Professional costing/estimating software

[garyrk]

Would welcome any recommendations/views on costing/estimating software for use in producing landscaping quotes.

We are passing the stage where we can rely on previous experience or 'finger in the air' approach on some of our larger projects.

Previously we have used Spons a lot, but it is time consuming.

We've looked at Estek, LibeRate and some other that are more building work orientated.

So, what is in use out there and why do you rate it ?

[lutonlagerlout]

we have used various costing software but find there are too many inponderables for the price to be accurate
the prices always seem to come out too high when we have crossreferenced
mind you i dont mind getting £750 to fit a back inlet gully
any takers?
regards LLL

[garyrk]

Take your point...we have seen some amazing proposed costs for a couple of soft landscaping projects from these products as well.

Part of me wants something to help structure a complex quote (ie BOM's, client side paperwork etc), part of me wants a safety net !.

In a couple of cases the 'paperwork' has won a job, simply because the client has seen our approach, can see on paper what will be done and 'how' and adds an element of transparency.

As we all know pricing is a very subjective issue, but the underlying approach/method is key no matter what your cost base is.

[lutonlagerlout]

well its like turfing,you know yourself gary that this is a fairly cheap thing to install by the meterage,but you are bound to have incidental costs i.e. insurance,vehicles,plant,training,etc
for us these incidentals actually cost 20%
so if i add labour + materials + 35% gross profit + VAT
then after all the incidentals i am left with 12-15% net profit
a lot of small firms do not understand this and go under when unexpected costs arise and they havent allowed for them
hope this helps
LLL

[TheVictorianCobbleCo]

Are you familiar with Excel? If so save some money and knock up your own spread sheet, If you do it for the next 6 jobs you will have a base to work on for 6 varying types of jobs. So when job 7 comes up you say "oh thats almost the same as job 2, and you now have a template to work from. I'd be quite happy to knock up a skeleton for you. Shout if you need further help.

[mouldmaker]

Excel works for me. I have a couple of standard templates and they evolve a little more each time I use them.

If you don't have, or want to splurge out on, MS Office, download Open Office for free, it does pretty much everything MS Office will do, and the price is nice too!

[garyrk]

Thanks guys. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing some supa-dupa piece of costing software.
Like you all, it seems to common to use a spreadsheet and have it evolve over time.
One little bit of info, we have found a new mini £20 Spons Pricing book specifically for Landscaping (derived from the £100+ book that comes out every year).

Accepting that you haver to use your own labour rate and a bit of common sense, we have found it a great resouce to cross check against when you are quoting for complex job.

If anyone wants the ISBN let me know and I'll grab it from the office tomorrow.