Set up your project estimate

• The estimate should exhaustively cover all tasks required for the job assigned to you.
• Each task is associated with a cost code available in the task code list at your company level.
• You can add consolidated tasks with cumulative values of the manhours, work done, and cost involved under various cost types. The estimated values can be distributed for similar child items added to different parent items. 
• The grand total of your estimate cannot exceed the total budget allotted to you by the general contractor on their project budget. See View Allotted budget to learn how to view the budget allotted to you.
• Once your estimate is uploaded, it is locked, and you cannot make any alterations. But you can update the estimate during the course of the project using change orders.

The 'Estimates' interface allows project managers to submit the estimates created for the tasks and activities that they plan for the job assigned to them. 

• Open the management console of the project.
• Click 'Budget' on the top.
• Select 'Estimates' from the options on the left.

You can submit your estimate in two ways:

• Manually create your estimate
• Import your estimate from an Excel file

Manually create your estimate

• Click 'Create' on the 'Estimate List' screen

• Add your estimate line items one-by-one
• Each line in the estimate should contain one task entry. 
• Enter the values for the tasks under the following column headers. 
  • Task- The cost code of the line item. Typically, this is the standard code for the task or deliverable as per CSI MasterFormat. If your company uses a custom coding system, enter the code as per your company's task code format. Contact your administrator for more details.
    • Click inside the cell and select the code from the drop-down
• Double-click inside a cell to enter the following values. Enter the monetary values in US dollars.
  • Name - The label of the task or deliverable
  • Qty - The amount of work done by the task 
  • Unit - The unit by which the amount of work done is measured 
  • Hrs - The effort hours required for completion of the task in manhours
  • Labor$ - The manual labor cost estimated for the job
  • Equip$ - The estimate of cost incurred by the use of equipment and machinery for the work
  • Sub$ - Expenses related to external subcontracts, if any. 
  • Mat$ - Cost incurred by the materials used for the work 
  • Other$ - Miscellaneous expenses like transportation, material handling, fees paid to various vendors, agencies, and more.  
  • Oh$ - Overhead and operation costs that the company bears, relevant to the task
  • Profit$ - The profit expected from the work
  • Total$ - Auto-calculated from the values in the row
• Click '+Add Row' to add more line items
• Click 'Save' to save your draft.
• You can submit your estimate after review and corrections/amendments, if any. Click here to know more.

Import your estimate from an Excel file

Using an Excel file to upload your estimate involves two steps:

• Step 1 - Create the estimate
• Step 2 - Upload your estimate

Create the estimate

The template file with the required fields is available for download from the 'Estimates' interface.

• Open the management console of the project.
• Click 'Budget' on the top.
• Select 'Estimates' from the options on the left.
• Click 'Download' to obtain a blank Excel file containing the required field headers.
• Create your estimate in the Excel file by entering the values for each line item. 

Requirements of the estimate file

• The Excel file should contain an exhaustive list of tasks for the completion of the work assigned.
• Each line item in the file should contain one task entry.
• Enter the values for the line items under the following column headers.
  • Task Code - The code representing the work item as per the cost code list at your company level
  • Task Name - The label of the work/task
  • Quantity - The total amount of work done by the task
  • Unit - Units by which the amount of work done is measured
  • Estimate Time - The total working time required for completion of the work, in manhours
  • Estimate Labor - The monetary value of the cost allotted for the wages for manual labor 
  • Estimate Equipment - The monetary value of the cost allocated for the use of equipment and machinery for the work 
  • Estimate Subcontractor - Expenses related to external subcontractors, if any.
  • Estimate Material - The monetary value of the cost allotted for the materials used for the work 
  • Estimate Others - Miscellaneous expenses like transportation, material handling, fees paid to various vendors, agencies, and more.
  • Overhead - Operation costs that the company bears
  • Profit - The profit expected to be gained by your company from the work item
• Save the Excel file with an appropriate name.

Upload your estimate

• Open the 'Estimate List' screen as explained above
• Click inside 'Browse' and navigate to the file you want to upload. 
  • Alternatively, drag and drop the file into the box

The estimate adds as a draft.

• If there are any errors, you can edit the details in the same interface 
• Click 'Add Row' to add new line items to your estimate
• Click the 'Save' at the top right to submit your estimate.
• Your entries are validated and published.