Time saved / Price and send the quote
Subcontractor quote software that builds your claim schedule too
How long a subbie quote takes in Excel and what YourCA removes: line build-ups, merchant prices, terms, the letterhead and the claim schedule after acceptance.
The builder compares quotes. You build one from nothing, often at night, for a job you may not win. When you do win, the priced lines get typed again into a claim schedule.
- By hand
- 8 h 20 min
- In Excel
- 6 h 10 min
- In YourCA
- 1 h 25 min
- Saved
- 6 h 55 min
Estimate for a 6-month electrical job with 10 people on it, each quote that wins the job. Set your own job.
The risk it heads off
- An exclusion left off the quote turns into free work on site.Your standard exclusions and clarifications go on every quote.
- The builder accepts an old revision of your quote.An issued quote is frozen. A change raises a new revision, so each one names one price.
- The claim schedule is retyped after you win and never adds up.The schedule comes from the accepted quote, to the cent.
Step by step
| Step | By hand | Excel | YourCA | What YourCA does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price each line from labour, materials and hire | 120 min | 90 min | 45 min | Works out the unit rate, the section totals and the margin as you type. |
| Look up merchant prices | 45 min | 40 min | 10 min | Search your merchant price lists from inside the line. The price fills the material cost. |
| Ask merchants to price the fixtures | 30 min | 30 min | 5 min | Writes the request and a supply-only schedule. It opens in your own email. |
| Write the exclusions and conditions | 30 min | 20 min | 3 min | Pulls in the term sets you saved once. |
| Price lines you have priced before | 45 min | 30 min | 5 min | Save a line once, build-up and all. Add a copy to any quote in one press. |
| Look up the margin you gave this builder last time | 10 min | 5 min | 1 min | Shows the margin your last quote to the same builder used. One press uses it. |
| Lay the quote out on your letterhead | 40 min | 30 min | 2 min | One press makes the document from the same totals as the screen. |
| Revise it when the builder asks | 60 min | 45 min | 10 min | Makes a new revision and keeps the old one. The totals stay right. |
| Check what changed between two revisions | 30 min | 20 min | 2 min | Lays two revisions side by side: each line, what was added, removed or changed, and the difference in the price. |
| Type the priced lines into a claim schedule after you win | 90 min | 60 min | 2 min | Accept turns the priced lines into your contract value schedule. |
| Total, each quote that wins the job | 500 min | 370 min | 85 min |
How to do it in YourCA
Questions subbies ask
- Can I keep my own margin and rates?
- Yes. You set the cost and the margin on each line. YourCA does the sums and shows the sell price.
- Does the builder see my rates?
- Only if you choose. The print settings decide how much pricing the quote document shows.
Get the hours back on your next job
Your first job is free. See what YourCA runs or every function’s time saved.
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