Planyard cost estimating functionality updates & registering for beta users

While Planyard’s focus has been making project cost control easy and spreadsheets free for ambitious construction contractors  (read about Planyard user testimonials here) and accurately managing project forecasts, we are now focusing on streamlining the estimating process.

While discussing with our users, it became clear that we’d need to incorporate the estimating process into the cost control feature set to improve project profitability forecasting further.

How Planyard helps to streamline the estimating process

1. One-click register an inbound client quote from an email so that it would be noticed. It’s in one place, ready for estimating when you have time.
2. Just click start estimating, select the corresponding line items from the budget codes library, and add the quantity & margin.
3. You can one-click doublecheck the item’s real-time cost information from your historical project costs database.
4. Click send the quote to the client, or download the pdf quote and send it via email. You don’t need to convert the spreadsheet manually. Planyard does it for you.
5. Track your quoting process on Planyard visual client database with visual follow-up deadlines.

Visual client bid requests pipeline.

Central budget codes database

You and the project team can manage in one place. You’ll use the same codes from project start to end; no need to convert the format.

The estimating view where you can navigate just as via spreadsheets but without the calculation errors

While we interviewed the estimators and learned that most valued the simple navigation with the keyboard on spreadsheets and the easy flexibility of adding lines to the spreadsheet, the main struggle for estimators who use spreadsheets is the risk of calculation errors, so Planyard product manager decided that we’ll incorporate the flexibility of spreadsheets and eliminate the risk of calculation errors.

Automatic client bid printing and sending

To further simplify the process, you can now click finish estimating and automatically end the bid to the client or print a pdf quote and send it via personal email.

Here’s the list of upcoming features

• Material-, labor-, and equipment estimating, so it’s linked with purchasing and time tracking and accurate project profitability tracking
• Client quote registering via mobile and email
• One click turns the won client quote to a project on Planyard.

Still, doing the cost estimating on spreadsheets?

If your team is still doing the estimating on spreadsheets, just send us an email at info@planyard.com to register as a B user. We’ll work closely with our beta users, so you can be sure that the product will work the way you need it to.