This is the fourth estimating software I tried and it is by far the best one I found for my usage.

I love using excel for most of the work that I do, the fact that this is an excel based program made the first time use extremely easy. Compared to other software I had tried this one is one I believe if something happened to me and someone had to jump in to cover my work they could easily get it done, if they are familiar with using Excel. It is also very affordable, granted it doesn't have all the bells and whistles some of the more expensive software's had, but in my case I wanted something simple and straight forward and that exactly what I got in this software.

The only con I have found is lets say you save the excel spreadsheet with linked plans in a folder on your desktop, if you move that folder or the plans to a sub-folder it un-links the plans and you have to go in a enter the new location. Not a deal breaker, but a bit of a nuisance.

QuickMeasure OnScreen is a fantastic program for getting footages off of plans. It is integrated into Excel, so you start with a spreadsheet of your design and use the program to put footages that you draw on the plans into cells on the spreadsheet. Because you can use any spreadsheet you make, you can use those footages to calculate whatever you need and customize it to your trade. I find this much more appealing than a full program that is complex and does a lot of calculations for you. However, I can see how someone who is not comfortable with excel and formulas would prefer the latter. As far as value, I doubt it can be beat, it is by far the most affordable takeoff program that I have interacted with and is the one I choose to work with everyday.

-Ease of use -Integration with Excel -Customizable

-Requires some user configuration with a spreadsheet, depending on how complicated you want to make the spreadsheet. However, if you simply want footages with no calculations needed, very little configuration is needed -Missing some automated features that full suite software contains. Trade off is that you can customize a spreadsheet if needed

ease of use is great, it seems a little clunky ans slow on my computer (could be a system thing)

not a whole lot only used it a little bit. Seemed pretty specialized to certain trades and processes

We are a drywall/metal framing company. We specialize in larger multi-family projects all over the Western United States. Several years ago we made the leap from doing take-offs from paper plans and a scale to a computerized estimating system. Like a lot of people that have been in construction many years, we knew nothing about these systems. Although we had already developed Excel spreadsheets to use with our "manual" take-offs, that was the extent of computerization in our take-off process. After extensive research, we looked at several different programs and had two physically demonstrated at our office. End result: we went with Tally Systems because it synced with our existing Excel spreadsheets perfectly. So, we basically could use what we already had and were comfortable with. The installations and change-over were seamless. The learning curve was practically nonexistent and we have been using the system for several years now. As with any program there were a few bugs here and there, mostly due to working with our existing spreadsheets. Every time we've had a problem Brian and his support team have been there through email or over the phone within hours. Brian has the ability to use GoToMeeting to access our computers to diagnose the problem and has never failed to resolve a problem efficiently and quickly. I highly recommend this program, especially for someone who already uses Excel spreadsheets. The problem free change-over, simplicity of the program, and excellent customer support have been invaluable to our company.

Green Growth industries Inc, is a landscape construction company that has been serving the greater Bay Area for over twenty-five years. Our jobs include New Construction, Renovations, Green Roofs and hydro-seeding. Due to the competitive nature of our industry, it became imperative for us to be able bid as many jobs as possible so we started researching estimating software in order to bid on more jobs. At the time we decided to pursue estimating software we were still scaling our take-offs by hand and then recording the quantities to a form manually. In 2005 we contacted our Tally representative for a demo and ended up buying QuickMeasure Software and two digitizers. Our rep set up the hardware and installed the software on our laptop and then took the time to train us. We experienced immediate improvements in accuracy and production. By integrating Excel into our bid format we were able to save and store jobs efficiently and effectively. Later, we were able to integrate our own Excel bid program that worked nicely with QuickMeasure. Since our initial purchase of QiuckMeasure we were able to expand our estimating division and in 2007 and were able to purchase two more QuickMeasure licenses along with two more digitizer boards and two more licenses. We have found the software and the support we have received from Tally Systems to be awesome. We have benefited from their commitment to improve and upgrade their software, enabling us to do our job more efficiently.

This is an easy product to adapt to how you are used to doing your own take-offs. Even if you are not real savvy on the computer it is easy to use and understand. It took a few attempts to adapt the templates to best fit our needs but once you have a working Template it's easy to use.

Simple not complex computer skills needed.

I've tried a few simple takeoff software packages and this one seems to be the easiest to pick up without a guiding hand. The controls are easy and intuitive to a point where you feel like your using a paint application you've used forever versus a totally new piece of software. This software allows me to calculate numbers in about 5 minutes that would take me 2 hours manually. There is a free trial so you can try the product no hassle versus some other vendors that will have a salesman constantly hassling you.

Simple and Intuitive Saves Time Visually Pleasing

Sometimes have errors when trying to open saved documents

Once setup is complete, I would recommend this program to anyone who is doing a lot of take offs but doesn't want an overpowered tool.

The interface is simple, it doesn't take long to figure it out. Its simplicity makes it easy to use. Quickmeasure is set up to directly import your take off into Excel which is great.

There is not a Mac compatible version. Initaily setting quick measure up with Excel integration can be tedious, you will need to call their support team to walk you through it.

My company wanted me to try a couple different options. this product didnt work for what we were looking for but was easy to use and had good functionality.

Ease of use

Not exactly what were were trying to accomplish withthis type of program

I've only used this product on a free trial basis so there may be some quirks I haven't run into.

No paper plans, blowing them up trying to get the scale correct etc.

Not sure, I haven't used it enough to know.

QuickMeasure is great because it allows my clients to send me their own Excel spreadsheets for me to input the linear and area take-offs right into them. That way, they do not have to input data by hand. I bought my first QuickMeasure take-off software license in 2004, and I always get new versions when they come out because they add features that make my work easier. The commands are very easy to learn and use - after just two days, I was very comfortable with all the commands. If I have any questions, customer support is very quick. If I call and they are busy, I leave a message and they respond within an hour. I have also sent them emails and they responded within 24 hrs. I have benefited from having QuickMeasure OnScreen, because it has allowed me to service many customers who use Excel spreadsheets. The system is very reasonably priced in comparison to other take-off programs.

We needed a tool that would allow us to expedite our estimating process and at the same time keep the things we had already developed over the course of years. Being excel "native" is the key factor for us. Now we have one single tool for all of our processes.

Add-in integrated into Microsoft Excel which allows you to have working over the processes you already have.

If we had shortcuts for the tools used for measuring, it would be much quicker.

QuickMeasure OnScreen was a perfect fit for Demcon Concrete Contractors, considering we use Excel for all our estimates. With QuickMeasure's add-on tools I never have to leave my spreadsheets. I have tried all the other software out there over the past 5 years and I always found that I’m noticeably more efficient with QuickMeasure. It also doesn’t have all the confusing formulas and databases that the other programs have. With Quickmeasure you don't have to tailor the way you bid around the software. It does exactly what it is supposed to do: it gives you quick and accurate takeoffs. One of the greatest things about QuickMeasure is that it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how it works - I have taught kids right out of high school how to use it. Finally, they have great tech support.

WOW! I love this software. It has maximized my productivity. A job that used to take me an hour to hand measure is done in less than 15 minutes. The accuracy is spot on. I wish I would have bought this software years ago. Thank you to software advice for recommending Quick Measure to us!

Accuracy, ease of use, excel compatibility

none

Will return to our previous BIM package for estimating as its built in solutions are far more flexible and perhaps its that we are more accustomed to its simpler interface.

Despite an expansive feature set, So far the experience has not yielded what we expected, with in terms of usability and functionality.

We found the overall experience somewhat frustrating, it may be the version we used or simply the working methods we were used to with out other 3D BIM modeling and estimating software, but the interface on QuickMeasure was almost frustrating to use, and not payed out in a way that helps faster workflow.

We have been using Quick Measure On-Screen for about three years. We have found it significantly faster, much more accurate and credible when meeting with clients. One of the significant advantages in using QM rather than the old-fashioned method is the verification process to clearly point out what was taken-off. QM support is as good as it gets. We speak to knowledgeable support staff who speak in understandable terms. They are not only knowledgeable about the QM product, but about the construction industry as well. We have found their product and service to be the best in the game. We highly recommend it to others.

Great product very easy to use, although I have not tried excel yet with the system. I have people I work with that use other products that are not as flexible as the quick measure. Glad I made the purchase.

Simple, quick, and flexible

Nothing comes to mind

It's easy to use and has a very short learning curve. You quickly become very productive with this tool and can accomplish takeoffs substantially faster with considerable greater accuracy.

So far we haven't found anything we don't like about it. It exceeds all our expectations for which we procured it. It does the job we intended it for and does it well. For the price, it's the best value in our opinion.

I like the portability of the product. I can do takeoffs from home or on the train between meetings, etc.

I really find having to scale each individual page onerous. There should be an option to bulk scale the pages especially when I am using the counting function. This is a real handicap. Also, the manual is difficult if you've never used this type of product before.

The best part of this product is that you can completely customize your summary sheets using a medium that everyone is familiar with, Excel. Keeps it simple organized and easily translates into my reporting software, perfect marriage.

There is really nothing that comes to mind in terms of cons. I'm a new user and have not run into any bugs or weird results from onscreen measurements. The program is exactly what you make it.

The software is easy to learn and use. We were up and running after a few hours of instruction over the phone the first day we installed it. It is much better than using a scale wheel or a pad and paper.

It works fine. I have no complaints. The vendor helped us get started via a conference call.

My old program didn't tally my quantities as I measured. This one does and can be pre-formated with descriptions. It is saving me a ton of time.

I don't like that if I have the Quick Measure open to the measuring screen that I am unable to open other Microsoft office new windows (Excel, Word, etc). I have to select done and get back into the Excel portion prior to opening another document.

The vendor is hands-on to answer any questions and help guide you through. The software saves me a lot of time.

The spreadsheets are not as easy to use as I had counted on, but I am still learning to use them.

The software is very intuitive with a short learning curve.

The quality is very poor, and the software is rife with bugs. The manual is extremely short and does not provide guidance on all of the program's features.

Once you get started it quickly and easily integrates into existing estimating spreadsheets.

There is no way to change scale once it is set. You have to reload the sheet and reset the scale.