"Real Contractor Estimating" starts with sections. The construction community defines sections differently  than the way QuickBooks defines them. We use sections like most architects and commercial contractors do when they, for example, use CSI (Construction Standards Institute, 17 divisions) sections or NAHB (National Association of Homebuilders) sections to break estimates, and your job costing, into logical groups. Sections are the way the "pros" create specifications, estimate jobs, and track costs.

Here are a few sample sections I created for illustrative purposes. Notice that there are major numbers, like 100, 200, 300, etc. The reason is to leave room so that later if you want to expand the list you can do it easily like in the framing example below. See how we built sub-sections to the section 4.00 framing? We added a section 4.20 Exterior Framing, a section 4.40 Interior Framing, and a section 4.60 Roof Framing. You can carry this to as many levels as you want. Remember, it's easier to start simple when you are getting set up and expand as you go than it is to start out with a huge list and try to figure out how you're going to use it.

Depending on the type of work you do your section structure can be very simple or very complex. If you are a remodeler or a specialty contractor you might want to start with a simple section list that will allow you to expand over time as you refine and hone the way you use them. If, on the other hand, you are working on commercial or public sector jobs you probably use CSI, by default. CSI, if you're not familiar with it literally has thousands of possible sections broken into 17 major segments, or Divisions, as they are called.

When you estimate with sections, all of the costs associated with "Foundations" go in a Foundations section, all the costs for "Framing" go in a "Framing" section, and so on. What this means to you is that your take-offs are easier because the sections are generally set up in the sequence you would take off an estimate, like General Conditions (permits, fees, & plans); Site Preparation; Foundations; Framing; and so on. If you are a specialty contractor, your sections would obviously be different than we are discussing here and the concept is still applicable. This allows you to do your take-offs in a step-by-step fashion which means you have less chance to miss an item. After you have completed the estimate you can review each of the sections and the total cost for each of the sections to make sure you haven't missed any items or have an item in more than once. What this means to you is that you are less likely to make an error which means you make more money.

If you make a change to the estimate, like add an item to the estimate, it's done within a section, so the item(s) are in the correct places and you can easily review them for accuracy. And, if your estimates are more than a few lines, having the grouping of items and subtotals by section can save you hours of checking and verification, leaving more time to ... do another estimate or spend time with you family or whatever you want to do with the extra time.