Best estimating software I’ve used

Pros

Honestly i cant say there is anything i did not like about this software. Makes your life a whole lot easier and helps you dial in your profit on projects and you get things set up and get some history in the system.

Cons

I can’t really think of anything i didn’t like. Great product.

The Best Estimating Software in the World!

Pros

Product: This is a very fast, user-friendly, automated estimating and bidding system that is particularly effective for Unit-Price contracts. It allows quick creation of accurate estimates, accommodates variations in quantities, allows risk evaluation on an item-by-item basis, and provides the means to price individual bid items so that they reflect the bidder's assessments of quantity, value, and risk for each item. Vendor: HCSS sets the standard for customer support. There is no software company anywhere, of any type, with whom I have had contact that comes even close to the responsiveness and excellence of HCSS' technical support. It is extremely rare that a call is not answered before the third ring by a human who understands the problem (no matter how arcane) and who has the right answer, without sending me to a second- or third-level technician. The professionalism and expertise of the Technical Support team are near-perfect. I tell people whom I am training that if they get stuck on a problem for more than three minutes, they should call Tech Support. The person who answers will have the problem solved, and the estimator will be back in production nearly instantaneously.

Cons

There is little to dislike in a system that works so well and with a technical support team that is so knowledgeable. HCSS takes suggestions from its users and implements them in new releases of the software so that the system is always cutting-edge and fulfills its users' expectations. The system seems expensive to purchase and maintain, at least to the non-using evaluator, but the confidence in the accuracy of the estimate, the outstanding technical support, and the continuous improvement of the software will provide confidence that offsets cost. One caught and corrected mistake that that would have gone unnoticed without HeavyBid's analysis tools, could pay for a dozen licenses for years.

A functional software for mid size GCs or sub-contractors.

Pros

Very functional for companies who bid similar project and can get advantage of the recording system of the software. Plus the ability of identifying the calendar per item is very useful.

Cons

When the size of the project is big, it doesn't work properly. You have to be careful about your initial coding system. if you decide to change in the middle of the bid, that would create a nightmare. There are a lot of reporting systems, but it depends on all child and parent item. for a simple report if you have many child (level 4,5,6) items, you are not able to see them in the report and you need to transfer everything into excel and using functions and prepare it for the closing.

Timecard, material and equipment tracking

With heavy job, we were able to transition our export files to a new payroll system when we made a change. Customer service was excellent at guiding us through the process.

Pros

This software is so easy to set-up, from adding employees, job classifications, to merging employees into the job, to exporting timecards. The setup flow just make sense. Works great for those who have crews out in the field, foremen can use their tablets to record time, material and equipment used on the job and submit. No more paper time cards to do manual entry with.

Cons

This software has "user licenses" you have to buy, so at times they may all be used by other users in the company. It does allow you to "boot" them off, but you better make sure they are not in the middle of something if you do or they will lose the information. A quick phone call to ask if they can log out is best.

The BEST Estimating Software

I have been a HeavyBid Advanced user for over 14 years now and its amazing to see how far this small company from Texas has come. I still remember when we ordered the software and a representative from the company came to our main office in CT and over the course of 2 days went over everything from setting up labor, benefits, burden, equipment, crews, bid items (manual entry and DOT import), etc. to showing us how to enter activities into bid items and actually creating an estimate. Such a great overall experience from the early stages of implementation to the countless support center calls at all hours of the day and night before a bid (which were always answered) up to the present day where all of the above is still true today.

Pros

Unmatched customer support, ease of use and the ecosystem of programs/applications on multiple platforms that integrate perfectly with each other and will only grow with your company.

Cons

Recently I purchased an iPad Pro 12.9" pretty much for the sole purpose of using a handfull of apps such as Projectwise, Bluebeam Revu and HeavyBid Mobile. Well, after emailing HCSS Support I find out that HeavyBid Mobile is no longer supported. I was looking forward to trying something different with HeavyBid on the go, even if it wasn't the full blown version.