2007 National Construction Estimator

Topic Introduction -- #1

Dialog Hi. I’m Dan and this is National Estimator. National Estimator is an estimating program with thousands of labor and material costs for construction. I'll click a couple of times to page down. Now I'm on page 18. Let's work up a little bid for a slab. I could page through the whole book to find what we’re looking for. But there's a better way.

The Index -- #2

I'll use the index to find costs for sand fill under a slab base. I’m searching for sand fill. There are three ways to find what we need. This tab works like a book index. Use the Search tab to drill down to the category you need. The Find tab looks for exactly the word you want. I’ll find “sand” This isn’t it. Here it is. I’ll scroll up a little.

Split Screen. -- #3

Let’s split this screen in two. Now the top half of my screen is the Costbook. The bottom half is my estimate. Let's put a name on this estimate. I’ll press tab four times to get to the center. Here's a good name for our estimate. How's that? I'll press Enter to open up a little space.

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Topic Copy and Paste -- #4

Dialog Here's the line I want to copy to our estimate. I'll select it by double-clicking. Then I'll click the Copy button. And the Paste button. Notice the cursor in the Quantity box. I'll type a quantity of 100 because this slab is 100 square feet. I'll press tab and check the estimate. This column shows estimates per unit, ... for each square foot. The column over here has extended figures for all 100 square feet. These lines explain what's getting installed. You can change anything that needs correction. Just click and start typing. It looks fine to me. So I'll click OK. There! How's that?

Markup -- #5

Let's add some overhead and profit to this job. I'll click the markup button. I'll type percentages for overhead and profit. 15% for overhead. 10% for profit And I'll click OK. That looks about right.

Changing Markup -- #6

Let's check the estimate. I'll click the Estimate Window button. It looks OK to me. But you can change anything you want. To change overhead or profit, click the markup button. To change any cost, click on the line. Then click the Change Cost button. To change any words, just click and start typing.

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Topic Printing -- #7

Dialog I suspect you’re getting the idea. You’ve got hundreds of pages of cost estimates in the costbook. Find what you want. Copy and paste anything into your estimate. When you’re done and ready to print, just click the Print button. And click OK.

Save Your Estimate -- #8

Just one more thing you're sure to need. Let's save that estimate to disk. I'll click the Save button. I'm going to save to the My Documents folder. And the file name is Estimate Two. I'll click on Save. It should be saved. Let's see if it really happened. I'll close Estimate Two. Then click File... And Estimate Two. Here it is.

Getting Help -- #9

That's about all you have to know to get started. Of course, there's lots more to learn. Just click the question mark button. If you get stuck, give Craftsman tech support a call at 760438-7828. We'll be glad to help.

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Topic Copy and Insert - #10

Dialog Let’s keep working on the estimate for a slab. I’ll go back and split the window. Here's a line I want to copy. I'll right click. And click on Copy. To paste here, I'll right-click. And click on Paste. The quantity is 100 square feet. And we don’t need this title. So I’ll delete the title. We’re done. I’ll click OK. That's about right.

Drag and Drop - #11

Here's another way to copy and paste. Let's put a membrane under this slab. I'll select the 4 mil line by double clicking. Then I'll click again and hold the mouse button down in the selection. I’m holding the mouse button down. Notice the prohibited symbol. Now I can drop this line anywhere in the estimate. I'll release the mouse button here, right in front of the sand fill. The quantity is 100 square feet. And I’ll click OK. That's it.

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Topic Changing Labor Rates - #12

Dialog Like most estimators, I prefer using my own wage rates when writing estimates. Here’s how. First, I’ll click on the Estimate Window button so the estimate fills the screen. This is the line I want to change, so I’ll double click on it. I'll right-click on the line and click to change this cost line. And change the hourly wage rate for a building laborer to thirty dollars. And press Tab. Here's the new cost – calculated at thirty dollars an hour. We’re done here. Notice that labor costs for a building laborer changed everywhere in the estimate. That’s handy. Changing the hourly wage for any craft changes the rate for that craft everywhere in this estimate.

Changing Cost Estimates #13

If you see some cost that doesn't look right, change it. For example, the man-hours here don’t seem right to me. I’m going to allow an hour for fine grading. I’ll right-click on the line. And select Change a Cost Line I’ll press Tab four times. And change this to a hundredth of an hour. I’ll press tab to check it. That's good. OK. We’re done.

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Topic Changing Text (Descriptions) - #14

Dialog Let's make a little change here. We don’t need this. I’m going to delete it by pressing the backspace key. OK. It’s gone. If you change your mind, click the undo button and it’s back. But I really don’t want this, so I’ll press the delete key and type vapor barrier. That makes more sense. You can type anything you want in the estimate. Just click and start typing.

Adding Text (Descriptions) #15

Some of your jobs will include items that aren't in the costbook. But it's easy to add both descriptions and costs anywhere in the estimate. For practice, let's add costs for four reinforced corners to this estimate. I'll right-click here and insert a text line. We're going to add reinforced corners to this job, so I'll type and press Enter.

Adding a Cost Estimate Line #16

Now let's add a cost for "Reinforced corners." We want to insert a cost line below the description. So I'll right-click here and click on Insert a Cost Line. The number of corners is four. So that's our quantity. Pressing tab moves to the next box. The Measurement is each. I'll press tab twice to leave the Craft Code blank and Hourly Wage at zero. These reinforced corners will be installed by a subcontractor. There's no material, labor or equipment cost so I’ll skip over these boxes. The subcontractor’s bid price goes in the Total Cost box. I'll type 20 in the Total Cost box. That's the cost per corner quoted by our sub. OK. We're done. How does that look?

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Topic Adding Lines to the Costbook --#17

Dialog You can add or change lines in the costbook the same way you add or change lines in an estimate. I'll switch to the Costbook window. Some of our jobs require 8 mil polyethylene. There isn't any in the costbook. So let's add a line. I'll right-click here. And click to insert a cost line. This is 8 mil polyethylene. Square foot is OK for the measurement and I'll use the craft code of BL for building laborer. Manhours are the same as for 6 mil poly. Material price is seven cents a square foot. The labor cost is filled in automatically, so I'm done. It's in red to show that this is a line I added. You can put all kinds of notes in the costbook -- price quotes, phone numbers, anything. To remove anything you added, just select it and press the delete key. It's gone!

Insert a Subtotal -- #18

I like to insert subtotals at the end of each section in my estimate. Let’s put a subtotal in Estimate Two. I’ll click the Estimate Window button to get back to Estimate Two. Subtotals organize your estimates and make them easier to read. You can insert a section subtotal anywhere it makes sense. These subtotals become cost categories when printing bids and invoices. And subtotals become cost category names if you export an estimate to QuickBooks Pro. I’m going to insert a slab subtotal right here. I'll click on the subtotal button and type the subtotal name. That's better.

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Topic Changing a Subtotal -- #19

Dialog Let’s make a little change to the subtotal we just added. A better description would be “Concrete Slab”. So let’s change it. I'll right click on the old subtotal line. And select the Subtotal option. This is what we want. That’s better.

Adding Tax -- #20

Let's put some sales tax in this estimate. Tax goes at the end. I'll right-click and select tax rate. Our tax rate here is seven point two five percent on materials. There. How's that?

Preview Your Estimate -- #21

You can display an estimate on screen just the way it will look when printed on paper. I'll click on the Print Preview button. You can click on Zoom In to get a closer look. This estimate is only one page. If you have a long estimate, you can turn pages or display two pages side-by-side. Click on Close when you've seen enough.

Opening Other Costbooks -#22

Many construction cost estimating databases are available for the National Estimator program. If you own several Craftsman costbooks and have installed the database that comes with each, you can open several at the same time. I’ll open another costbook. I’ve got all these costbooks installed and can have all open at the same time. I can use figures from any of these costbooks in any estimate. Each has about 500 pages of labor and material costs.

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Topic Select Your Default Costbook #23

Dialog Your default costbook opens automatically every time you begin using National Estimator. The last costbook installed becomes the default. For me that's the Construction costbook. But that’s easy to change. Save time by changing your default to the costbook you use most. Here’s how to make the change. I’ll click on Utilities and Options and the General Settings tab. Here’s my default costbook. Click Select to see other choices. These costbooks are installed by default under Program Files, Craftsman and National Estimator. But I’m satisfied with the default I’ve got.

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Topic Show Pictures #24

Dialog National Estimator costbooks include hundreds of pictures. When you see P I C T at the lower right, click on it to see the picture. Here’s a slab membrane. Let's get a better look. Click on P I C T again and the picture is gone. To show pictures automatically, click on View and Show Pictures. If you aren’t interested in pictures, click 'em off.

Blind Pasting #25

Until you get comfortable copying and pasting, keep both the costbook window and the estimate window open – like this. But copying and pasting works just as well when you’re in the full Costbook window – like this. I call this “blind pasting. For example, let’s add concrete to Estimate Two. I’ll scroll up to concrete for slabs. The slab for this job will be four inches thick. I’ll press the F8 key to both copy and paste. F8 is the same as copy and paste. I’ll type a quantity of 100 And click on OK. You’re probably wondering where that concrete got pasted. The screen isn’t split. So you can’t see the estimate. I'll explain in the next frame.

Estimate Window #26

I'll click on the Estimate Window button so the estimate fills the screen. And here’s your 4” concrete slab.

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Topic Undo #27

Dialog Every estimator makes mistakes. And the undo button is an easy way to reverse those errors. Suppose I wanted to undo pasting of the concrete for this slab. I’ll click on the Undo arrow. The concrete slab is gone. The undo button can save lots of time. But don’t wait too long. You have to undo mistakes right away.

Cut #28

Here's another way to remove lines from an estimate. I’ll paste that concrete slab again. Let’s cut these lines out of the estimate. I’ll select the lines I want to delete. And then click on the scissors on the toolbar. And they're gone. But we want those lines, so I’ll click just before the subtotal line. And I’ll click Paste. We’ll paste just above the subtotal line. That’s what we want.

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Topic Turn to Costbook Page #29

Dialog When you know what page you need, it’s easy to get there. I know the concrete finish I want is on page 95. There’s a button here with P A G E on it. But that’s not what we need. We need costbook page, not estimate page. This is the one. I’ll click and type the page number, page 95, and click on OK. All right. I’m on page 95 I’ll scroll down to find what I need. I’ll select and drag that line down to where I want it. And I’ll drop it right here. The quantity is 100 square feet. Here’s what we’ve got so far.

Saving the First Time #30

I’m going to start a new estimate. Until you save an estimate to disk, it doesn’t have a real file name. It's called “Estimate” until you give it a better name. Let’s save this estimate to disk and give it a real name. I’m in the My Documents folder. That’s a good place to keep all your estimates. I’ll type the estimate name, “Just Testing”. I’m done. So I’ll click on Save. OK. It’s saved. And the estimate name is Just Testing.

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Topic Using the Slide Bar #31

Dialog I’m going to open a longer estimate completed several weeks ago. I’ll maximize the estimate to fill the screen. This is a nine-page estimate and I’m on page 1. I’ll drag the box in the slide bar to move down this estimate. When I release the mouse button, the screen jumps to the page. I don’t see what I’m looking for. But there’s an easier way to find anything in your estimates.

Searching in the Estimate #32

I can find anything in the estimate by typing a key word. I’ll type what I’m looking for. And click to search up. Here it is. We don’t need this.

Pasting and Inserting #33

I need to add some starter strip to this roofing estimate. I’ll open the Home Improvement Costbook. I’ll search for starter strip. I’ll click to split the screen. And I’ll select and copy what needs to be in the estimate. If I click on Paste now, these costs get pasted to the end of the estimate. That’s not what I want. I have to click in the estimate where we want the words pasted. Now I’ll click on paste. The quantity is one roll. It looks OK. I’ll undo that paste so we can do it a different way -- in the next frame.

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Topic Pasting Costs #34

Dialog Any time you copy costs, you have a chance to make changes before pasting. I’ll show you the options this time before we paste costs for starter strip. I’ll click on the costs to copy. I’ll click where I want to paste those costs. And click to paste. I'll type the quantity of 1.5 in the quantity box. I’ll press Tab and take a second to look at the changes we could make here. I could make changes in the - - Measurement, - - - Craft Code, - - - Hourly Wage, - - - Man-Hours, - - - Material Cost, - - Labor Cost, - - - Equipment Cost - - - Title - - - or Description. And if you haven’t entered a cost in any other box, you can type a figure in the Total Cost box. This is the Extended Costs column. It’s the cost for all units – one and a half rolls in this case. The cost each times the number of units. I’ll click OK to paste these costs into our estimate. That’s what I want.

Open Several Estimates #35

Most of the time you’ll have just one estimate on the screen. When I click on the Estimate Window button, I see costs for the Stillwel job. But there are good reasons to have several estimates open. Right now, I’ve got three estimates open. I’ll show you. The Stillwel estimate is checked. That means it’s active. I’ve also got Just Testing open. And here’s Estimate Two. We have two costbooks open. Improvement And Construction. Switching back and forth between estimates and costbooks is easy. Just click on Window.

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Topic Copy from Estimate to Estimate #36

Dialog We’re going to copy about fifty lines of framing costs from the Stillwel bid to Estimate Two. That saves lots of time. I’ll arrange the screen so it’s split between the Stillwel job and Estimate Two. First I’ll minimize the Improvement costbook. And I’ll get Estimate Two on the screen. And I’ll tile the two estimates. Now I’ll find the framing costs I want in Stillwel. Holding the shift key down, I’ll press the down arrow key until I’ve selected all the rough carpentry costs in the Stillwel job. OK. I’ve got all rough carpentry selected. Now I’ll click on copy. Now all these carpentry costs are in the Windows clipboard. The next step is to click where I want to insert in Estimate Two. Here’s where these costs belong. I’ll click and paste. The whole section gets copied. I’ve just pasted about 50 lines from the Stillwel estimate into Estimate Two. That can save hours of estimating time. But there’s one more step. Adjusting the quantities. The framing quantities on most jobs will be different. And that’s our subject in the next frame.

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Topic Template Estimates #37

Dialog I've pasted rough framing costs from the Stillwel estimate to my Estimate Two. But the quantities are different in the two jobs. For example, Estimate Two requires 58 linear feet of spruce fascia, not 72 feet. I'll change 72 to 58 by right-clicking on the line I want to change and selecting Change a Cost Line. And type 58. There. That's better. I'll save Estimate Two. Recycling old estimates saves lots of time. You can copy and paste, like we've just done. Even better, create a template estimate that includes all the work you do most often. That way you never have to start from scratch. Open the template, make a few changes, save under a new name and print it again. Template estimates are like having a cookie cutter. You can stamp out new estimates one after another.

File Type for Estimates #38

Every time you save an estimate that’s already on disk, National Estimator turns the prior version into a backup copy. The best way to understand this is to see it for yourself. I'll click on the Open button so you can see the file types. Notice “Estimates dot E S T” in the Files of type box. National Estimator assumes that estimates have a file type of E S T. Estimate backups have a file type of BAK or BK$. National Estimator displays only files of the type selected. Select the file type BAK and you'll see only backup files. Reverting to a backup is handy if you make a mistake and want to abandon changes.

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Topic Go to Estimate Page #39

Dialog When an estimate gets more than a few pages long, scrolling from one end to the other can be a pain. The Stillwel estimate is an example. For example, this Stillwel estimate is nine pages and I'm on page three. I could scroll to page 9 if I wanted to see the estimate total. But clicking on the Estimate page button is faster. I’ll type the page number I want to see, page nine. And click on OK. And here’s page nine.

Print the Current Estimate #40

I’m ready to print Estimate Two. Let’s select it. To print an estimate, click on the Print button. To print one copy of the entire estimate, just click on OK. To print only a few pages or several copies, set the print range and number of copies: Other options in the Print dialog box depend on the printer you’ve got. Click on Properties to see other printers installed and the options available. We don’t need that now, so I’ll click on OK to print Estimate Two.

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Topic Printed Estimates #41

Dialog Printed estimates look about the same as estimates on the screen. All the subtotals, markup, and totals on the screen are also in the printed estimate. Overhead and profit are in the estimate only if you’ve entered percentages for markup. The line “Total Only (Subcontract) Costs” is the sum of subcontract or lump sum costs. Any time the estimate includes a “total only” cost -- no material, labor, or equipment cost – you’ll see a figure on the Total Only line. Estimate Total is the sum of the subtotal, overhead and profit lines. Tax comes after the Estimate Total if you've set tax rates. The last line is the grand total, the bid price.

Double Space Lines #42

Printed estimates are easier to read when I put a blank line below each line of costs. See if you don’t agree. I'll page up so you can see more of the estimate. This estimate is single spaced. Now watch what happens when I click on the Double Space Lines button. See the difference? I think it's much easier to read. Now I'll turn double space off by clicking again. The button is darker now. And the estimate isn’t double spaced any more. The button is a double space switch. Toggle on, toggle off. The only thing wrong with double spacing is that it cuts down on how much of the estimate you can see. I usually single space until it’s time to print. When printing is done, go back to single space.

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Topic Percent Change #43

Dialog Sometimes you’ll want to revise an entire estimate column up or down by a few percent. For example, you might want to revise all cost estimates down 10% because the Area Modification factor is minus 10% for the job site. Or maybe I want to increase all costs by 25% so I don’t have to show a 25% markup on the overhead and profit lines. Here are the column totals before making any change. Let’s boost the material cost by 15%. I’m going to change material costs, so I tab to material. I’ll increase material costs by 15 percent. I’m finished making percent changes, so I’ll click on OK. The material cost is 15% more now To reduce costs in a column, just type a minus sign and then the percentage to deduct.

Show Unit Costs #44

On an insurance job, you’ll probably want to show both the cost per unit and the extended cost. The Per Unit button lets you show both. I'll also double space. The top line is the Per Unit cost. The bottom line is the extended cost for the same item. Notice that the Per Unit button is highlighted. To switch back, just click on the Per Unit button again. I’ve toggled off and the Per Unit button isn’t highlighted. I'll also turn off double spacing.

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Topic Save As #45

Dialog Sometimes you’ll want to submit alternate bids. For example, an alternate bid for a job could include upgrades to hardware and fixtures. To create an alternate bid, just save the estimate with a different name. To create an alternate bid for this job, I'll click on File. Then on Save As. I’ll type the name. And then click on Save. It should be on disk. Let’s check it. There it is. Saving as Estimate Three didn’t change the original Estimate Two at all. But the original Estimate Two isn’t open any more. What’s open is Estimate Three. Until I start making changes, it’s just a copy of Estimate Two. Just to avoid confusion, I’ll change the title of this estimate. “Save as” is the perfect way to make copies of an estimate. In the next frame, I’ll show how “Save As” can make a copy of an estimate on a different disk drive.

Save To a Different Disk #46

It’s easy to copy an estimate to another disk, such as a removable disk or a network drive. The first step is to click on File. Then on Save As. I can select a different disk drive in the Save As dialog box. Here’s the network drive I want. This is the estimate I want to save. So I'll click on Save. Now a copy of Estimate Three is on the network drive. Saving in a different format is almost as easy. I'll show you in the next frame.

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Topic Save in a Different Format #47

Dialog Suppose we want to check spelling in an estimate... Or add several pages of contract language... Or add some specs to a bid? Suppose we want to add our company logo to an estimate. All those are options when you export an estimate to a program such as Microsoft Word or Excel. I've got Excel running here. I’ll go back to Estimate Three by holding the Alt key down while I press Tab. In the next frame I'll export Estimate Three to Excel.

Exporting an Estimate #48

To export an estimate, click on File And then on Save As. Here are the format choices. For word processing, click on Text file. For Excel, click on Tab Separated. And I’ll save in the My Documents folder. The correct file name is Estimate Three dot T A B. The dot T A B is important. It’s done. I’ll open the exported estimate in the next frame.

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Topic Export to a Spreadsheet #49

Dialog I saved Estimate Three as a TAB file in the My Documents folder. Now let’s pick it up in Excel. Excel is already running. All I have to do is hold the Alt key down and press Tab to switch to Excel. In Excel, I’ll click on the Open button. In the File Name box, I’ll type star dot TAB and press Enter. Here’s what we want. I’ll double click on it. In the Import Wizard, I'll click on Finish. Here it is. Note that National Estimator puts numbers, not formulas, in spreadsheet cells. If you revise costs after exporting to a spreadsheet, add formulas that compute new row and column totals. I’m done here. So I’ll go back to Estimate Three.

Export to Word Processing #50

You can export an estimate to any word processing program that will read a text file. But there’s a better way if you use Microsoft Word. I’ve got Word running on this computer. I’ll click Edit and select all of Estimate Three. And I’ll click to copy. I’ll jump into Word by holding down the Alt key while I press Tab. I’ll click to paste. Now we’ve got Estimate Three in MS Word. I’m done here. So I’ll go back to Estimate Three and open the Construction costbook.

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Topic New User Costbook #51

Dialog If you handle several types of jobs, you may want to create custom versions of a costbook -- such as one for change orders, one for insurance work, another for government jobs. These are called User Costbooks. All begin as exact copies of the original costbook. Here’s how to clone new user costbooks of your own. Start by clicking on File and New User Costbook. Select the folder where you want to keep this costbook. The My Documents folder is a good choice. I’ll call this costbook Room Additions because we’ll use it for pricing room additions. OK. We’ve got a brand new costbook with no changes.

Switch User Costbooks #52

In the last frame I created a new user costbook, Room Additions. Changes you make to a costbook are in red. You won’t find any red type in this new costbook. There aren't any changes. To switch to any other costbook, just click on File and Switch User Costbooks. The user costbook I want is in the My Documents folder. Here it is. I didn't create this costbook. It's the default that came with the disk.

Area Modification Factors #53

Many costbooks from Craftsman include area modifications factors – figures you can use to adjust all estimates to a particular job site. I’ll show you. I’ll click Utilities and Options. On the Area Modifications tab, I’ll enter the zip code for the job, 33054. Here are the recommended modifiers for Opa Locka. I’ll click to put these modifiers in effect. Now all figures in the Costbook have been modified for Opa Locka.

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Topic Updates #54

Dialog Most National Estimator costbooks are revised monthly and made available at no charge on the Internet. If you’re connected to the Web, click on Help and Costbook Update to get the latest costs. To set how often your computer suggests updating costs, click Utilities, Options and on the Price Updates tab.

Options #55

If you want double spacing or percent changes or unit costs in every estimate, there’s an easy way to set these as defaults. First, I’ll click on Utilities and Options and the General Settings tab. If I click on any of these, it’s in effect every time I open a new estimate. I’ll set the automatic backup at 5 minutes. The File Locations tab changes the default location for costbooks, user costbooks and estimates.

Tax Rates, Utilities #56

If you have to include sales tax in nearly every estimate, there’s a way to include tax automatically. I’ll click on Utilities. Then on Default Tax Rates. Our rate is 7.25 percent on materials. Now it’s automatic. Every new estimate will include 7.25 percent tax on materials. But note that tax rates in existing estimates aren't changed.

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Topic Search for Help on #57

Dialog The help files in National Estimator are only a couple of mouse clicks away. Click on the question mark when you get stuck. I’ll search by keyword. I’ll type the keyword I want to find. Double click to jump to that topic. Here’s the number to call when you need help. To print a guide to National Estimator, search for “Guide.” Then click on File, Print Topic and Print.

Delete an Estimate #58

We’re finished with the estimate Just Testing. So let’s remove it permanently from the disk. I’ll click on File and Open. Check the drive and folder to be sure they’re correct. Just Testing is in the My Documents folder. I’ll right click on Just Testing. And select Delete and click on Yes. And I’ll click Cancel to resume estimating.

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Topic Deleting Other File Types #59

Dialog Deleting an estimate doesn’t automatically delete the backup estimate. Remember that saving an existing file always creates a backup of the old file. So your hard drive probably has a backup of every estimate you’ve ever made. To get rid of these backups, you have to delete them. Here’s how. I’ll click on File and Open. I’m in the My Documents folder. That’s the default for estimates. I’ll click on the down arrow at the right side of the Files of Type box to find backups. And here we are. I’ll right-click on the backup of Just Testing and click on delete. The backup is gone. I’ll click Cancel to resume estimating.

Turn Estimates into Invoices #60

When an estimate is done, I turn it into a bid or invoice with Job Cost Wizard. Let's dump the Stillwel Estimate into Job Cost Wizard. Here's the Stillwel estimate. I could print this estimate and send it to Bill just the way it is. But your customers don’t need to know the cost of every nut and bolt in the job. And they certainly don’t need to know your markup. Job Cost Wizard lets me show and hide what I want and prints a nice looking bid or invoice. So I'll click on File and Send Estimate to JCW. Here's the Stillwel estimate in Job Cost Wizard. I'll push the page up so you can see more. The format is a little different. Instead of material, labor and equipment in columns, costs are in rows. All the descriptions are here. Here’s the subtotal for the foundation work. Otherwise, it’s about the same as our Stillwel estimate.

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Topic Zoom, Scroll and Turn Pages #61

Dialog If the estimate in Job Cost Wizard doesn't fit your screen, set the percentage of zoom. For 800 x 600 resolution, 90% in the zoom window is about right. Click and drag or pull the page up or down to see anything on the page. This is page 1 of an 10-page estimate. Turn pages by clicking on the Previous Page or Next Page buttons. To go to any page, just type the number and press Enter. This is the last page, 10 of 10. Here's overhead and profit in the job. I'll drag the slide bar to the bottom of the page. And here’s the bottom line.

Enter Job Information #62

I've filled in the customer name and mailing address already. Enter or change the name and address by clicking on the man's face. Click on the hard hat to change the job name. Click on the hammer to change the job number. Click on the details button to show or hide the details in your estimate. Subtotals Only is a good choice. The subtotals in your estimate become cost category names if you export to QuickBooks.

Change the Title #63

To change the title of this form, click Transaction Type on the tool bar. You've got a couple of choices here for the title. Click on Custom and you can type in any title for this form. Now this is an Alternate Bid. To change your company information, click Options and Your Company Info.

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Topic Details: Show All #64

Dialog On some jobs you may want the invoice to show every cost rather than just subtotals. Job Cost Wizard can do that. Here we're showing only subtotals. To make a change, I’ll click on the Detail button. “Subtotals Only” is checked for all four cost categories. Let's change that to show all material, labor and equipment costs. Can you see the difference? All the costs are right there for everyone to see. And if you export to QuickBooks, every material cost will be on the QuickBooks item list. That's going to be overkill for most jobs. I'm going back to "Subtotals only" That's better.

Details: Omit Entirely #65

On some jobs your customer may furnish the materials. In that case, you'll want to strip all material costs out of the estimate. You could make material cost estimates all zeros. But there's a better way. Notice that the material cost subtotal is gone. I'm going to switch back to Subtotals Only and show you another choice in the Details dialog box. Here's a choice that can shorten any estimate. Omit work descriptions if you want to show only subtotals. See the difference? Now your invoice shows none of the details. All you see are cost categories and amounts. Let's have a look at the last page, page 2. You may like this better.

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Topic Mark Up Every Cost Item #66

Dialog Markup has to be in your estimate, but it doesn't have to show up on your bid or invoice. Job Cost Wizard lets you distribute markup proportionately among all costs so customers never see markup as a separate item. I make that choice by clicking the Details button. You have three choices. Omit Entirely strips all markup out of your estimate. Use "Omit entirely" if you're exporting to QuickBooks and want to use a different markup for every item. That's one of the choices in QuickBooks. “At End of Estimate” puts overhead and profit lines just above the total in your estimate. "In Every Cost Item” is different. It loads every cost with a share of the markup. Now markup is hidden. Whether markup is hidden or displayed, the total is the same.

Account Names #67

QuickBooks lets you use nearly any account name. Job Cost Wizard does the same. You select account names in the QuickBooks Options dialog box. We’re using the default account names. These are fine for us. But you can enter any account name. If you want account names used in Contractors' Guide to QuickBooks Pro, click the big button. Using Q B X M L to integrate with QuickBooks is the best choice. OK. We’re done here.

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Topic Exporting to QuickBooks #68

Dialog Job Cost Wizard turns estimates into invoices. That's handy. But it's just the beginning if you use QuickBooks. I’ll switch to QuickBooks using the Alt and Tab keys. QuickBooks Pro will print statements, pay your bills, write payroll checks, balance your checkbook and track estimated and actual expenses item by item on every job. That's more than handy. It's essential. Dumping Job Cost Wizard estimates into QuickBooks saves lots of time. I'll show you. First, let's use Alt and Tab to get back to Job Cost Wizard. Notice that this is our estimate number 547. Let's save this estimate to QuickBooks Pro. I'll click on the Send to QuickBooks button. There is no certificate. I’ll click “Yes, always” so I don’t see this screen before every export. And I'll click Continue, Yes and Done. This is a larger estimate. It takes a few seconds. OK. We're done. Now let's open this estimate in QuickBooks.

Opening Import Files in QuickBooks #69

I sent estimate number 547, the Stillwel estimate, to QuickBooks. Now jump back into QuickBooks and open that estimate. I’ll click on Estimates and maximize the screen. QuickBooks always opens the estimate screen at one past the last completed estimate. Notice that we're on 548. We want 547, so I'll click Previous. And here it is.

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Topic Your Estimate in QuickBooks #70

Dialog Choices we made in Job Cost Wizard affect how the estimate looks in QuickBooks. First, notice that all the descriptions are here. In JCW we decided not to Omit Work Descriptions. Second, we decided in JCW to Show Subtotals Only. The only prices here are for subtotals. Showing Subtotals Only keeps your item list short. You’ll pay bills by category in the item list. A shorter item list makes it easier to find what you’re looking for when writing checks. The total is at the bottom of the form and is the same as in both your estimate and Job Cost Wizard.

Progress Billing in QuickBooks #71

One advantage of QuickBooks Pro is progress billing. That's important on larger jobs. You'll want to send invoices that cover just the work done to date. QuickBooks keeps track of what's been paid and what's still due. To do that, we have to turn on progress billing. I'll click on the Jobs and Estimates and Company Preferences tab. Click on Yes under both "Estimates" and "Progress Invoicing" Now we're ready to turn the Stillwel estimate into an invoice.

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Topic Creating an Invoice #72

Dialog To turn a QuickBooks estimate into an invoice, click on the Create Invoice button at the top of the QuickBooks estimate screen. We're writing an invoice for just the foundation, so I'll click to invoice for selected items. We're billing for 100% of the foundation, so I'll select "Show Percentage." The current percentage is 100 for all foundation costs. So I'll type 100 for all three foundation rows. I'll click on OK. That looks about right. This is an invoice for $4,061.94. We're done except for one thing. This should be invoice 176. If you're done, you can click Save and Close.

Your Jobs in QuickBooks #73

We've sent out the first invoice in the Stillwel job. Let's see how QuickBooks is keeping track of expenses and income. I'll click on Reports, Jobs, Time & Mileage, Job Estimates vs. Actuals Detail and Bill Stillwel. Here are estimated costs for materials. And estimated costs for labor. Actual costs are zero because we haven't paid any bills yet on this job. Actual revenue is the amount billed in the first invoice -- for 100 percent of the foundation work. We billed $4,061.04 on the first invoice.

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Topic Don't Worry About Making a Mistake #74

Dialog QuickBooks is very forgiving. Practice all you want. Experiment any way you want. Then delete any estimate or invoice to remove every trace from QuickBooks. Here's how I would delete the Stillwel invoice. First, I'd go to invoice 176. With 176 on the screen, I would click Edit and Delete Invoice. Click OK now and the invoice is gone. Deleting Estimates works the same way.

Paying Bills by Cost Category #75

When you pay vendors and subcontractors, the amount paid is charged to the job and deducted from your bank balance. I'll Click on Banking. And on Write Checks. Fill in the Pay to the Order of line. Click on the Items tab. Click on the down triangle in the Item column of the check stub to open the Item list. Select the correct cost category from the Item list. In this case, it's the foundations materials. Click in the amount column and enter the amount paid for concrete on the Stillwel job. I'll click on the down triangle under Customer:Job and select Bill Stillwel's job. This amount is not billable to your customer. So click on the icon representing an invoice to put a red X over the icon. One check can cover items in several cost categories and even costs on several jobs. But I'm done here so I'll click on Save and Close.

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Topic Creating Payroll by Cost Category #76

Dialog When you write payroll checks, the amount paid is charged to the job and deducted from your bank balance. Click on Employees. Click on Enter Time and Use Weekly Time Sheet. Click on the down triangle opposite Name and select the employee to be paid. On the Timesheet, click on the down arrow under Customer:Job and select the first job where the employee worked. Under Service Item, select a Lab cost category from the list. These are labor subtotal costs from your estimate. Under Payroll Item, select the type of pay, such as straight time. Enter the number of hours worked for that cost category. Any timesheet can cover work done on several jobs and many service items. When finished recording time for an employee, click Save & New. When finished recording time for all employees, click Save and Close.

To Print Payroll Checks #77

To actually produce paychecks Click on Employees. Click on Pay Employees.

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