Can anyone tell me what programs they are using for keeping things organized. Right now I use quickbooks for accounting. What I am looking for now is a program that will allow me to input all my estimates in, keep track of which ones I won, which ones have been completed, which ones havent been, create work orders.

What programs are you using to keep all of this organized.

Thanks

Which version of Quickbooks are you using?
Most Quickbooks; EasyStart, Pro, Premier etc., can do everything you're looking for a program to do.

If you're using Quickbooks Accounting Edition (approx retail $500) it's designed specifically for Accountants to manage multiple Quickbooks clients more efficiently.

You could always try contacting Intuit and asking if they could provide you with a more appropriate version for your needs - Quickbooks Pro (approx retail $200) - they may be able to switch your program at no or little added cost if you ask nice and point out that you're already a Quickbooks client.
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"A roof projection???...Do you mean you'd like a Re-roof Estimate?"

Check out Acculynx www.acculynx.com I believe they have an integration with QB.
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Thanks for the help, right now I use excel to make my estimates because I have developed a spreadsheet to input numbers that spits out my pricing, is there a way to import this data into quickbooks pro without re typing it? Also a program for easily drawing roof profiles would be nice. Right now I just hand draw and do the math on paper then scan it into the computer. But if I could draw it already on the computer with relative easy and get my area that way I might be able to save some time.

I am having trouble because, right now I develop a detailed estimate in excel which includes bundle count, labor, etc.. all lines items broken down. Then I have the estimate I give to the homeowners which is much more general without all that information and I am having trouble inputting this excel file into quickbooks and then how to blank out some of the columns so the customer copy doesn't include all of the information that is just for myself.

Aroofing wrote:

I am having trouble because, right now I develop a detailed estimate in excel which includes bundle count, labor, etc.. all lines items broken down. Then I have the estimate I give to the homeowners which is much more general without all that information and I am having trouble inputting this excel file into quickbooks and then how to blank out some of the columns so the customer copy doesn't include all of the information that is just for myself.

Maybe you can create a separate worksheet in your workbook that only contains the data you want to export to QB? OR, you can create an export file and simply delete the rows/columns that you don't to import prior to importing it? I haven't tried to import from Excel into QB but it seems logical to me that one of these two options might work. If you try this or have tried and failed please let me know. Good luck...Tony

what programs are out there that are you guys are using for estimates and keeping them organized? I know lots of people here use xactimate anyone else using anything different.

All of my take offs are in spiral notebooks in order by date. i write sold and highlight it if i sell the job. I have every estimate i have ever done on file by date. Very easy to find. My estimates to the home owner are on 3 part copy paper. i just fill in a few blanks by handwriting (the home owner doesnt really care if it has the numbers filled in by hand). 1 copy to home owner. 1 copy filed in "estimates out" file by date. 1 copy to office manager. We also have a sales room in the office with marker boards on the wall that we write down what we have bid and what we have won so everyone can see it and everyone knows who is bidding & winning and who is not. Also at the end of every day we adjust our closing rate on the marker board. Im usually around 42%.
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This is Excel based & will work on Open Office (calc)



I also have one for a P&L breakdown on each job, however it lacks an entry for milage as this is variable & won't be accurate until the project is completed & the final collection is done:




If you send me an Email, I will forward these to you in a format that can be opened by Excel. Obviously, these are both templates & I can modify pieces on an 'as needed' basis, i.e. I remove 3Tab & leave in Dimensional, etc.
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Aroofing wrote:

..., right now I use excel to make my estimates because I have developed a spreadsheet to input numbers that spits out my pricing, is there a way to import this data into quickbooks pro without re typing it? ...

I think most of what you now do in your Excel worksheets you could input & have calculated directly in Quickbooks with the right one-time set up of Item and Price lists.I would suggest looking for a local Quickbooks Advisor to help set everything up. You could import your Excel columns into the corresponding Lists and use that as your starting base.

If you set up 2 Estimate templates, by switching between them you could have - 1 with all details for your use (with including customization of the Other 1 & 2 columns and added data fields in your layout) - and 1 for Customer with less detail in print but still some of your data on screen for reference.


Hope that helps a bit...it's way too much work for me to tackle for my files. We manage estimates the old-fashioned way...notepads & carbon books. The only ones I enter in Quickbooks are those for jobs awarded or any that have to be faxed or e-mailed. Husband measures and does estimating for every roof and once he's seen it he never forgets it. The odd time there might be a small sketch beside his calculations in his notepad, or a note: skylite - so I know we're dealing with a round skylight.
_________________
"A roof projection???...Do you mean you'd like a Re-roof Estimate?"

Thanks for the help, my organization used to be fine when I was a small time. We used to mainly just do subwork for larger companies then all of a sudden I started getting more calls than I could handle and started booking up jobs and the paperwork was just a mess since I was doing all the books myself.

We are still fairly small two crews,I still nail on one crew (Im young and want to keep the business small enough that I cant continue to roof and keep organized because I enjoy the work) and now that our season is wrapping up im just trying to get see how other people organize their stuff.

So thanks for the help.

You may want to looking to some sort of CRM. Salesforce, Chronicle, Surado to name a few. Cabinet NG/CNG Books are one of the best add on’s to QB’S you could possible buy. We implemented Cabinet Ng about five years ago and absolutely changed our office. As for estimating, we are currently testing Estimation Pro which gets the job done efficiently. They currently don't support QB'S sync but have stated that they will by spring.

The only CRM,diagram,estimating, production managment, sales reporting tool that is 100% web-based built for Roofers is acculynx.com.

Salesforce cannot give you what acculynx.com can. Acculynx integrates with Quickbooks too, to make it easy.

Acculynx also allows you to do profit analysis prior to doing the job based on current materials and labor. Then break the job down after too to see variance. Manage all your customers via integrated google maps, weather overlay, etc.

See these youtubes or go to acculynx.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_Jaq5qCOBw

Use it anywhere in the world. Its web-based.

Eagleview integration too.

techiroofer wrote:

The only CRM,diagram,estimating, production managment, sales reporting tool that is 100% web-based built for Roofers is acculynx.com. Salesforce cannot give you what acculynx.com can. Acculynx integrates with Quickbooks too, to make it easy. Acculynx also allows you to do profit analysis prior to doing the job based on current materials and labor. Then break the job down after too to see variance. Manage all your customers via integrated google maps, weather overlay, etc. See these youtubes or go to acculynx.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_Jaq5qCOBw Use it anywhere in the world. Its web-based. Eagleview integration too.

Ok lets let the cat out of the bag (pun intended!) on the site it says 1-5 users how much?????????????

Acculynx prices its software as a license based on a per user/per month fee. There is also volume discounts for larger seat companies.

1-5 users is $99 per month/per user.

Acculynx has companies as small as 1 user all the way to 150 users and 10 offices. Volume discounts are given after a live demo and user amounts are negotiated.

Free updates and no contract or cancellation fees. 30 day FREE TRIAL.


Hope this helps.