General.

• D’est uses the windows ‘point and click’ functionality to reduce the time required to produce an estimate.
• It can be used as a standalone system for the single user or can be fully networked to accommodate a full estimating team. Data may be easily transferred to a laptop to enable the ‘on site’ production of estimates.

• A unique set of unit codes have been devised to automate many of the calculations required in compiling an estimation.

• Industry accepted ‘Discipline Codes’ are used to categorise all items enabling particular items to be found quickly and easily.

Price Books.

• D’est allows Supplier Price Book data to be imported directly into the main database. This avoids the potential for errors when re-keying data and provides an easy method for obtaining the latest pricing information.
• Where necessary, Price Books may be created for specific tasks. (D’est refers to these as ‘Base’ Price Books)
• Base Price Books, if created on a stand-alone-system can be easily shared with other users using the Base Price Books Import/Export feature.

Working on an Estimate.

• Specific items to be inserted into the estimate are easily found using either Discipline Codes or by item description.
• If necessary, items may be created from ‘scratch’ and, if required for other estimates, may be saved into a Base Price Book. If another Base Price Book needs to be created this can be done ‘on the fly’.
• An estimation may be searched to quickly find specific items.
• Every item has a memo field to enhance descriptions and usage.
• Simple data entry enables quick and accurate insertion of items into estimate.

Estimate Adjustments.

• ‘Supplier Discounts’ across the entire estimation may be changed at the click of a button.
• Any Rates (fabrication rate, site rate etc.) used in an estimation can be changed quickly and easily without the need to change each one individually.
• ‘Overheads’ may be left as separate entities or may be spread in whole or part across the direct costs of the estimation.

Reporting.

• A variety of reports may be produced quickly and easily covering topics such as: Materials Data, Labour Data, Line Totals, Overheads, Procurement Report and many others.
• Each report may be produced in full detail or as a summary.
• Reports may be exported directly into Excel or as an ASCII delimited file allowing integration with a variety of other applications.

• User defined ‘Link Codes’ allow reports to be produced using descriptions from ‘other’ data bases. This feature is useful in producing reports that may link to an existing Financial Package.