What’s New in v2.5

In case you don’t like watching videos…

Here’s a screenshot followed by a list of some of the new features:

Version 2.5 is packed with some powerful new features that YOU requested. Here are some of the highlights:

  1. Having over nine thousand parts in the database is great, but it can be kind of a headache when you have to sort through them all of them to find the part you’re looking for. The new Search mode saves you this time and hassle. The part window has also been widened so you can see more of the part description when scrolling through the list.
  2. A “Labor Hours” column has been added to the details mode so you can quickly see the estimated time required for each individual item.
  3. Below the part list there are now column totals so you can infer more information about your project without breaking out the calculator. The top, black line totals all of the actual costs for that column (without markup) while the blue line shows the column totals after the markup has been applied.
  4. You now have the ability to define a different markup for material, labor, and subcontractor costs, whereas before you could only specify a single markup percentage.
  5. In the last release we gave you greater control over the project manager table documents by allowing you to pick and choose which columns to include. We have taken this a step further by giving you the ability to choose to include or exclude the markup values throughout the table, regardless of whether you’re in details mode or summary mode. So for example if you want to show the project information summarized by category, excluding the rough-in and finish hours, and excluding markup for your project manager… you can do it! Or if you would like to present your customer with a detailed project list, showing only the labor hours and material costs for each item, with the markup included… you can do that too! You now have more flexibility than ever before in choosing what project information you’d like to convey.
  6. In past releases if you couldn’t find the exact part you were looking for with the exact right costs you had to go to the Parts Tool, create a new custom part, return to the Project Manager, find your new part, and then add it. This was a time-intensive process, particularly if you do a lot of custom work. The new Part Adjuster eliminates all of that hassle. Simply double-click on an item in your estimate and then make any changes you want. Change the part description, the pricing information, even the proposal texts all from right here in the Project Manager.
  7. As we all know, the scope of a project is always changing, which is why Clear Estimates allows you to create Alternates and track changes using the Cost Status Report. A customer may request dozens if not hundreds of changes throughout a project and every once in a while when you go to collect a payment they’ll say “I don’t remember authorizing this work”. Now you can print off a form directly from the alternate screen that defines the alternate and its associated cost. Have your customers sign off on each Alternate Work Order and you won’t have to worry about these run-ins.

We have also made a number of more subtle changes that will make your time using Clear Estimates even more streamlined:

  • Throughout the program parts will always appear according to their part ranking defined in the Parts Tool. There are also new up/down arrows in the Parts Tool to make rearranging their positions easier.
  • When using the P-Q-U-D buttons in the part editor, the appropriate text will now appear wherever your cursor is located, rather than the end of the line.
  • When you’re done editing a part, it will return to where you left off in the Parts Tool, rather than starting over at the top. So now you won’t need to scroll through the entire list again and again if you’re making lots of alterations to the part library.
  • The template list in the Project Manager, Template View has been alphabetized to help you find your template more quickly.
  • The new Email icon found in the report viewer allows you to automatically open your default email program with a message addressed to your customer and the PDF document attached.
  • It can be difficult to remember what the different Hourly Labor Rates correspond to. Now you can specify up to 4 characters to create more recognizable labels. Also, you can now add as many of your own custom Hourly Labor Rates as you want.
  • Before when you exported a file to QuickBooks it would only allow you to transfer the actual project costs. Now you have the additional option of choosing to have the markup included or excluded, to reflect how your company prefers to do its accounting.
  • The application “skin” has been redesigned and there are now several additional sizes to fit a wider variety of screen resolution settings.
  • You can now include your company logo atop the “View Table” documents generated within the Project Manager. These preferences are located in the Options Tool under “Reports Settings, View Table documents”.

Of course there are a number of additional “behind the scenes” patches and changes that have made Clear Estimates even more robust and user-friendly, but we won’t bore you with those details.

Get started with Clear Estimates v2.5 today and start putting these new features to work for your business!