The Estimate allows for proper contract building on the Job level, incorporating standard job expenses in addition to Bids, Selections and Allowances. In addition to a detailed Cost Code breakdown, terms, conditions and project scope can be formatted and displayed in a professional presentation for your client.

When building your Estimate, you have the option of utilizing a full estimate Template, adding Cost Groups from your Cost Catalog, importing from Excel, or building each line from scratch. Markup and Margin may also be added to account for overhead costs.

No matter your method, you can expect a simple electronic release process when you're ready to gather client signatures.

Begin by selecting a Job, then navigate to Estimate from the Financials dropdown.

Before creating your Estimate, let's review your Estimate Toolbar options.

To begin building your Estimate, choose your preferred method.

Click Add Item to add an individual line item to your estimate.

Fill out the important information in the Cost Details such as Title, Cost Code, Cost Type, Group, Description and Internal Notes (information that only your internal team can see; not viewable by any client.)

Next, add Cost Information by adding Unit Cost, Quantity, label the Unit if you'd like, then set your Markup or Margin.

If you're adding a new item that will be frequently repeated on other jobs, select the Include Item in Catalog checkbox, then save.

Once a line items have been added to your estimate, you can edit the line item directly on the estimate rather than opening each item.

Click Import From Excel or External Import > Excel to import line items to your estimate from an excel spreadsheet.

From the Import Wizard, click and download the Excel Template.

Input the estimate data from your previous estimating process into the applicable fields on the downloaded Estimate Template excel spreadsheet.

Once your Estimate Template is filled out and saved to your computer, click Browse Computer and select the excel document from your computer then click Next.

Map each column from the imported Excel file with data points in Buildertrend to ensure the import is accurate. Click Next to proceed.

Review any unmapped Cost Codes and content, matching them with the corresponding data in Buildertrend. Click Next to proceed.

Your import is now complete!

Click Import From Template or Template Import > Import Job Template to import line items to your estimate from an excel spreadsheet.

Select the desired template from the Source Template dropdown, then check Estimates under Financial (the number in parenthesis will indicate how many cost lines are included in that template's estimate), the select Import.

Your import is now complete!

Click the Add from Cost Catalog icon from the toolbar.

Using the multi-select checkboxes, select all the items from your Cost Catalog that you want to add then click Add To Estimate.

Click the Add from Cost Codes icon from the toolbar.

Using the multi-select checkboxes, select all the Cost Codes that you want to add line items to the estimate for, then click Add.

This will add blank line items based on the accounting code that will then need to be edited.

When finished building your Estimate, you can Lock the Estimate to ensure no further edits are made to the estimated costs while you send proposal(s) out to your client for approval.

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From the top-right of the estimate, click Lock Estimate, and confirm from the popup modal that you are locking your estimate.

If changes need to be made to the original estimated costs, you can easily unlock the estimate by clicking Unlock Estimate.

A general list of cost codes on the Estimate may work well for your internal team, but it’s often not the version you want to present to your client. Buildertrend lets you organize your cost lines on the Estimate with groupings.

Choose to organize the Estimate one of two ways:

To choose your grouping option, select the Group By icon in the toolbar on the right.

Custom Groups allow a unique organization of your estimate cost lines such as room-by-room, lists, or assemblies.

To create a new group, select Add Group at the top of the worksheet, or from the side toolbar.

Create Title and optional Description. When creating a proposal for your client, you can choose for these fields to be client-facing, so be as descriptive as you see fit. Click anywhere out of the window to Save.

To add existing items into the new Group, check the box next to the Cost Items you would like to move and select the Move Items icon from the toolbar.

Now, use the dropdown menu to select the Group or Subgroup you would like to move these items to and select Save.

To add new items into a Group, or to create a Subgroup, click the Plus Icon (+).

To reorder individual cost lines, simply click the six (6) action dots to the left of the title of the cost line to drag and drop them into the same, or different Group.

Proposals are your go-to tool for professional quote presentation. They lay out the project scope, offer a detailed cost breakdown, spell out working terms, and even provide an option for an electronic approval signature.

Along with your Cost Items, Buildertrend gives you the flexibility to include text, attachments, and other elements to create a polished, professional proposal for your client. This ensures that your proposal not only presents accurate pricing but also provides clear context and supporting details.

To enhance the client experience, click the +Proposal to add personalized introductory and closing text, making your proposal comprehensive and visually appealing.

Add key information to your Proposal within the Details tab.

Select the Client Preview tab to adjust additional settings, and view the copy your client will receive to their email address once you Release the proposal.

Utilize the Layout Options, Customer Information, and Company Information options to customize the header of the proposal.

Next, customize fields shown to your client with the Display to client dropdown, by selecting the checkboxes to add fields. Selecting the (x) on chosen fields will remove them from the Display to client options.

When ready to share with your client, select Send. If they are active on Buildertrend, they may view and approve within their Client Portal. If they are not active on Buildertrend, they will receive an email to view and approve the Proposal.

If your client is active on Buildertrend, they can view and approve within their Client Portal.
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If your client is not active on Buildertrend, they will receive an email to view and approve the Proposal.
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If you need to approve the proposal internally on behalf of the client due to extenuating circumstances, select the ellipsis next to the required signee’s name and click Approve for "signee."

Confirmation of signature and additional comments may be added at the time of signing.
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Click Approve to save signature.

If your client isn't active in the project or doesn’t have access to the client portal, Buildertrend gives you the option to print the proposal. This allows you to collect a physical signature and keep the approval process moving forward.

From the proposal screen, select Print from the ellipsis menu to generate a printable version.

From the print preview screen, customize your Printout settings to suit your needs, such as showing or hiding images, signature lines, or adjusting page breaks, then click Update Printout to apply your changes.

After finalizing your project costs and scope, and establishing the Contract Price by securing a signed proposal with your client, you can now send the finalized estimated costs to your budget to start job costing.

From the Estimate, select Send to Budget.

Next, review the pop-up modal displaying the Total Price, Builder Cost, Profit, and Margin. Once confirmed, click Send to Budget to finalize.

Your Job Costing Budget will now be populated using the costs from your Estimate.

Once you send the estimated costs to the Job Costing Budget, your Estimate will automatically lock. Unlike manually locking the Estimate beforehand, this method prevents the Estimate from being overridden by any approved bids or selections.

You can manually unlock the Estimate after sending it to the budget, but doing so will result in the following:

From the initial concept and design agreement, through discussions on details, to settling on a final contract, there are multiple iterations of cost and scope.

Using multiple proposals based in the Estimate unlocks the ability for you to collaborate with your clients as scope is refined, maintaining a history of iterations along the way, from a single location within the platform.

The Proposal Dashboard provides access to all proposals created for a specific job.

To access the Proposal Dashboard, click on Proposal Dashboard from the Estimate.

Once a proposal is released, you’ll have access to the estimate worksheet, a downloadable .CSV version of the worksheet, and a PDF copy of the proposal for your records.

After your client reviews the initial proposal, if they have any questions, concerns, or feedback about the scope or pricing, you can update the estimate and generate a new proposal for their review.

From the Estimate, you can make any necessary updates, including:

When you have finished with your estimate adjustments, follow the previously outlined steps to create a proposal for this estimate version.

All Proposal versions will be shown on the Proposal Dashboard.

Feature Templates in Buildertrend save time, effort and ensure accuracy between projects of similar types.

Estimate Templates allow you to save all Cost Items, Descriptions, and even Quantities and Costs, although all fields are editable one applied to the job to capture each job's unique build.

Create as many Templates as needed to keep productivity at the center of your workday.

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.