Trainer’s Corner

June, 2011

Creating an Estimate Breakdown and Allocating Costs

By Gary Rutledge, Instructor

In Accubid PRO you can break down an estimate; this breakdown would include all direct and indirect costs as well as any taxes, overhead or markups applied to the costs.

Figure 1 - Left 001 [Price Summary] + Right 002 [Breakdown View drop-down]

To prepare a breakdown, go to the Breakdown Screen, select the breakdown you would like to display from the Breakdown View drop-down box.

After selecting the desired Breakdown, click the Reload button.

Figure 2 – 003 [Cursor at the Reload button]

Figure 3 – 004 [System Breakdown after reload with un-allocated costs]

The software will sum the values for each System based on which System the takeoff was assigned to. Any hours added on the Incidental, Labor Factoring and Indirect Labor screens will be assigned to each System based on the labor ratios calculated on the Extension screen. Any Labor Escalation costs would be distributed in a similar manner.

The software will not distribute the Subcontractor, General Expense, Equipment or Quoted Material costs until the user assigns these allocations as they deem appropriate. The Revised Total value shown in red indicates that costs have not been allocated. The allocation of each cost is done on the screen where it was entered.

Go to the screen where a cost was entered. On the right side of the description field for the cost, click the ellipses button. The cost allocation dialog will open.

Figure 4 – 007 [Ellipsis button on the Subcontractor Screen]

Displayed at the top of the dialog will be the description of the cost selected and the amount to be allocated. Select the breakdown where the costs will be allocated by clicking the appropriate tab in the dialog. The costs can be allocated by a percentage or a specific dollar assignment.

Figure 5 – 008 [Allocating costs by percentage]

Costs can be allocated to another breakdown without leaving the dialog by clicking on another tab.

Figure 6 – 009 [Cost being allocated bay a specific dollar value]

To continue entering cost allocations, click the appropriate tab at the bottom of the application; select the cost to allocate and enter appropriate percentages or dollar amounts.

Figure 7 – 010 [Inspection Permit costs to be allocated on the General Expense Screen]

If costs are to be allocated evenly across multiple breakdowns the Fill Balance button will do this. Select the breakdowns where the costs are to be distributed and then click the Fill Balance button. Holding the Ctrl button down allows non-contiguous fields to be selected.

Figure 8 – 011 [Selecting multiple Phases for even allocation using Fill Balance]

Figure 9 – 012 [After Fill Balance has been applied]

If costs have been allocated for one expense and you want to allocate the costs of another expense using the same percentages, select the established values, then right-click and copy these values. Choose another cost. Right-click in the first applicable field and paste the values. If there is any imbalance displayed, clear any one of the values and use the Fill Balance button.

Figure 10 – 013 [Copying established percentages from the Consumables cost]

Figure 11 – 014 [Pasting the values to the Small Tools cost]

Once all the costs have been allocated, return to the Breakdown Screen and click the reload button. The software will distribute all costs as they have been assigned by the user. If any costs have not been allocated, the software will advise the user of this fact.

Figure 13 – 016 [Allocated costs after reload]

If it is necessary to create a view using multiple breakdowns click the Add button to the right of the Breakdown View drop-down. In the Bid Breakdown View dialog, select the required breakdown and then click the Add button for each level of breakdown required. Click OK and then click the Reload button to refresh the new view.

Figure 14 - Left 017 [Add button] - Right 018 [Selecting multiple breakdowns]

Figure 15 – 019 [Multi-level Breakdown after reload]

Using the Breakdown Screen simplifies the task of providing detailed information of the bid based on the Takeoff Breakdowns you established.

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