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How to use Estimate Master

This is is the estimate screen. It shows one estimate selected from the Select estimate panelbelow based on customer and estimate description selections. Click the New estimate buttonto create a new blank estimate andRemove estimate to delete an estimate.Estimate Master needs only a minimum 800 x 600 pixel screen size, but you may increase thedisplayed area by dragging any corner with you mouse or by clicking the full screen icon (theupper right square). Adjust column widths by dragging a column edge left or right, thenclicking the purple button. Column widths on the screen carry over to the printed estimate.

Notice the Help button and balloon help tips. As you move your cursor around the screen,different help tips appear. For example, clicking on each estimate column gives a differentspecific balloon help tip for that estimate field. Each tab and screen has a unique help topicbutton. An overview of all help topics is available by clicking the Contents button.

Each estimate consists of estimate items (rows) which are created by inserting items fromeither the Parts and Materials tab or the Labor rates tab. In either tab, just double click anitem to insert it into the current estimate. Once in the estimate, just set the quantity field.Some estimate items can be length related, in which case enter the appropriate feet / inches ormeters.

The estimate fields (columns) you use in your business may be changed and defined from theDefine fieldsbutton. Estimate Master will calculate weight as well as costs if you choose todefine the T. Weight field. For example, a steel fabricator may wish to track weight, butanother business may have no interest in weight and may choose to delete the T. Weightfield.You can add, remove or rename estimate fields from theDefine fields button.TheIndex field is used to keep estimate items in a desired order. TheAssembly field indicateswhich assembly an estimate item originated from (if non-blank).

The Vendorfield indicates manufacturer source.

Here is an example of the estimate screen using different fields:

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Notice the T. Weightfield has been replaced by thePrice perfield.

There are lots of data entry shortcuts in Estimate Master to improve accuracy and minimizetime -- for example, the Section field names you use are remembered and are available as adrop down list so it's not necessary to retype each time you reference one. Another allowsduplication of items by clicking the orange button, or duplication of an entire estimate byclicking Clone estimate. The Quick totals green button sums up costs and weight (if the T.Weight field is defined) for the current estimate allowing a quick look at costs with just asingle button click.

Once you've completed an estimate, you can preview or print it, yielding a report that lookslike this:

Notice there are detailed costs including labor, parts, material subtotals. Various cost-weightcalculations are also included (when the T. Weight estimate field is used). Depending on thewidth of your columns, you may choose a landscape or portrait format by clicking the Printsetup button. The width of the printed columns is based on the screen column widths.

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At the heart of Estimate Master is your business-specific materials, parts and labor. Here istheParts and materials tab:

Enter the materials and parts you use in your business. Begin by assigning cost basiscategories you use in your business by using the Custom button. Assign each part / materialitem a code (up to 20 characters long), description, cost (Price per) using a cost basis fromthe upper right Parts cost basis panel (select a cost basis, then click the + button to add aparts item). To change a part / material items cost basis, select the appropriate cost basis, thepart / material item and click the Change button. You can also assign a weight to each item ifyou choose. There is also an import utility (under the Utilities tab) to bring in data from other

applications and databases.

Once you have this list complete (it's automatically saved along with other data in EstimateMaster), you can create estimates very quickly just by choosing the appropriate material, partand labor items. Just double click a Part / material item to copy it into the current estimate.Parts, material and labor items are shared between estimates.

Another data entry shortcut is the use of assemblies. An assembly relates two or more part /material and / or labor items to a single item in the Assemblies panel on the lower right. Afteryou have created your parts, materials and labor items, you may create assemblies of part and/ or labor items. Double clicking on one assembly item will automatically copy all part,

materials and labor items that are defined in that assembly into the current estimate. The part,material and labor items referenced by assemblies may overlap each other. In other words, aparticular part / material item can be used by several assemblies. To view the part / materialitems used by a particular assembly, select the assembly item, click chooseAssembly in theDisplay panel.

When you add a part / material item to an assembly, you can specify the quantity and length(if appropriate for the item cost basis) that is included when the assembly item is inserted intoan estimate. Edit the quantity and length information by selectingAssembly and selecting thepart / material and assembly items you want to change, then clickEdit part.

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Another component of your business-specific data is under theLabor rates tab:

Enter the labor work units used in your business here. Begin by listing one or more laborrates you use in your business in the upper right Labor rates panel. After you have your

labor rates listed, add the labor work unit items (in the All labor itemspanel). Assign eachlabor item a code (up to 20 characters long), description, and hours (or fraction of) to performit using the labor rates list from the upper right Labor rate panel (select a labor rate first,then click the + button to add a labor item). You can have any number of labor rates defined.To change labor items rate, select the item, the labor rate you want and click the Changebutton.

TIP: If you estimate labor by square foot, yard or meter: Create a labor rate equal to the perfoot, yard or meter price, then add a labor item and set the Hours field to 1. For example, ifyou want to estimate carpeting at a labor rate of $3.75 per square yard, create a labor rate of$3.75 with a labor Hours value set to 1 in a labor item using the labor rate of $3.75. When

inserted into an estimate, set the quantity to the number of square yards.

Labor items are added to an estimate just like parts and materials, just double-click an itemand it is copied to the current estimate.

The assemblies panel is a duplicate of the parts and materials assemblies panel. Add laboritems to an assembly from this tab and add parts / materials to an assembly from the Partsand materials tab. To view the labor items used by a particular assembly, select the assemblyitem, click chooseAssembly in the Display panel.

Once you have an estimate, you may create work orders and bid / proposals. Here is an

example of a work order:

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A work order is similar to the estimate but can be printed separately based on individualsections. Specific notes can be included for each section and location used (estimate fields)in the estimate.

The Bid contents tab is used to add information to an estimate such as markup, taxes,

shipping charges and other items not included in the estimate itself:

Create a new bid for a customer by clicking the + button in the upper right Bids panel.

TheAll other items panel contains cost items to be included in bid document in addition to

the estimate itself. Add an Otheritem by first choosing the Othertype (General, Freight, Taxor Markup) then click the + button under the All other items box. You may keep multiple

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markup, tax and other items and choose the appropriate ones for inclusion in a particular bid.Other items are shared by all bids. When creating a bid clickAdd other item to bid toinclude an Other item in a bid. ClickAdd estimate to bid to add a particular estimate to agiven bid. Estimates are also shared between bids. To remove an Other item from a bid,select Restrict to selected bid in the Display panel, select the Otheritem and clickRemove

other item from bid. Remove an estimate from a bid in the same way.

To change how an Other item is taxed, select the Other item, and clickTax type.

To change how markup is applied, select the Other item and clickMarkup type.

This information on the Bid contents tab is included in the Bid summary report which is aconcise description of an estimate with markup, taxes, shipping etc. added (generally notshown to customers).

You preview or print a bid summary by clicking the Print / export bid summary button which

brings up this screen:

You can preview or print the bid summary directly or you can also export the bid summary as

an estimate to QuickBooks from this screen (clickSend toQuickBooks). You may export thebid summary to a specific QuickBooks customer (by checking Choose QB customer from listbelow) or use the Estimate Master customer assigned to the bid when Choose QB customerlist from below is NOT checked.

This is what the bid summary report looks like:

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Notice that costs are sub-totaled by section, labor rate, before and after markup and taxes.The section totals are based on the section names that appear in the estimate. Change howsection names are determined by clicking theDefinefields button on the Estimate tab.

Now that you have a bid summary you can create a formal bid / proposal document that can

be presented to your customer under theBid documenttab:

You may add the estimate line items (including markup) to the bid document or leave themout. Click theAdd estimate details button. You can directly enter any text (or paste from theWindows clipboard) you like.

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Standard text and graphics is automatically inserted in each new bid document. You candetermine what the standard text is by clicking Setup document format. The text lines can bepositioned as desired from that screen as well.

You may E-Mail the bid document directly to your customer by clicking Send bid via E-

Mail.

ClickPreview bid document(under the Bid document tab) show the bid / proposal document:

The bid document may include your business logo or you may print it minus the graphics onyour own pre-printed sheets.

You can export the bid document to a variety of file formats compatible with Microsoft

Excel, Word or other applications using the disk icon on the top of the preview screen.

Several useful functions are included under the Utilities tab:

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There is a backup and restore feature. Backup all data compresses the entire database (whichincludes estimates, parts, labor, and bid data) into a single zip-type backup file. Smart restorerestores an Estimate Master backup without overwriting any existing data in a database. Youcan use this feature to synchronize two or more databases from different computers runningEstimate Master. In other words, Smart Restore feature is additive and will not result in the

loss of any data by overwriting when you take a backup from one computer and restore it onanother.

Clicking the Setup button shows the Estimate Master configuration screen:

Specify what country your business resides in. Specify the help level you prefer which

applies to the context-sensitive balloon help tips.

Click the QuickBooks tab to setup Estimate Master for use with QuickBooks:

To setup Estimate Master for use with QuickBooks, first clickInstall QB access to install the

software interface for accessing QuickBooks. When that is completed (in a separatewindow), locate your QuickBooks company file with the Browse button.

If you want to export Estimate Master estimates to QuickBooks you need to createQuickBooks items that you want to use with Estimate Master. This allows you to relateEstimate Master to your QuickBooks accounting system in any way you choose. This worksby matching Estimate Master item names (estimate section names and bid summary otheritems descriptions) to QuickBooks item names. Choose whether you want to use QuickBooksgroup or line items by checking or not checking Use group items in QuickBooks estimates.Group items in QuickBooks results in less detail in printed estimates, proposals, invoices,and bids. When using group items, Estimate Master matches the inner line items of a group

item with Estimate Master items. When not using group items, Estimate Master matches theline items you specify directly. The matching works from left to right based on the number of

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characters in the Estimate Master items. Extra characters in QuickBooks item names areignored. You may also disregard fixed prefixes in QuickBooks item names by setting a non-zero value in theIgnore QB line item name prefix count.

Click the E-Mail tab to configure Estimate Master for sending bid documents directly to your

customers via E-Mail:

E-mail is sent directly from Estimate Master to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or viaMicrosoft Outlook (part of the Microsoft Office suitedo not confuse with Outlook Express)and then to your ISP. Sending mail through Outlook may be necessary if you use an ISP,such as MSN.COM, that requires a proprietary authentication protocol. To send mail through

Outlook, check Use Microsoft Outlook to send e-mail, then click the Browse button andlocate the folder where the file OUTLOOK.EXE is.

To send E-Mail directly from Estimate Master to your ISP, uncheckUse Microsoft Outlookto send e-mail and fill in the text boxes in the Send mail parameters panel. The requiredboxes are SMTP server name, SMTP port numberandFrom mail address. If you checkUseSMTP Authentication, also fill in Mail user ID and Mail password (check with your ISPabout this).

With Estimate Master, you can setup a shared database for two or more computers on yourlocal area network. You can also create duplicate databases to help manage your data. Click

the Database management button to setup a remote database access or to duplicate adatabase.

To use your local area network with Estimate Master, install Estimate Master on a servercomputer (any computer can be designated the server for Estimate Master), make the datafiles folder (by default, "C:\Program Files\Estimate Master\data") shared and writable. Thenon a another computer in the network, install Estimate Master and use the Windows NetworkNeighborhood to locate the Estimate Master shared folder on the server and map it to a driveletter. Then use the Create database name tab and assign it to the mapped drive letter and goto the Select database tab and choose the name you just created.

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To help with your database management, Estimate Master provides a tool for removingselected or all records from your database by clickingEmpty database under the Utilities tab: