# Best Electrical Estimating Software



## gptechelec

It depends on a lot of factors. What type are work are you doing? How much are you willing to spend? What is your estimating style. 

I just switched to conest. It is great program. However i feel i outgrew my old system which was ebm.

I used ebm for 11 years. It is also a great program. It won me a lot of work over the years. It used to be inexpensive and was suited for small guys. Over the last couple of years they got to be expensive. 

My opinion is that ebm is more cumbersome than conest and is more restricted. It does get the job done. Any estimating system can getthe job done, it is just a matter of how efficient.

Accubid is also a good system, however i think it is overated. They seem to market themselves to the larger guys. I used it for a few years. It is not better than conest. 

Cannot speak for mccormick . 

Finally, do not think about estimation/maxwell. They would not even return our email or phone call since maxwell took them over.


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## MDShunk

I'm thinking about carts and horses..,

Sent from my iPhone using ET Forum


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## Hatelec

Accubid is the most amazing thing I've used it's so in-depth on some many ways


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## Hairbone

eutecticalloy said:


> HI, I am about to take my journeyman certification test here in California and eventually would like to start my own business. I am aware that in California you need 4 years of journey level experience. I have an associates in Electrical Construction and Maintenance which the CSLB said they would give me 1.5 years experience for. Plus I currently have 1.5 years "journey level experience," as the CSLB requires. So just about a year left!!! My question is in regards to estimating software. I know this is pre-mature for my situation but I wanted to know what EC's out there use for software and approximate prices.
> 
> In school we used ConEst software, which seemed pretty easy to navigate and I believe it updated itself for current material pricing. So what do you guys use?


 
Conest is great and it does not update pricing without an add on application. With the comodity market fluctuating you need to update your wire and pipe prices per job to be competitive and you can input that yourself.

I suggest you try and find work as an estimator for a company that uses the estimating software to fully learn the system, labor rates and the principles of overhead & profit before you jump into the ring as it will shorten your learning curve by years. You are well on your way as to estimate proficiantly as you need to have working knowledge on how an electrical system is built and that is learned in the field. 

The guys who bid by openning and or throw pricing from the hip are either loosing money or customers and will never atain full potential.


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## eutecticalloy

Right now I primarily do residential but the majority if my experience is commercial. I thinly I would start with residential and work towards commercial jobs.


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## gptechelec

eutecticalloy said:


> Right now I primarily do residential but the majority if my experience is commercial. I thinly I would start with residential and work towards commercial jobs.


I WOULD SUGGEST EBM (ELectrical Bid Manager) IF YOU DO MOSTLY RESIDENTIAL WORK. EVEN THOUGH CONEST, ACCUBID, MCCORMICK, ETC ALL HAVE RESIDENTIAL ASSEMBLIES, EBM ACTUALLY HAS A WHOLE RESIDENTIAL DATABASE AS AN ADD ON FEATURE.

MOST OF YOUR MAJOR ESTIMATING SYSTEMS ARE GEARED TOWARDS COMMERCIAL WORK. 

MY OPININION IS THAT CONEST IS THE SUPERIOR ESTIMATING SYSTEM. IT IS NOT EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE EITHER.


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## desertbucks

I highly recommend McCormick estimating system, it is for all size contractors residential and commercial. The system requires a three day training course at there corporate in AZ. I think they now offer the training course in another state(s). I have used it for 5 years now, it is easy to use.


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## TheBrushMan007

A good place to start is with Mike Holt's Estimating book. After reading the book, it will help you on your decision.
Research, try demo's and make a decision on what feels best for you.


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## chiefestimator

Apologies in advance for a long post. I felt is was important to say why I like ConEst. Our office has used ConEst for about 10 years. Here are a few things I like about it.

The Live Audit Trail - Anything you takeoff is immediately displayed in the center of the screen, making confirmation that you took the right thing off easy. Almost anything can be changed in the audit trail, including prices, labor, factors, etc. You can also cut, copy and paste. This is great for projects like condos and hotels. Take of a typical room off once, then copy and paste it with a multipier to get the other rooms taken off. You can also copy from one project to another.

Comments - You can append or insert comments in the audit trail. This is a great tool for reminding yourself what you were thinking when did the takeoff. We also use comments for listing items such as feeder schedules. After the listing is finished, we can use the feature in the next paragraph to insert the takeoff between the comments. This method eliminates the use of paper or spreadsheet feeder schedules.

Insert/Append - ConEst can do takeoff in an insert or append mode. Insert puts the takeoff wherever your cursur is, and append adds it to the end of the list. This makes keeping your takeoff in a logical order a cinch.

Assemblies - I know, everybody has assemblies. Conest has taken the concept a few steps forward. For instance, a duplex receptacle assembly has all different grades of materials in it, like different depths of rings and different wall plate materials. You can set your "Spec" up front, or do it on the fly during takeoff. I like on the fly. Just click on "Plastic" and "5/8" deepduring a takeoff, save it, and you will not be asked again. 

User Definable Libraries - This is one of the most appreciated features, as it speeds up data entry considerably. I'll give two examples. I have come to think of branch conduit entry in a certain order over the years. I enter conduit, ells, connectors, supports, wire and then miscellaneous. The takeoff libraries can be re-ordered to be the way I think. Another example is industrial underground work. Most of the time, the underground conduit is PVC, and the risers are GRC/PVC Coated. It took me less than five minutes to add the coated materials to the PVC library. Now I do not have to change locations to take off an entire feeder.

Those were the most important features to me. There are many more.


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## Ramixx

have anyone tried RED RHINO?


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## bd06

*First Choice Electrical Residential Estimator*

what about "First Choice Electrical Residential Estimator" Has anyone used this and is it any good?


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## Salvatoreg02

Which software should I be looking for at Conest. Lite, plus, pro or design build?

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## chiefestimator

The lite version is adequate for most estimators, as the core functions all remain. The features taken out are not needed by everybody. They can be added later if you feel you need them. There is a comparison chart on the Conest web site.

Sent from my Captivate us using ET Android.


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## RedHeadElectric

bd06 said:


> what about "First Choice Electrical Residential Estimator" Has anyone used this and is it any good?


I've got it...it's OK, but it could be a lot better. YOu have to manually update the database and average footage lengths. As soon as I can afford it, I will be getting something else. Save your money


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## Irelandinc

*Skip it*

what about "First Choice Electrical Residential Estimator" Has anyone used this and is it any good?[/quote]

The full version at around $1200 is cumbersome and basically I would have to say a waste of money. So I would not expect much from anything else they offer.


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## tkb

I have used ConEst and Accubid for years and my preference is Accubid.
It's like comparing a Chevy and a Ford. It's a preference thing.

For your situation you may not want to get into this yet.

Either software can run between 2k and 6k (depending on the version)along with a yearly maintainence fee of ~$300.

Along with those costs are the monthy costs for the pricing update service from either Trade Service or Epic.
This can be $100 to $200 per month.

Excel may be your best bet for a while until you get established and have some real work to bid.

I have tried all of the Accubid products and I found that for me the best all around estimating software is Accubid Change Order.


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## knowshorts

eutecticalloy said:


> HI, I am about to take my journeyman certification test here in California and eventually would like to start my own business. I am aware that in California you need 4 years of journey level experience. I have an associates in Electrical Construction and Maintenance which the CSLB said they would give me 1.5 years experience for. Plus I currently have 1.5 years "journey level experience," as the CSLB requires. So just about a year left!!! My question is in regards to estimating software. I know this is pre-mature for my situation but I wanted to know what EC's out there use for software and approximate prices.
> 
> In school we used ConEst software, which seemed pretty easy to navigate and I believe it updated itself for current material pricing. So what do you guys use?


Don't worry about being a contractor at this time. You need a lot more time under your belt before you start thinking about being a contractor. You don't even have your cert yet. Try running work and a crew and higher dollar jobs to gain experience. Sure it can be done fast and quick, but you need to put your time in. There are thousands of things you still need to learn, not only electrical, but business wise.

As far as best estimating software goes, I use Excel, pricing sheet no. 235, a cellphone, and email. They're not the best, but they are the most economical.


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## lchapman

Accubid IS, indeed, geared toward the big dogs. The software is not cheap. If you're just starting out (and with residential, primarily) you'll want to stay away from Accubid. The new Accubid Enterprise 5.1 is awesome and they're currently developing a low-voltage database which is supposed to come out full swing with E5.2.

Accubid is NOT user friendly and requires some serious training and practice. (Also expensive).


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## jag76

What about Quantum? Anyone use it? How does it compare to Conest and the others?


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## electrician2hire

Dose any of you guys use a pen and paper :blink:


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## Cemo

electrician2hire said:


> Dose any of you guys use a pen and paper :blink:


Yes that is how I do it, but I don't do any project bidding for GC's yet.
Though it is in the plans. I have been researching for a software, Accubid and Conest are the two most popular ones up here. 
Manual estimating is fine for now but too time consuming for projects bids. 
I will purchase a software soon, what scares me is selecting the good GC's


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## chiefestimator

electrician2hire said:


> Dose any of you guys use a pen and paper :blink:


I did back in BC (Before Computers). Even if you don't want to purchase a dedicated estimating system, at least learn how to use spreadsheets. If you are not familiar with them, they are for numbers what word processors are for letters. Most computers come with spreadsheets. My phone came with a spreadsheet (Quickoffice). I even found a free unit price estimating system for my android phone the other day (A Estimate All Lite). The free version lets you do one estimate at a time. The pro version ($3.99) lets you have multiple estimates running. 

The point here is don't do math by hand when a computer can do it faster, more accurately, make changes and corrections faster, and print out quotes that can be read by the customer. It makes you look more proffesional. 

Also, many customers are really impressed when you go see the work, go out to your truck, whip up an estimate, print it out and present them with with a legible quote in minutes.

Lastly, spreadsheets are fine for small estimates. Once you start doing larger work, a dedicated electrical estimating system will have a very quick return on investment.


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## Cemo

chiefestimator said:


> I did back in BC (Before Computers). Even if you don't want to purchase a dedicated estimating system, at least learn how to use spreadsheets. If you are not familiar with them, they are for numbers what word processors are for letters. Most computers come with spreadsheets. My phone came with a spreadsheet (Quickoffice). I even found a free unit price estimating system for my android phone the other day (A Estimate All Lite). The free version lets you do one estimate at a time. The pro version ($3.99) lets you have multiple estimates running.
> 
> The point here is don't do math by hand when a computer can do it faster, more accurately, make changes and corrections faster, and print out quotes that can be read by the customer. It makes you look more proffesional.
> 
> Also, many customers are really impressed when you go see the work, go out to your truck, whip up an estimate, print it out and present them with with a legible quote in minutes.
> 
> Lastly, spreadsheets are fine for small estimates. Once you start doing larger work, a dedicated electrical estimating system will have a very quick return on investment.


What do you call a small project in other words at what price point using softwares make sense. 
My target projects are less than $100,000 
Typically around $50-60K do you think investing on a software is worth it.


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## chiefestimator

Cemo said:


> What do you call a small project in other words at what price point using softwares make sense.
> My target projects are less than $100,000
> Typically around $50-60K do you think investing on a software is worth it.


You can measure the return on investment in hours saved. First, estimating software does not save any time with the takeoff. It saves time by exploding assemblies, listing, pricing and laboring the material, summarizing the material, adding all the related costs (quotes, rentals, subcontractors, etc.) and doing all the math. 

For the project size you mentioned, it could save about 4 hours per project. There will be a learning curve no matter which software you choose. There may also be costs related to obtaining material pricing.

Here is a simplified calculation, assuming no lost time for learning and no costs for material pricing services. It also assumes you would be working if you were not estimating.

Cost to purchase software 2,250.00
Hours saved per estimate 4.00
Your billing rate 100.00
Your savings per estimate 400.00
# of estimates to recup purchase 5.63

Even if your billing rate was $50.00, you could still pay for the software in 11.25 estimates. 

PS - It took me a minute to prepare that chart in a spreadsheet.


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## Cemo

For the project size you mentioned, it could save about 4 hours per project. There will be a learning curve no matter which software you choose. There may also be costs related to obtaining material pricing.

I was at Accubid (head office) today looking at the BidWinner and the LiveCount. 
I found it very user friendly, I can see myself pricing twice the number of projects with that setup. I was impressed with the LiveCount also but the price was a turnoff.
I know you are a Conest fan. I haven't seen that one yet but I will try to do a trial soon.
Thanks for the info.


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## rnr electric

i have never used bid software, but am really looking at it hard. does it take into account things like cut up houses,(or can you add for that),market increases,what percentage profit do most people acheive and does it allow you to stay competitive and still maintain decent profit margin?. Also i keep seeing Mike Holts name thrown into the ring and have done very little research on this man, but he seems very respected so any input on his policies and procedures would be greatly appreciated as well.. Thanks in advance


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## TheBrushMan007

rnr electric said:


> i have never used bid software, but am really looking at it hard. does it take into account things like cut up houses,(or can you add for that),market increases,what percentage profit do most people acheive and does it allow you to stay competitive and still maintain decent profit margin?. Also i keep seeing Mike Holts name thrown into the ring and have done very little research on this man, but he seems very respected so any input on his policies and procedures would be greatly appreciated as well.. Thanks in advance


I highly recommend reading his book on estimating.
Choosing the right software is important, a lot depends on what type of work you are doing. There is no point investing in software that does not fit your needs.


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## mdfriday

chiefestimator said:


> You can measure the return on investment in hours saved. First, estimating software does not save any time with the takeoff. It saves time by exploding assemblies, listing, pricing and laboring the material, summarizing the material, adding all the related costs (quotes, rentals, subcontractors, etc.) and doing all the math.
> 
> For the project size you mentioned, it could save about 4 hours per project. There will be a learning curve no matter which software you choose. There may also be costs related to obtaining material pricing.
> 
> Here is a simplified calculation, assuming no lost time for learning and no costs for material pricing services. It also assumes you would be working if you were not estimating.
> 
> Cost to purchase software 2,250.00
> Hours saved per estimate 4.00
> Your billing rate 100.00
> Your savings per estimate 400.00
> # of estimates to recup purchase 5.63
> 
> Even if your billing rate was $50.00, you could still pay for the software in 11.25 estimates.
> 
> PS - It took me a minute to prepare that chart in a spreadsheet.


I have used excel (spreadsheet) to bid jobs over $200,000. It is mostly being comfortable and confident in what you are using. I can do a resi bid in excel in less than a half hour, as all my assemblies are built. I can do a commercial bid, $100,000 in an hour or two or so. It is all how you set up your take-off and how you have set up you spreadsheet.

It took some time to get my spreadsheets built, but once they are set up for your style, you are set, and it make estimating a lot faster.

For most commericial work, I prefer a system, such as EBM or Conest. Those are what I use. For residential, I prefer and only use Excel.


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## nitro71

knowshorts said:


> Don't worry about being a contractor at this time. You need a lot more time under your belt before you start thinking about being a contractor. You don't even have your cert yet. Try running work and a crew and higher dollar jobs to gain experience. Sure it can be done fast and quick, but you need to put your time in. There are thousands of things you still need to learn, not only electrical, but business wise.
> 
> As far as best estimating software goes, I use Excel, pricing sheet no. 235, a cellphone, and email. They're not the best, but they are the most economical.


What is Excel pricing sheet no. 235? Where can I download it to check it out? Thanks!


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## knowshorts

nitro71 said:


> What is Excel pricing sheet no. 235? Where can I download it to check it out? Thanks!


2 different things. Notice the comma.

Here is a link to the 235's. Nebs sells them at retail. A little Google search will find them at half that.

http://nebs.com/nebsEcat/ValidatePromoServlet?mailCode=005VT&path=products/product_detail.jsp&pc=235


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## nitro71

knowshorts said:


> 2 different things. Notice the comma.
> 
> Here is a link to the 235's. Nebs sells them at retail. A little Google search will find them at half that.
> 
> http://nebs.com/nebsEcat/ValidatePromoServlet?mailCode=005VT&path=products/product_detail.jsp&pc=235


 
I wasn't quite sure if it was the Nebs or some free MS template. Thanks!


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## knowshorts

nitro71 said:


> I wasn't quite sure if it was the Nebs or some free MS template. Thanks!


If you have any Excel experience, you can create that form fairy easy.


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## Mr Rewire

electrician2hire said:


> Dose any of you guys use a pen and paper :blink:


 A constapated mathamatician..... worked it out with a pencil


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## SoSpec

I have used ACCUBID for years and can make it "sing and dance". I had a recent customer who wanted me to use his CONEST system by inputting data remotely. I can see that it could be a very useful system, but going in cold trying to locate his assemblies was very time consuming. Of course, if I used it daily like I do ACCUBID, I am sure it would become "second nature". So, in short, the best estimating system is the one that you USE consistently. You can not buy a system, put it on the shelf, and expect it to work by itself.


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## Lighting Retro

I like the suggestion of working for someone doing estimating to become a master at the software. Any time you can learn new skills on someone else's dime, that is better for you in the long run. Reinventing the wheel is overrated.


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## Nunoslg

The Best Bid Hybrid is the best electrical estimating software to buy.
Cost-ease of use-functionality 
Software Advice turned me on to them. 
Second choice would be EBM then intellibid
The rest are too slow and hard to learn.


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## Tiger

Nunoslg said:


> The Best Bid Hybrid is the best electrical estimating software to buy.
> Cost-ease of use-functionality
> Software Advice turned me on to them.
> Second choice would be EBM then intellibid
> The rest are too slow and hard to learn.


Good answer to a four year old question. Welcome to the forum.


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## Nunoslg

Tiger if I found it 4 years later I am sure someone else will find it too. LOL
I spend a lot of time estimating. Just added my 2 cents.


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