used to group items in the Schedule Model so that job items can be automatically scheduled.
• The Job Phase is used to group items in a number of reports, including:
  • the Allowance Schedule
  • the job listing report
  • the job cost analysis report

Vendor where the item will be purchased, or the name of the subcontractor if the item will be subcontracted. Select a Vendor/Subcontractor from the list, or type a new one and press [Enter], or click Add to create a new Vendor/Subcontractor.

Click Edit to edit the Vendor/Subcontractor.

Click "=" to set sub-items to the same Vendor/Subcontractor.

The Vendor/Sub prompt associates a vendor or subcontractor with an item so that Smart Contractor can automatically create Purchase Orders, and enter Purchases.

Note: The Vendor/Sub prompt will be disabled if the current item has been purchase ordered or purchased. To change the Vendor/Sub, remove the item from the purchase order in the Purchase Order entry form, and/or the purchase transaction in the Purchase entry form.

This is the name of the specific product to be purchased.

Select from the list, or type the name and press [Enter] to create a new Product. The name should be detailed and descriptive enough to identify the product for purchasing, including the make, model, and dimensions if applicable.

Note: Products can be listed by Job Phase. To list only products for the job phase selected above. Click the toggle button to the right of the prompt so that it shows a "-". To view all products, click again, so that it shows a "+". You assign products Job Phase in the Enter Product form.

The Product prompt assigns a product to the estimate item. The program will automatically retrieve product prices entered in the Enter Product form the first time you edit an estimate item. After the first time you edit the estimate item, you must click the "$" button to retrieve product prices from the product database.

Note: The Product prompt will be disabled if the current item has been purchase ordered. To change the Product, remove the item from the purchase order in the Purchase Order Entry form.

Note: The prompt for Count Unit (below) will be disabled when a product is selected. For quote requesting and other purposes, the estimate must use the same unit as what is set in the product information.

Enter descriptive information about the product being purchased for this particular job item, such as size, color, etc.

For example, if you are purchasing two different colors of ceramic tile that are otherwise the same, you can create a single product for the tile, and assign that product to two different job items, but just entere the different color in the Product Description field of each job item.

The product description is printed with products in purchase orders.

Enter the item Order Lead Time in Days. This is the number of days that an item must be ordered in advance of when it will be delivered.

Note: Use the Job Progress entry form to update this item with the actual count used.

Select the item count unit. You can select from the pre-defined list of count units, or you can create a new count unit by typing it and pressing the [Enter] key.

Note: The prompt for Count Unit will be disabled when a product is selected in the prompt for Product (above). For quote requesting and other purposes, the estimate must use the same unit as what is set in the product information.

Enter a percentage of waste to be added to the estimated count of materials. The program will automatically calculate the total materials to purchase based on the estimated count (Item Count), and the percent waste.

Enter the item material cost per unit. This is the contractor's cost - before adding the item markup.

The Materials cost per unit prompt is followed by a display of the total cost of materials based on the Item Count and the Materials cost per unit entered.

Note: Use the Job Progress entry form, or the Purchase entry form  to enter actual material costs.

See How Do I... Track Job Costs for information on how to enter estimated and actual item costs.

Enter the item subcontract cost per unit. This is the contractor's cost - before adding the item markup.

The Subcontract cost per unit prompt prompt is followed by a display of the total subcontract cost based on the Item Count and the Subcontract cost per unit entered.

Note: Use the Job Progress entry form, or the Purchase entry form  to enter actual subcontract costs.

See How Do I... Track Job Costs for information on how to enter estimated and actual item costs.

Enter the estimated total equipment cost for this item.

See How Do I... Track Job Costs for information on when and why to enter equipment costs separately.

Enter the estimated total other cost for this item..

See How Do I... Track Job Costs for information on when and why to enter "other" costs separately.

Enter the estimated labor hours per item count unit.

For example: if the item is "Siding", with an item count = 2000, and count unit = "Square Feet", then if you enter 0.10 Labor Hours /SqFt, the program will automatically calculate a total of 200 hours labor for the 2000 square feet of siding. See additional notes about Labor Costing below.

This button switches the previous Hours Per Unit / Dollars Per Unit prompt back and forth between entering labor costs in Hours Per Unit, or Dollars Per Unit.

The prompt indicates whether costs are entered as hours or dollars:

If the labor cost per unit prompt says Hours Per Unit, enter labor costs as hours per unit, or click this button to change to Dollars Per Unit.

If the labor cost per unit prompt says Dollars Per Unit, enter labor costs as dollars per unit, or click this button to change to Hours Per Unit.

When you enter labor costs in Dollars Per Unit, Total Labor is calculated as Dollars Per Unit x Item Count, and Total Hrs is calculated as 1 / (Labor Rate / Total Labor).

When you enter labor costs in Hours Per Unit, Total Hrs is calculated as Hours Per Unit x Item Count, and Total Labor is calculated as (Total Hrs / Labor Rate).

Note: When you enter labor costs as Dollars Per Unit, if you do not enter the labor rate (or select any employee recources from the Resources prompt), the program will set the labor rate to the total labor cost, and set the hours to 1. When you enter a labor rate (or select (an) employee recource(s) from the Resources prompt), the program will calculate the hours.

Use the Employee entry form to set the labor rates for employee resources so that these will be automatically used when you select the employee from the Resources prompt.

The Schedule Item box below must be checked in order to select employees from the Resources prompt.

Enter the estimated labor cost per hour.

If the work will be performed by more than one employee, you can enter the total cost per hour for all employees, or you can let the program calculate that automatically. To do that, you must:

1. enter employees in the Employee entry form,
2. assign labor cost rates to each employee,
3. check the Schedule Item prompt below, and then
4. assign employees to the job in the prompt for Resource below.

When you do, the prompt for Labor Rate will display the total estimated labor cost (per hour) for all of the employees that you select in the prompt for Resource below.

Displays the total labor hours calculated as the Labor Hours /Unit times the item Count Unit.

Note: If Labor Hours/Unit is zero, you can enter the total hours and the program will calculate the Labor Hours/Unit (hours per count unit) as Total Hrs divided by Item Count.

Displays the total labor cost calculated as Labor Rate * Total Hours.

Check the Schedule Item box to add the item to the job schedule.

See How Do I... Schedule A Job? for more information.

The estimated number of days to schedule work for this item.

Days Duration defaults to the duration defined in the schedule model for the job if you do not enter estimated labor hours.

If you enter estimated labor hours, then Days Duration is automatically calculated as Total Hours (displayed above) divided by the number of employees selected in the Resource prompt (below) times Schedule Work Hours Per Day (entered in the Job Options form).

Enter the job phase (number) that this item belongs to.

For example, if you indicate in the prompt for Job Phases in the Edit Job form, that the job will have 2 phases, enter 1 for phase 1, or 2 for phase 2.

Note: If the item is a group item (has sub items), all sub items will be assigned to the same phase.

See How Do I... Schedule A Job In Phases? topic for more information.

When you click on the Resource prompt, a box will open containing the list of Resource(s) that can be scheduled to work on the job item. Check the box next to a resource in the list to assign them to the job item. You can assign any number of resources to a job item.

Resource Notes:

The Respource prompt will be disabled (greyed out) until you check the Schedule Item check box.

As you click on resources to assign them to the job item, you will notice that the number in the prompt for Labor Rate above will be updated (unless you have selected an entry in the prompt for Labor Cost Rate - see below). That number is the sum of the hourly Labor Cost Rates that have been assigned to the resources in the Resource entry form.

For example: say you assign two employees to a job item, Joe and Marty. Joe has been set up (in the Resource entry form) with Labor Cost Rate = "Skilled Labor", and Marty as been set up with Labor Cost Rate = "Foreman". If "Skilled Labor" is defined (in the Cost Rate entry form) with a Cost Rate of $20.00, and "Foreman" is defined with a Cost Rate of $40.00, then the Labor Rate for the job item will be $60.00 after you assign both Joe and Marty to the job item.

Also, as you click on resources to assign them to the job item, you will notice that the number in Days Duration will be updated. Days Duration is calculated as Total Hours (displayed above) divided by the number of employees selected in the Resource prompt times Schedule Work Hours Per Day (entered in the Job Options form).

The Resource prompt will be disabled if the Schedule Item check box (above) is not checked. You have to schedule an item in order to assign resources to it.

Click the Add button to the right, or use the Resource entry form, to add to the list of Resources.

Don't worry about accidentally assigning a resource to more than one job on the same day. The job schedule will display a "C" (for Conflict) on days on which a resource has been scheduled for more than one job. Right click on that schedule day to view information about the schedule conflict and to change the resource(s) assigned to that item.

This will copy the selected item(s) into your job at the position of the highlight.

You can select and copy any number of job items into your job at any time.

Be sure to position the highlight in your job each time before you copy an item.