Skip to main content

Data Entry Timelines and Approval Guidelines

Ciara Samento avatar
Written by Ciara Samento
Updated over 6 months ago

To best streamline operations and ensure a seamless onboarding experience, Buildertrend Data Entry Services will not upload data that involves excessive manual detail, liability concerns, incorrect file format, etc. We’ve detailed a list of approved and declined services, as well as time expectations for each project. Please note that timelines may vary depending on request.

Transfers

Job Transfers (5-7 Business Days)

Included

Not Included

  • Schedule

  • To-Do's

  • Estimate

  • Selections

  • File Folders

  • Building out/transferring closed jobs*

  • Financials, aside from Estimate

  • Daily Logs

Template Transfers (5-7 Business Days)

Included

  • Schedule

  • To-Do's

  • File Folders

  • Estimate

  • Bid Packages

  • Selections

  • Bills/PO's

  • Client Invoices

Sample Job Templates (1-3 Business Days)

Included

  • Sample job templates (New Home, Kitchen, Bathroom) to existing jobs


Individual Requests

Bids (5-7 Business Days - depending on request)

Will do

Will not do

  • Manually build out bids for templates: title, description, assignees, line items, links to schedule, due dates

  • Enter/edit any bids for jobs

  • Enter/edit any communications with customers or vendors

  • Release bids

Bills/PO's (5-7 Business Days - depending on request)

Will do

Will not do

  • Manually build out Bills/PO's for templates: title, description, assignees, line items, links to schedule, due dates

  • Enter/edit any Bills for jobs

  • Enter job-specific PO pricing - prices must be zeroed out as it is a liability issue

  • Any lien waiver involvement

Cost Catalog (1-3 Business Days)

Will do

Will not do

Notes

  • Import Cost Catalog, create Cost Groups

  • Import Catalog Item, Cost Code, Unit Code, Unit, Markup* & cost type (markup must be a whole number, i.e., 40% shown as 40)

  • Remove/replace catalog (please see Notes section)

  • Import quantity to catalogs

  • Re-link catalog items after catalog replacement

  • Catalog item title is required for import

  • Removing and replacing the catalog will break any associated links, which will need to be re-linked by the customer.

  • The exported BT catalog does NOT include internal notes

Cost Codes (1-3 Business Days)

Will do

Will not do

Notes

  • Import Cost Codes and their corresponding Cost Categories

  • Mass reassignment of cost codes to categories

  • Deactivation/deletion of active lists (No capability to delete codes currently being used)

  • Link cost codes to QuickBooks

  • Build out sub-categories or sub-codes in any account

  • If no category is assigned, codes will be placed in a "General" category

  • If in separate columns, codes will be combined like the following example (1000 - General Requirements) if not specified with a hyphen between the code and code title

Customer Contacts (1-3 Business Days)

Will do

Will not do

Notes

  • Display name (first and last name), first name, last name, phone, address (separated), email

  • Import custom fields outside of this list if requested

  • Link contact specific custom fields to job detail or lead opportunity imports

  • Data Entry will split display name by the first space to separate into first and last name if not provided.

  • QuickBooks export files need to be exported with the addresses separated into address, city, state, zip. This is an option when exporting in QuickBooks

Estimates (1-3 Business Days)

Will do

Will not do

Notes

  • Creating/Importing estimates to jobs or templates: cost code, title, description, unit, unit cost, quantity, internal notes, cost type, markup

  • Intro and closing text

  • Formatting the estimate with category or custom grouping

  • Converting estimates to proposal templates

  • Create graphics, animations, photos, etc. in intro/closing text

  • Building out estimates from the cost catalog

  • Unit costs can only be 2 decimal places, or it will be rounded up to the nearest hundredth

Internal Users (1-3 Business Days - depending on request)

Will do

Will not do

Notes

  • Adding internal users: first and last name, email, role, phone

  • Linking internal users to existing internal users in other BT accounts

  • Adding default labor cost code and default labor cost

  • Transferring custom roles

  • Adjusting any notifications, job access, permissions, activation

  • If role is not provided, the default role assigned will be “Field Crew”

  • In order to link users, the user must be active in both accounts

  • Users will automatically be set to INACTIVE status – individual activation needs to be done by user

Job Details (1-3 Business Days)

Will do

Will not do

Notes

  • Importing open jobs: first and last name, address, contact info, projected and completion dates, job types, status, and groups

  • Import custom fields if requested

  • Linking job details custom fields to lead opportunities custom fields

  • Unable to import multi-select dropdown custom field types

  • Deleting out jobs

  • Removing/editing job group information

  • Manually changing any job status after import to the account

  • Importing closed or historical jobs

  • Only 50 total columns of data will be uploaded (this includes the original column headers plus any custom fields)

  • Can only import one project manager per job (must be internal user already in account)

  • Permit # and Lot Info not included in import - Data entry will manually add this information if importing 20 jobs or less, or they will create a custom field for those items in the template

  • Importing job details will create a contact per line, automatically. If no contact information is provided per job, the contact name will generate as “Contact for (Job Name)” as a placeholder.

Lead Opportunities (1-3 Business Days)

Will do

Will not do

Notes

  • Opportunity title (required field - must be clarified), contact information, status, project types, start dates, contract prices

  • Import custom fields outside of this list if requested (see Notes/Defaults section)

  • When transferring lead opportunities, data entry will not bring over lead proposals or attachments

  • Deleting leads unless due to Data Entry import or error

  • Changing lead statuses unless due to Data Entry error

  • Only 50 total columns of data will be uploaded (this includes the original column headers plus any custom fields)

  • Statuses must be translated to BT verbiage - Open, Lost, No Opportunity, or Sold

  • Statuses are a required field for import and must be communicated within the description of the request.

  • If not specified, all lead opportunities will be imported as Open status.

Client Invoices (5-7 Business Days - depending on request)

Will do

Will not do

  • Manually enter invoices for templates: title, description, assignees, line items, links to schedule, due dates

  • Entering data into standard fields

  • Including attachments for invoices in template transfers

  • Entering invoices for jobs (liability issue)

  • Adding attachments when manually creating invoices

  • Releasing client invoices

  • Duplicating payment information linked to client invoices

Proposal Templates (1-3 Business Days)

Will do

Will not do

Notes

  • Creating/importing proposal templates: cost code, title, description, unit, unit cost, quantity, internal notes, cost type, markup

  • Entering intro and closing text

  • Formatting the proposal template with category or custom grouping

  • Will convert proposal templates to estimates

  • Create proposals for leads

  • Will not build proposal templates from cost catalogs

  • Create graphics, animations, photos, etc. in intro/closing text

  • Can only import 2 decimal places for unit cost

Schedule (1-3 Business Days)

Will do

Will not do

Notes

  • Import schedule templates from excel/MPP files

  • Schedule ID, title, duration, start date, up to 5 predecessors

  • Import assignees, tags, notes, or custom fields. Users will be responsible for assigning schedule items, marking items complete

  • Files cannot be in a "calendar" format

  • Cannot convert Gantt Chart or Block Schedule Preds

  • If Start Date is not provided, the default will start the schedule at “today’s” date, and continue on daily for each additional schedule item

  • If Pred type is not specified, the default Pred type is FS

  • If Pred lag is not specified, the default Pred lag is 0. The max Pred lag is +/- 100.

  • If Duration is not specified, the default Duration is 1 (day)

Selections (5-7 Business Days - depending on request)

Will do

Will not do

Notes

  • Using product links to retrieve choice photos

  • Creating allowances and link to relevant selections

  • Creating hierarchy selections - A consultation with a DES is required

  • Will not retrieve photos from third party cloud platforms for choice photos

  • All selections not created in a BT Template will need to be discussed before approval

  • Requests need to outline specifically what is the selection, choice titles, categories, and locations.

Subs/Vendors (1-3 Business Days)

Will do

Will not do

Notes

  • Company, Divisions, Address, Contact Name, Email, Phone numbers, Fax, Notes

  • Import custom fields outside of this list if requested (This includes certification expiration dates)

  • Will delete out subs/vendors in mass

  • Linking subs/vendors to QuickBooks

  • No capability to import certification expiration dates in their given field

  • Adding general liability, worker’s comp, and W-9 information

  • If a sub has multiple contacts for one company, Data Entry will format Display Name like so: (Company Name - Jane Doe, Company Name - John Doe)

  • If a company is listed with multiple divisions on different lines, Data Entry will combine lines and divisions into one cell

To Do's (5-7 Business Days - depending on request)

Will do

Notes

  • Creating templates for to-do's

  • Linking to-do’s to schedule items

  • Setting due dates, priorities, and assignees (for both to-do’s and checklist items)

  • Assignees must already be populated in the account

  • For requests to transfer Completed to-do items, please contact Buildertrend Data Entry Team

Time Zone Fix (7-10 Business Days)

Requirements

Disclaimer

  • Must provide old time zone and requested time zone

  • Reasoning must be given in the description of the request

  • One time zone shift per account. If a second time zone shift is created, it will reset all data to now match this second shift.

  • Timeline of request depends on if there is custom data already existing in the account. Data Entry Specialist may need to work with Tech Services to complete, in which a timeline will be TBD.

  • Your company address on file must match the requested time zone. A second account will be required if the address does not match.



Declining Requests

Services may be declined for various reasons (refer to the above section). Please take a moment to review the examples of tasks that fall outside our scope of service and, regrettably, cannot be accommodated.

*Note: Buildertrend Data Entry Services is not meant to serve as a daily maintenance service, but rather assisting new customers during onboarding.

  • Manually editing cost catalog cost items

  • Combining customer contacts

  • Editing/updating lead statuses

  • Closing jobs

  • Creating or editing lead activities or opportunities

  • Scanning files

  • Creating time clock shifts

  • Job financials

  • Adding daily logs

  • Assigning selections or schedule items

  • Adding additional data to already existing subs/contacts


Interested in Learning More? 📚

The Buildertrend Learning Academy is your one-stop-shop for your online education, whether you're new to Buildertrend or an experienced user looking to learn more.

If you have any questions or require additional support, feel free to chat with us, send an email: support@buildertrend.com, or give us a call at 1-888-415-7149. We’re always happy to help.

Did this answer your question?