Estimate Frameworks, copying estimates

If you do similar kinds of work, like room additions or different house plans, you can create a basic estimate that has all the standard elements you include in each estimate. You can even have several different basic estimates, e.g. one for a room addition, another for a  kitchen remodel, a third for a bath remodel, and so on. There's no limit to the number of frameworks you can create.

Even if you don't have frameworks that you can set up, you may have a new job that's similar to a prior estimate you created.

In either case, you can use the Copy button when you start a new estimate. This is displayed on the Estimate Header screen which is where you put in your customer's name and address. You can copy any other estimate into the new estimate so you can save many hours of work that is just replication of things you've already done. You can even update the costs in the new copy. So, if your prices have changed since the original framework, or estimate, was created they will be updated in the new estimate. If this feature works for you, you can easily save an hour or more a week with this capability, which is more than an extra week a year. Could you use an extra week this year? How would you use it?

Also, when you use the copy function you reduce errors. If you've set up your frameworks with all the "normal" items you don't have to remember to include them in each estimate.  How many errors might this save you? Breaking jobs down into smaller pieces

You can break your jobs into smaller pieces, which we call Phases. For example, let's say you're doing a Room Addition and a Kitchen Remodel for Ralph & Mary Smith. You could set it up so that one phase is the kitchen remodel and the another is the room addition. This means you can reduce errors when you're trying to estimate the whole thing as one lump. All of the sections and items for the room addition are separate from the sections and items for the kitchen remodel. And, if the customer decides to do just the room addition and not the remodel it's easier to segregate the pieces.

Contractors that do insurance work will find that phases allow them to build their estimates the way insurance companies want to see them. Each room becomes a phase of the estimate, with it's own prices and quantities.

You can also enter dimensions for the room(s) when you are using phases. As you are doing the take-off instead of entering the same dimensions over and over, you can enter W for square feet of the Walls, C for square feet of the Ceilings, P for linear feet of the Perimeter, and F for the square feet of the Floor. You can save hours of entry time and reduce keying errors keeping your estimates more accurate.