FAREWELL EXCEL. HELLO, EXPERT ESTIMATION!
It’s time to make the change from Excel.
Excel is great, we agree. But if you’re still working in a spreadsheet doing multi-thousand and million dollar tenders, it’s worth investing in cost estimating software. After all, you’re not still writing cheques for wages and jotting down figures in your ledger book. You have a payroll system!
Estimating is the same. From slide rules and paper, to computer systems—you move with the times and gain the benefits of efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Here’s a few good reasons why professional estimating software is worth it to you.
Accuracy
In excel, you can input formulas. Maybe ones you’ve designed yourself or found online. Sometimes they reference line items across multiple sheets, and if a row or column gets added or removed, it can potentially break the formula, or pull the wrong value.
In Expert Estimation, you can input formulas or use pre-tested formulas that will alert you with a project message if a value won’t let a calculation perform. If you rearrange the order of columns, or add/remove rows, it will still pull from the correct cell, so you never have to fear an error creeping through unnoticed.
Also, change a value and be confident that it updates wherever it is required in your project. You don’t need to fret and check through multiple spreadsheets to find a single rate. You can change it once and know it’s done. This is great for projects that pull from a resource library—save time by updating the library and keep your rate data up to date.
Multiple users
“Locked spreadsheet – open read only” – not with Expert Estimation! You can work in one or several parts of the project while your colleagues are working in another. Cost estimates will lock when someone is in them, but become editable again once they’re back out!
This provides accessibility and visibility so your work can be reviewed, but also different estimators can build up different parts of the project, saving time. And you can host projects on a central server so everyone can access them, no matter where they are.
This means no emailing spreadsheets back and forth, or trying to access a locked file in a shared drive. No multiple copies, or question over which is the correct version. One server, one project, but multiple users that can’t accidentally override each other.
Security
Speaking of locked spreadsheets, security is a big deal when it comes to large or sensitive projects. Excel gives you one option: password protection.
Expert Estimation, on the other hand, lets you password protect whole projects, or sections within. You can section users into groups (ie. Adminstrators, Estimators, Management) and then assign privileges so they can access different features.
Projects can be arranged into parent folders so security can be enforced across the level. Your ability to protect your data and that of your clients is vital for your credibility and professionalism as a business, particularly when accessibility and efficiency by your team are not compromised.
Reporting
Excel is… a challenge when it comes to reporting. Formatting sheets or transferring data into another program takes time and leaves you open to human error.
Expert Estimation, however, has 37 different types of reports you can run on your estimate. These pull data automatically and can be customised, exported, printed and emailed. You can even add your own branding
Support
When was the last time you got help from Microsoft? Sure, there is a help page for Excel, but it isn’t estimating specific. And it’s not at the other end of an Australia-based 24/7 phone line.
More than 30 years ago, Expert Estimation was written by an estimator, for estimators. Glen Townsley knew that talking to another human being who understands what you’re trying to do is far more valuable than battling through on your own when a tender is due. It’s something we pride ourselves on, and that human aspect is possibly the thing that makes us stand apart from Excel or even other estimating software.
The Comparison is Clear
You make decisions every day, to save time, to save money. Investing in professional, dedicated first-principles estimating software is one more way you set yourself above others in your field. Excel has its place, but when it comes to estimating, Expert Estimation is the clear winner.
Glen Townsley is the founder of Pronamics, and has spent over 30 years building estimating software after a successful career as a civil estimator and project manager.