Pricing Books

[Ken9876]

I was speaking to a member sometime ago and he sent me a page from his flat rate price book so I would have an idea what he uses and the ease of use. Now do you build your own? or can you buy these like an auto repair shop would and insert your hourly rate?

 

[macmikeman]

Filemaker, Microsoft Access, SQL, SQL light, Blist, Java, Oracle, and on and on. They are all database application programs. I find Filemaker the most versatile of the lot because you can port to Windows or Mac. Also much easier to learn to script than the others. Blist is a free alternate as well and quite easy to use as it is all drag an drop, but it only provides for flat file structure applications. Database is the way to go in my book.

 

[dmagyar]

How big do you want it?

How big do you want it?

Ken9876, what do you want to do with it, as far as size or scope? If you want to make a pricing sheet, then you could use accel that will allow you to extend hours and materials. These can be extended to several pages if necessary. I agree with the database suggestion if your after a complete solution but I see problems if you want to import pricing on commodities. If you're going that far then probably one of the many estimating programs is what you want.

As a small contractor I've made a fairly good pricing spreadsheet with accel, the program has more power as you learn to use it. As I learn new aspects of the program I add those to my expanding sheet.

 

[eesofnc]

Since most of the flat rate guides were designed for the large contractors, I created a simple spreadsheet guide in excel that can also be used for T&M and can be printed without the cost or mark up settings for the customer to view.
You can view a sample here:

Moderator note: Please use PM function to see these products.