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.

From Takeoff to Quote Within 5 Minutes

Overall, the need for adding pricing manually (one time only and quickly done) is far outweighed by how quickly I can return a quote, the ease of .pdf reports I can pass to our purchaser, and the intuitiveness of entering basic information. For a smaller electrical contractor without a dedicated staff of estimators, Active Takeoff had dramatically increased my productivity.

Pros

The ease of importing plans from .pdf into the software is extremely intuitive. Active Takeoff allows a user to QUICKLY begin the process of plan takeoff. I am literally able to take a bid set from a prime contractor and return a price quote in half the time some of the more robust and expensive "industry standard" software takes.

Cons

The pricing for materials needs to be manually input . There is an import function but none of my material suppliers support the format Active Takeoff uses. It can take a few extra minutes to update prices or add a new device.

It does the job, but with some changes and updates, it could be a lot better. I will continute to use it, mostly based on price.

Pros

Price. Obviously you can spend a lot more on similar products. We only do countertops so it gets detailed enough for us and is all we need to spend to do the job.

Cons

Unable to read the font on the main plan sheet page below the pages. There is no way to search for keywords like adobe. Measurements don't show up on small items even after zooming. The report pages are't that easy to read.

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!

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