Adding other items to bid and proposal forms

[Paul Fleckenstein]

How do I add misc items to the bid and proposal forms? They don’t seem editable.

For instance, poly vapor barrier with price, or ducting fan etc?

[Andy Bardwell]

The Bid Form is a very flexible estimation tool that can contain a wide variety of items to customize a cost estimate. This forum post describes some basic ways to edit the Bid Form.

Each step below is illustrated by Screenshots that demonstrate setting details for a crawl vapor barrier.

1. Bid… Button: Each Improvement has a Bid… button that will take you to the Bid Form with settings that show the rows for that improvement. (See ScreenShot#1CrawlBidButton.jpg)

2. Improvements vs. Line Items: The Bid Form allows for adding customizable items and costs in two primary different ways. Each Improvement area on the Bid Form includes rows above and below a hashed line. (See ScreenShot#2CrawlBidFormImprovement&LineItems.jpg)

2.1 Improvement Items: above the hashed line. These are rows that are set by controls in the interface. For example, setting the insulation type for crawl improvements is an Improvement item.

2.2 Line Items: below the hashed line. These re rows that can be edited at will by the user. New line items can be added to the Bid template, so the user can add new items for use in all future projects. For example, the Crawl section has line items for cleaning up an old vapor barrier, and another for blocking crawl space vents.

3. Edit Improvements for the current project only: Improvement items can be edited for the current project only, versus editing them for future projects by editing the Template, shown in Step #8. These edits will only appear in the Bid Form. (see ScreenShot#3EditImprovmentforProjectOnly.jpg)

4. Remove Improvement & add Line Item: the vapor barrier improvement can also be removed by setting the number of Units to 0, and then setting the number of units for the line item vapor barrier to any amount. (See ScreenShot#4RemoveImprovement&EditLineItem.jpg)

5. Adding Items to the Template: Line Items can be added to the Template by using the Add Items option. (See ScreenShot#5AddLineItemButton.jpg)

6. Add Line Item to the Template: Adding an Item to the Template begins by making a copy of a similar item, and then editing the copy. (See ScreenShot#6AddLineItem.jpg)

7. Edit Added Line Item: A new Line Item, or a previously existing Line Item, can be edited. The Description, Taxability, Labor and Material unit costs, Cost Unit, Checkbox to include the item on the Bid Form, and Notes can all be edited. (See ScreenShot#7EditAddedLineItem.jpg)

8. Edit Improvement Selections: Improvement selections can also be edited for future projects on the Template. The Description, Taxability, Labor and Material unit costs, Cost Unit, Checkbox to include the item on the Bid Form, a Checkbox to make the selection the default, and Notes can all be edited. (See ScreenShot#8EditImprovementSelection.jpg)

[Paul Fleckenstein]

Made some progress. Couple questions:
1. On the bid form, I see how to edit a line item, but not how to add one in a new row. Can I add a new row on the bid form for a line item?
2. If I have indicated a line item (vapor barrier in crawl space, for instance), but have selected no Improvement for the area, then the line item doesn’t show up in the proposal–although it does show up on the bid form. Is there a way to get it to show up on the proposal?

Thanks

[Andy Bardwell]

There are two options for creating a line item that says what you want on the Bid Form (copying from the original list of tasks):

4. … add Line Item: – you can edit ANYTHING on a line item row the description, unit costs, and count. So, you can commandeer any of the line items you’re not using, and edit to say what you want.

5. Adding Items to the Template: Line Items can be added to the Template by using the Add Items option. This option takes more time, and can’t be done from the Bid Form, but it allows you to add Line Items to the Template, that will show up on the Bid Form permanently.

[Paul Fleckenstein]

Changes to bid form line items are adding costs incorrectly and not correctly transferring to report: see screen shots

[Matt Sharpe]

Paul and Andy – can I suggest as easier method would be to enter measures like these as “other” measures in the “safety” section of the tool. Just under critical issues… or those you mention specifically can be entered as “moisture” issues in the critical issues section that have a recommendation to repair.

[Paul Fleckenstein]

This works better! Can safety improvements show up on the proposal form? They currently do not.

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