The Review tab sits between Summary and Materials on an estimate. Materials is what to order; Review is what you charge, and why. Every priced line is listed by phase with its quantity, unit, the rule that counted it, its waste and pack, and its price. The markups are spread onto the lines they apply to, so the total at the bottom reads Ties to the Summary when the lines add up to the Summary's total to the cent, and says so plainly as a Fix if they ever do not. Each line has its own Explain: the inputs it read, the steps to the price, the rule in plain words, its source, and where to change it. Export to Excel writes every line as numbers in three sheets, Lines, By phase and Inputs, with real SUM totals. Compare with lays the last send, a saved version or today's prices against what is on screen and marks every line that moved. And a company that wants a second look before anything goes out can switch on Before sending in Settings, so every send passes a short check first.
Also called: estimate review · check an estimate before sending · export estimate to Excel · estimate spreadsheet · where did this number come from · what changed since I sent it · line by line estimate
Every priced line, and the rule that counted it
Lines are grouped by phase with subtotals. Each one shows its quantity and unit, the rule that counted it in plain words, the waste and pack it used, and its price. Open a line and it lists the inputs it read, each marked with where it came from: the model, your takeoff rules, a supplier sheet, your price or edit, or the builder default. Columns adds or hides waste, pack and the draw; the cost and markup columns appear only for people whose role lets them set line markup.
A total with no working shown is a number you either trust or recount by hand.
The rule sits beside the quantity, so checking a line is reading it, not rebuilding it.
It ties to the Summary, to the cent
Markups are spread onto the lines they apply to, so the lines add up to the price on the Summary, not to a cost the customer never sees. The total bar reads Ties to the Summary when they agree. If they ever do not, it says so as a Fix with both numbers, rather than hiding the gap.
A review sheet that does not match the price is a second set of books, and somebody eventually quotes from the wrong one.
One price, readable two ways: as the customer's total and as the lines behind it.
Open any number to see where it came from
The ⓘ at the end of a line opens Explain: the Inputs it read, Show the math for the steps to the price, The rule in plain words with its source, and Where to change it, with a button that opens that setting. Copy explanation puts the whole answer on the clipboard for a note or an email. The same panel opens from the 3D builder and its checks; see help and sources in the builder.
The customer asks why the price moved and the answer lives in someone's head or a spreadsheet only they can read.
The function that computes a number hands back its explanation in the same call, so the two cannot drift apart.
Export to Excel, as numbers
Export to Excel downloads a workbook with three sheets: Lines (phase, item, quantity, unit, how it was counted, waste, pack and price for every line), By phase, and Inputs. Totals are real SUM formulas, so the Lines sheet sums to the estimate total. Filters on screen do not apply: the workbook always holds every line. On a phone the button sits in the ⋯ menu, beside Copy these rows.
An estimator who checks their work in a spreadsheet ends up retyping the estimate to do it.
Numbers, not text, so sorting, filtering and formulas work the moment the file opens.
What changed since you sent it
Pick Last sent, a saved version or Today's prices under Compare with. A line above the table says how many lines changed and by how much, and each row is marked Added, Changed or Removed. Today's prices shows what a sent estimate would read at the current supplier prices before you decide to re-price it. For saving and going back to a whole round of changes, see estimate versions.
Material prices move under a quote that is already out, and re-pricing it without knowing what moved starts a hard conversation.
You see the exact lines that moved before the customer does.
An optional check before every send
In Settings, Estimating, Before sending, switch on Check an estimate before it's sent and choose what happens when something needs a look: Warn me or Stop the send, and whether to check Flagged lines or Every line. The send window then lists the items under Before you send: Unpriced items are checked automatically; allowances, overrides and engineer-required lines each have Review and OK. A sender who goes ahead with items open presses Send anyway… and types why, and the reason is saved on the estimate with their name. Off by default.
An estimate goes out with a line at no price or an allowance nobody looked at, and the gap surfaces after the customer has the number.
The check is a company setting, so it applies to every sender the same way, and a skipped check leaves a reason behind.
- 1Open an estimate and pick Review
- 2Read the lines by phase; narrow them with the phase list, Show (Needs a look, Allowances, Overrides, Engineer required, Unpriced) or Find a line
- 3Open a line to see the inputs it read and where each came from: the model, your takeoff rules, a supplier sheet, your own price or the builder default
- 4Press the ⓘ at the end of a line for Explain: inputs, Show the math, The rule, its source and Where to change it
- 5Check the total: Ties to the Summary means the lines and the Summary agree to the cent
- 6Pick Last sent, a version or Today's prices under Compare with to see every line that changed and by how much
- 7Press Export to Excel for the workbook, or Copy these rows to paste into a spreadsheet
- 8Turn on Before sending in Settings, Estimating, and the send window lists what to check under Before you send
An estimate is only as trusted as the person who can explain it. When the count lives in one head, or in a spreadsheet only one person can read, nobody else can check the price before it goes out, and nobody can answer the customer who asks where a number came from. One builder, listing what they wanted from a new system, wrote: pricing no longer relies on one person. Their designer asked of the interior takeoff: is it materials only? Where is labor calculated? So every line says how it was counted, every number opens to its inputs and its rule, and the whole estimate goes to Excel as numbers when the estimator wants to work it the way they always have. The total ties to the Summary to the cent, because a review that does not add up to the price is a second set of books.
- An estimate nobody but its author can check
- A number nobody can trace to its inputs
- A review sheet that does not add up to the price
- Not knowing which lines moved since the quote was sent
- Estimates going out with unpriced lines or unchecked allowances
