An updated version of the BidSmart Estimator has been uploaded and can be downloaded for free (as usual.) Several new features, enhancements to some existing ones, and a few good bug fixes here and there highlight this minor release.
What’s New in Version 2.0 – 11.21.22?
First, there have been several fixes to printing and exporting estimates and scopes of work. These fixes mainly affected the exportation and formatting of subtotals. I added the subtotal feature when a client asked for it. Personally, I’m not particularly eager to give my customers a detailed cost breakdown because I have found they tend “pick” at it more. Dissecting a large estimate without genuinely understanding the relationships between different phases or tasks within a project is not beneficial. Since a very good Itemized Report can be printed from an Estimate, I overlooked it. So the subtotaling function was less than perfect from neglect.
But I used it…more than I would have thought. So I have constantly improved it.
The subtotal issues have been fixed. Besides formatting changes, every Scope of Work and a few other exported PDF documents now have the option to include or exclude the subtotals. This may not be a big deal to you, however, it took hours of coding and trying to break the code to get it right. Hopefully, it is.
Having dependable, readable, and good-looking documents has been something that I have worked on for many hours while programming the Estimator. Let me know if you feel that they are not what they are promoted to be.
Additional (simplified) text formatting
The ability to click and “Strike Through” a Description of Work is available on the context menu. Now it is accessible on the Data Entry form. While the context menu allows striking through a selection of tasks, the new feature only acts on the current line item. But that is what the Data Entry form is for, working with a single line item. You can see its tick box in the following image.
Below and to the left you will see the new feature to change the Description of Work text color to Red (and back to Black.) I needed this to work with a client and an Engineer. The Data Entry form allows you to Mark a Line (see the button at the middle right of the form.) I use line marking to remind me to go back and look at that line item (and maybe its costs) later. It is temporary. Red text is meant to stay with the document and is printable. This feature is also available on the context menu and can act on more than one line at a time from there.
Move Up or Down…
The Data Entry form now has the ability to Move UP or Move DOWN a line item. Clicking the button once moves the line up 1 row or down 1 row. If you need to move it more, click it more. All the while the Data Entry form maintains a connection with the original Description of Work and its costs.
These and a few other boring bug fixes are included in the BidSmart Estimator Version 2.0 – 11.21.22. As always, you can download it from here.