Software reviews

No independent market-share figures are published for Australia. The long-established names in commercial estimating are Cubit, which Buildsoft has developed in Australia for over 40 years, and RIB CostX, which launched in 2004 with Brisbane QS firm Rawlinsons as its first customer. Among smaller residential builders, Buildxact is the name you will hear most often. Many firms still estimate in Excel.

No tool in this guide has a permanent free plan for builders. Most offer a trial: 14 days for Buildxact, CostMiner and Planyard, 7 days for Groundplan, and Buildsoft offers a free trial of Cubit. If you are pricing a few jobs a month, a free construction estimating template in Excel is a reasonable place to start.

Some do. Buildxact connects to Xero, MYOB AccountRight and QuickBooks Online. Cubit Estimating connects to Xero to import and map cost codes. Planyard syncs approved costs with Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks from its Essential plan. Desktop takeoff tools such as CostX and Bluebeam export to Excel or connect through an API instead of syncing with your accounts.

Takeoff software measures quantities off drawings. Estimating software applies rates for labour, materials, plant and subcontractors to those quantities to build the cost. Quoting software turns the cost plus your margin and GST into a document the client can accept. Some tools do all three; others, such as Groundplan or Bluebeam, focus on takeoff and pass the numbers on.

Yes, if your estimating tool also runs the job. Buildxact and Databuild carry estimates into purchase orders and job costing. Planyard turns the accepted estimate into the project budget, and purchase orders and supplier invoices are then tracked against the same cost codes. Our guide to estimating to budget to POs in Xero walks through the setup.