Active Takeoff Software

Good Value, a couple of wish list items for improvement

AT is a quick and efficient way to take info out of plans and other images, and best of all to document the source of the take off information. The PDF reports created by AT make it easy to document and share the take off process with others. Really cool program.

Pros

Easy to learn, and does A LOT for the cost and time it takes to start using

Cons

I really want an Excel output report in simple spreadsheet format. Example of what I want:

Plan Sheet Color Data 1 Sf Volume
Floorplan Red Building Material One 100 600
Floorplan Blue Building Material One 200 800
Elevations Yellow Building Material One 250 900
Elevations Blue Building Material One 50 180

Shown below is the way Active T reports look now. I have to manually create new columns in Excel to show Color and Plan Sheet info IN EACH ROW. So I can sort my report by the heading of ANY COLUMN at will.

FLOORPLAN
Color Red
Building Material One 100 600
Color Blue
Building Material One 200 800

ELEVATIONS
Color Yellow
Building Material One 250 900
Color Blue
Building Material One 50 180

This is just one example of the current reports using extraneous rows to deliver information. Please give me one reporting option that has NO rows containing anything that is not pure data, with the sole exception of the headings to each column, which should be located in the first row. Things that are now titles to separate sections in the report should be converted to a column, and the title should be reported on each row. Like the Plan Sheet and Color info is showing in my example report. Please and Thank You!

Great software for the little guys

Good experience so far. I did have to call once to learn a bit more about some updated features. I was pleased to find that help was readily available and they where willing to train me on some new items over the phone. However, it is a Canadian based company and the lovely man that was assisting me (I believe one of the founders actually) is French Canadian and it was terribly hard to understand him over the phone. he was so nice and willing to help teach me how to use the product correctly. Even with him taking control of the computer to show how to do everything though, the language barrier made retaining the info difficult. Other than that, I love the product despite needing to grow a bit. Even though I do not use all of its features, its lower price and time saving's make it worth it for me.

Pros

Very affordable compared to similar software. I love that is allows me to color code plans. As a GC, the subcontractors love it when I have a color coded plan for them. This program eliminates my frantic searching for take-off calculation pages and makes it easier to pick up where I left off when changes are made. No more adding strings upon strings of dimensions! Plans allways say "Do not scale" when given to us to Bid, not sure how they expect us to price accurately when that is the case, but the scale configuration is perfect when you are not given an actual scale and still just need to get the job done.

Cons

As a software, It is getting there. there are still some kinks, and usability is not the greatest. It is not a software for someone who is computer illiterate. The estimating and take-offs in particular could use some tweaking. I never use it to generate full estimates because it is missing a lot of what would be needed for a G.C. (Perhaps for an individual trade would be more beneficial). What my money goes into it for is the quantity take-offs. the setting materials is a bit cumbersome and confusing but you can make it work, albeit sometimes incorrectly. But hey, there are many ways to skin a cat!

In my opinion the best takeoff software on the market

Prior to using this software I was scaling and taking measures by hand which was extremely time consuming for me and difficult to get perfectly accurate. I tried other similar products but found them no good and so complicated it was not worth bothering. I then trialed this software and was amazed at how easy it was to use. Drawings that would have taken 2 to 3 days to measure by hand can now be measured quickly in minutes or hours which means I can provide quotations to clients much faster and more accurately. After the trial period came to an end purchasing the product was a no brainer. It has paid for itself after just one week of use.

Pros

Its quite intuitive making it easy to use from the get go but also has a level of depth to it once you become more established.

Its very good value for money when compared to other products on the market that are both harder to use and more expensive.

Cons

It would be nice to be able to change the currency used for estimations. This may be an option I have not learned yet.

time-saving and very efficient

easy of estimating on time and efficiently

Pros

by using active take-off myself and my team have saved a large amount of time in doing take offs for small to large projects which means we are able to send out for quoting at a faster rate than usual.

by using active take-off it takes away from miscounting any items on the plans and produces a table of quantities on the top of your plans, so when you're ready you can send it straight away to the client or wholesalers.

Cons

I cannot fault any feature on this programme.

it a great simple & easy programme to use and you can make it suit your needs.

Active Takeoff is Great Software!!

Active takeoff has helped me find mistakes in my sq ft takeoffs before I send out a bid. This has saved the company thousands of dollars.

Pros

This software works great for checking my sq ft takeoffs. If I get a different amount of sq ft with this software than my takeoff, then I know I have made a mistake on my takeoff. In the long run it could save thousands of dollars by giving an accurate sq ft of product.

Cons

I have liked everything about it. There is not a single item with this software that I like the least.

Simple to master

We needed one program to for some staff member to only do simple tasks, while allowing others to get into more complex tasks. Active Takeoff allowed us to all work on the same platform. It was also important to us to have a program that was not cloud based, which we found several compdoeditors are. Very pleased with the product, and the investment paid off within our first month with an enormous time savings.

Pros

Very please with Active takeoff's ease of usability. No CAD background required to get very comfortable on the platform and make the takeoff process far more enjoyable.

Cons

User interface seems a bit dated, but does not affect performance. Also, it would be nice to email reports directly from the software to collegues.

Easiest to learn.

Excellent customer service. Best of any company I've ever dealt with, software or hamburgers, this company responds quickly and fixes issues.

Pros

It was the only one I could jump right in and start estimating.

Cons

The lack of framing extensions. Have to count joists off program. Just limited framing which is what I needed.

Exterior companies Review

Faster quote turn around times, allow me to get more projects and have more profitable quotes since I'm not spending so much time that I don't mind charging more.

Pros

The ease of use, the more complicated uses that I don't need are easy to turn off to simplify everything.

Cons

The only issue I have is that it seems to hide my saved projects every time I update the software but that's probably easy to fix if I put my mind to it.

Great product, great service

Not many companies offer the level of service that these guys do. Active takeoff is easy to use, easy to setup and makes tracking estimates effortless. I have used just about every piece of takeoff software out there and this program is by far the best.

Pros

Super easy to setup, tracks all of my takeoff and sort info exactly how I need it in reports.

Cons

Sharing takeoff files from one machine to the next isn't available yet, but I hear that's in the next update. Other than this...The software is flawless.

Active Take Off Trial

Very happy with everything about Active. All queries have been dealt with and we have not had to reissue questions etc like we have had to do with other products.

Pros

We are a QS firm based in Western Australia. We have used pretty much all takeoff tools that are out there. Active Takeoff offers a clean measuring tool that leaves definable markups with a legend on each page that clearly indicates what is what. There are tools for amending the item of measure and most importantly the back-up service is excellent. Queries are answered in a language that we can understand and replies to queries come back in a timely manner. This, above anything else, is vital to us.

Cons

Nothing in particular. We are still familiarizing ourselves with the estimating side but nothing stands out that would prevent us commiting.

Great All Around Software

I have been using this software for approximately 5 years, have tried mos of the alternatives on the market and always stick with this software. I would recommend this software to anyone.

Pros

-easy learning curve
-lots of functionality
-detailed info and reports
-customization

Cons

-not enough tutorials
-limited explanation of functions, a lot you learn by trial by error

Easy to use, accurate, robust estimating tools at the ready.

Pros

Ease of use, document / file organization and retention.

Cons

Cost can be steep for small business, light users.

New technology helping residential remodeling company in Boise

I am new to the world of takeoffs. As a remodeling contractor I always thought takeoffs were for big commercial companies. The program is fun and intuitive. There are a few tricks and shortcuts that I am starting to incorporate. The estimating component is out there for me to learn. Other than a few frustrations with my lack of experience and the way I do thing vs the way the industry does them. I am adapting and enjoying the program very much.

Pros

It is easy and fun to use. It makes my estimates extremely accurate. It has all the functionality that I need in my residential remodeling business. My designer wants to use it but I am having too much fun to give it up.

Cons

There are some features that I have asked for that do not exist yet. I have figured out how to work around them so nothing bad to say. My understanding is that it is a little less flexible and powerful than some far more expensive software packages but I am perfectly OK with that.

Great product

My overall experience has been great. I was using another take off software and Active Takeoff is far better. I enjoy using this software and if I ever have a question the support team is spot on. Very pleased.

Pros

The overall layout and design. Easy to use.

Cons

Wish they had curve points and auto counter

Active takeoff

If they was to fix the above problems and implement suggested updates then I would give this product 10 out of 10.

Pros

Easy to understand layout. Reasonable Price.

Cons

No Auto save so lose work unless you manually save all the time. Issues with memory, have to close other programs to make it function properly sometimes.

Review

We do a lot of take off from houses to condos to rental buildings with it.

Pros

I liked the corners highlighting in red when you do the take off.

Cons

To re go in and modify take off. I don’t like how it generates the report

This is a very useful tool to perform a takeoffs, easy to use and have an excellent accuracy.

Pros

- Friendly user interface
- Easy to use
- Keep in order all the information.
- Export options to Excel, PDF, Image files, etc.
- Save time, money and paper.
- Reduce errors.

Cons

- Can't open a file created in other computers.
- Lack of tag options.
- Mark zone option should allow drawing different shapes like the area tool.
- Move items between layers are complicated. This should be more like Autocad when you select multiple objects and you want them in one layer, you just select the items and then the layer.

Active Takeoff

human error is reduced as you can see what you have taken off, i am very pleased that the company im working for allowed me to purchase this for use as an estimating tool.

Pros

its ease of use is , customization of scale feature

Cons

the initial cost is a lot per license, i feel that was you pay the large first up amount that multiple user licenses from there on should be more affordable

Great tool without a huge learning curve.

This is a great tool and I am glad I found it. I am still learning it so I am sure it will get even better once I have all the moves perfected to my needs. The customer support is great. Very timely and helpful. Start with the free trial and a quick lesson. I tried a few different free trials of other types of takeoff software and Active Takeoff won me over. Good price too!

Pros

Customer Support
Ease of Use
Direct and to the point takeoff and reports without the unnecessary bells and whistles.
I like the Export to Excel feature.

Cons

Can get slow and sticky if the page gets too full of takeoff. To counter that you need to create layers and turn them off and on to keep it running smooth.
Length counter is not continuous around bends and angles. Need to start and stop then start again many times for long lengths.
Can't click to next or previous page. You have to go to the plans page and find the page you want to go to next.

Very good system

Saving time completing take-offs

Pros

Very easy to navigate around the system to access and use the features. The system has halved the time it takes to complete a take-off.

Cons

If the copy and paste feature was improved for example if it was possible to copy an item and paste in a specific location, currently the item overlays which means the copied item has to be moved to the required destination.

Also the extension feature could be improved.