For any construction project to be successful, it needs a good plan first of all. This plan must include good estimations of almost everything, be it the time needed for completion of the project, amount of materials required, required workforce, etc. Depending on the scale of the project, it can quite difficult or even downright impossible to calculate estimates by yourself. It is therefore recommended to use some sort of software to ease your workload.

When it comes to using builders estimating software, you’ll find out that the impossible becomes the possible. Listed below are the main advantages estimating software have over conventional estimation calculating methods:

• Speed – Of course it can take some time to prepare estimations. But nobody is going to wait for several weeks for you to finish your estimates. For private projects like house renovations, the client might even forego some accuracy and instead accept the first estimate he or she can get, as long as it looks reasonable to him or her. No matter how much you think you’re good at calculations, it is practically impossible to match with the computing speed of a computer – and this is the reason why estimating software is better.

• Accuracy – manual estimates are plagued with the high probability of making mistakes, and even if you already rely on spreadsheet software, the chance that you might enter wrong data or that the formula might start acting up (which often happens) is not entirely out of the question. Therefore, making the switch to estimating software is a good idea – it doesn’t need a specialized training for builders and since it’s easy to use, the probability of making mistakes is much less.

• Consistence – estimating software follows a defined set of commands when making estimations and construction bidding. Therefore, this will ensure that you will remain consistent at all times with your calculations. Furthermore, the estimates made by the software will remain a useful comparison during the progress of the project, and with the actual costs at the end of the project.

• Management – estimating software are also capable of managing and keeping track of your labour and stocks that will be needed during the duration of the project. Since the software can keep track of these, you can easily make schedules and appointments for other sub-contractors and make new orders for materials you’re stocking low on.

• Professionalism – professional contractors and builders today all make use of estimating software nowadays. Since most of your competitors will be using this software, conversely, if you don’t use estimating software, you might be losing in the aspect of professionalism. Therefore, the software is also a way of appealing to your customers.