Listing of Local Materials/Subs not in System Wide Materials Codebook
Are you inputting the same materials on the fly for every estimate? To increase your efficiency do the following. When your estimate has been completed get a list of the created materials/subs and move them into the system wide codebook. Two ways to do this….
Using HeavyBid to Calculate Project’s Cost to Complete
HeavyBid is a good tool for calculating a project’s cost to complete and it gives you a snapshot of each succeeding month’s remaining work. Start with the conformed estimate and at the end of each month for each bid item (or you can do it at the…
Clean up Spreadsheet Calculations
If you are a regular reader of my blogs you know I like the internal spreadsheet (SpreadSheet Gear) in HeavyBid. But honestly there are a lot of spreadsheets in the list that you will never use such as all the Metric ones (unless you are…
FMI Corporation – Management Training
FMI has been around a long time and they are known for their training courses in leadership development. They have resources for training from maximizing labor productivity (they claim 5-10% of annual field costs in savings), business development and risk management. I see a lot of owners…
Copy from Other Estimates – Version 2015
The new Copy function in HeavyBid Version 2015 is a big improvement over the the previous routine. In 2014 and previous versions if you copied from another estimate with different labor and equipment codes it would bring those resources over with their costs. The issue is…
Spreadsheet Gear – HeavyBid Internal Spreadsheet
The internal spreadsheet is probably the most under utilized feature in HeavyBid. It is actually a third party software called SpreadsheetGear. It is very “Excel” like and in HeavyBid Version 2015 the version of SpreadsheetGear has been updated to the latest version (2012). Here is…
Trapping Errors – Detect Changes to Activities
In Version 2015 the activity “Unreviewed” box preference is estimate specific (See my previous blog detailing this revision LINK). This is a very significant change since previously it could be changed only for all estimates (system preference). So this is how it can work for…
Tool Preferences V2015-Unreviewed Activity Check Box
Tools>Preferences is an area that many HeavyBid users don’t customize or at least review regularly. If your company has updated Version 2015 now is the time to review all the preferences and at the same time customize options to take advantage of HeavyBid extensive feature…
New Basis for Addons HeavyBid Version 2015
There are four new basis calculations in the Summary>Addons in HeavyBid 2015. These are undocumented but fairly easy to follow. Background: There are two types of calculations in the basis of Addons. The first is the simple % calculation where a total is provided and…
Indirect Bid Item(s) Versus Indirects in Mobilization-Best Practice Discussion
I train companies new to HeavyBid who historically have put their indirect costs all in mobilization. Estimators who do this come from a background of estimating with a spreadsheet or just by hand where it was difficult to spread indirect costs. Usually companies that continue…
HeavyBid – Basics and Beyond is devoted to everything HCSS HeavyBid and estimating. Updated regularly with helpful insights and tools of the trade, this blog is designed to make your estimating easier and more successful.
