I run across many contractors still performing electrical estimates by hand using paper and a calculator. This is OK for small electrical contractors, such as electricians just starting their own company. At the beginning of a small company’s growth, computer hardware, software and training can be an expensive and complicated investment. Doing your estimating and accounting with paper forms and ledgers is very inexpensive.

At some point in a company’s growth, though, paper systems no longer make sense. They are prone to human error and eventually become cumbersome as company size increases. As a company procures more projects and employees, paper bookkeeping becomes more time-consuming, and the same is true for estimating.

As a young estimator, I was in a position to evaluate computer versus manual estimating systems. At my first job as an estimator, the company subscribed to the Estimatic Electrical Estimating System. The takeoff was entered into a Teletype machine and sent to a mainframe computer in Denver. When the mainframe finished, the price and labor report was returned through the Teletype. This is how I learned to complete an estimate once the takeoff was finished.

Estimating without a computer

At my second electrical estimating job, there was no computer system. Counting and measuring the plans did not change. However, I first had to learn how to manually create a price and labor report, which was simply called a price sheet. It was awful. It seemed to take forever to break down the counts into their component parts and write them on the price sheet. Next, I had to manually write in the prices, while the boss wrote in the labor unit of each component. 

Then, everyone in the office had to multiply (extend) the prices and labor unit on each line of the price sheet and then calculate the total for the price and labor extensions. Since this method was prone to errors such as typos and calculation mistakes, the receptionist double checked our math. The final part of manual estimating includes creating a recapitulation (recap) and revising prices. This part of the process required us to erase entries and recalculate price sheets and the recap frequently as new quotes and material pricing were sent to us.

This process took the efforts of four people at two hours each, for a total of eight hours. This really bothered me, because it was a lot less efficient compared to my previous employment. Eventually, my employer saved my sanity when he purchased a computer estimating system, which performed most of the work within five minutes. A faster printer would have delivered reports more quickly. The only step remaining was for me to create a recap.

Forty years later, computer estimating systems have come a long way. Computers cost less, run faster, are more reliable and have more memory and storage. The creators of estimating software have taken advantage of this by adding capabilities and features I could only dream of when I first started estimating on a computer. Let’s take a look at the features of current electrical estimating systems.

Database

My first personal computer-based estimating system was good for residential and small- to medium-sized commercial work. I don’t remember exactly how many assemblies and components were available. My best guess is about 1,000 components and 300 assemblies. It did not have the components required for large commercial and industrial work. My current estimating system has over 135,000 electrical and low-voltage material items, with more than 500,000 prebuilt assembly kits for all construction types, including alternative energy, data/comm and heavy industrial.

Material pricing

My first personal estimating system required that I manually enter material price updates. The updates were sent to us as paper replacement pages for our price book. Today’s estimating programs can receive automatic price updates through the internet from pricing services or directly from wholesale houses. I can’t tell you how much I do not miss manual price updates.

Organization

Early computer estimating could not do much in the way of organization. Many of today’s projects require bids to be broken down into multiple bid items. If you are preparing a bid consisting of unit prices, it could be more than a hundred. Most of today’s estimating systems perform these bid breakdowns easily.

Payoff

Today, a full-featured estimating system can be purchased for around $2,500. After learning to use the system, you will save about eight hours of work on a $250,000 bid. It does not take long for your investment to pay off. So yes, it is time to consider a computerized electrical estimating system.

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