Looking for estimating software...

[Twincitieselectrician85]

Hello,

I'm a small E.C. working in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota and I do mostly residential and small commercial work. I'm looking for suggestions on what estimating software would best suite me and my company one that I can still use as the jobs get bigger? I just finished reading Mike Holts estimating book and think it's time to pull the trigger and buy the software. There's a whole sea of different estimating software out there Con-Est, Esticom, Accubid, McCormick, QuantumXP Professional, Red Rhino, TurboBid, Vision InfoSoft, etc. Depending on the estimating software I do decide to go with I would also like to make sure that there are training options available to learn how to use it as well. Thank you...

 

[Michaelmechanic]

Did you look into TurboBid as seen on the DVDs? I was thinking of trying it out. I believe you can get a subscription instead of buying it outright to see how it fits your business.

 

[Twincitieselectrician85]

I have looked it over but figured if I'm going to pay some good money I might as well get close to the best software out there.

 

[brantmacga]

This question has come up dozens of times over the years here; we have members using all that you mentioned, and all reviews of each have been positive. I don’t remember ever seeing a completely negative review, but I would recommend using the forum search function to lookup comments on each brand.

I use conest intellibid. It’s fine. They offer training also.


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[MGest]

I'm also still looking for a software that suits my fledgling estimating company. i've used Turbobid and was very happy with them (Shout out to Bill and Andrew Ruffner). They are constantly upgrading and their software is very systematic and user friendly. One thing I've learned was that it really depends whether you are a contractor estimating your own jobs or an independent estimator doing freelance work (like myself). If you are working with other contracting companies, they will often expect you to use the Brand names in estimating software (Accubid, Conest, McCormick, etc.) HOWEVER, that doesn't mean that there aren't others that are just as good, if not better. So if you are estimating your own jobs, it may be worth looking into more affordable software that will operate just as well.

Hope this was helpful.

Good Luck!!