Choosing construction estimating software can mean the difference between your business making more money and soaring above the competition, or hurting your bottom line and losing clients. Why? Because estimating creates the financial foundation on which your project is executed.
In our last two articles, we looked at the mistakes that derail construction estimates and the importance of building an estimating process that scales. Now, let's talk about construction estimating software that sets you up for success on all fronts: ConstructionOnline.
This article breaks down why ConstructionOnline — and our industry-leading OnCost Estimating software — outperforms the competition for your construction business.
Real Feedback from Real ConstructionOnline Users
Not every construction estimating software is created equal. Some software platforms are easier to use than others and are built to handle the ins and outs of construction project finances, and some are not, as many of our clients can attest to.
Here’s what just a few of our hundreds of thousands of users have to say about our estimating software (plus more of our features) compared to our competitors:
“Investing money in a construction ERP like CO is the best thing that I could have done, I already saved THOUSANDS.”
– Alex P, Owner
“The estimating and the change order tools have been very helpful tracking the finances. Before using this application, we had a hard time keeping track of where we were in a project financially - This has been hands down the best part of the platform. Also, having such a transparent tool for change orders and selections has eliminated lost costs which we regularly had from changes getting lost. The tracking of decisions by our client has been super helpful, too.”
– Kelly L, Office Manager
“Definitely one of the best comprehensive all in one software for contractors and builders. Exceptional for dealing with complex financial estimating and field operations. Plus, the change order management is amazing, so easy to track, client can't deny approvals, keep money in my pocket!”
– Chris S - Construction Manager and Vice President
That's not just our take — it's what real contractors using ConstructionOnline tell us every day.
Why Choosing the Right Construction Estimating Software Is So Important
Estimating is the foundation of construction project management because without a solid, accurate estimate to guide your project, you risk losing money and hurting your bottom line.
Using reliable, robust estimating software ensures every estimate is created with accuracy and precision. That way, you’ll know how and where every dollar needs to be spent so that you can make a profit.
Here are some statistics about improper estimating and how it negatively impacts construction projects:
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A 2024 report found that 57% of low-bid projects exceed their original budgets, while 46% fail to meet deadlines. These overruns often stem from underestimated costs and unforeseen complications that arise when contractors cut corners to stay competitive on price.
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85% of construction projects finished in 20 countries over a 70-year period experienced cost overrun, most likely due to inaccurate project estimates. The average overrun was 28%.
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In 2020 alone, contractors lost $1.8 trillion globally due to bad data, including inaccurate estimates.
Staggering, right? Those are the kinds of numbers that are amplified when you don’t have solid estimating software to do the job right.
Without proper estimating software, here’s what could happen in your business:
- Lost money from inaccurate estimates that blow your budget
- Wasted time from manually updating estimate details whenever something changes
- A less successful construction business from error-prone estimates that consistently run over budget
With proper estimating software that has the essentials, here’s how your construction business can succeed:
- Larger profit margins from consistently accurate estimates
- Less time spent manually updating every estimate detail when costs or budgets changes
- A more successful construction business from always starting projects with a solid financial foundation and plan
Whether you work in residential, commercial, multi-family, or specialty construction, having the right construction estimating software allows you to manage projects with confidence knowing that you have the tools to create a solid financial foundation for any project.
What Estimating Features Make ConstructionOnline the Best in the Industry?
While most estimating software platforms give you a basic way to create estimates, there are certain features available in ConstructionOnline’s OnCost Estimating software that make our platform the most accurate, robust, and streamlined construction estimating tool on the market.
Table of Contents:
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View Detailed Cost Breakdowns with Advanced Estimating Tools
- Avoid Rework With Estimate Templates
- Create Estimates Directly from Takeoffs with Redline Takeoff Integration
- Win More Jobs with Proposal Generation Tools
- Streamline Estimate Updates with Costbooks & Items Database
- Stay on Budget & Track Every Dollar with Financial Reporting & Analytics
- Foster Accountability with Estimate Change History
- Track Finances from the Office to the Field with Cloud-Based Access
- Centralize Financial Data with QuickBooks Integration
- Track Budget Changes with Cost Adjustment Integration
- Get Accurate Estimates from Outsourced Work with Construction Bid Tracking
Here is a breakdown of ConstructionOnline’s estimating features that make us the best in the industry:
1. View Detailed Cost Breakdowns with Advanced Estimating Tools
Larger, more complex projects require a more robust level of detail than a simple estimate structure can provide. That’s why ConstructionOnline gives you estimate options for those projects and builders who require more advanced estimating tools.
When you try to fit a multifaceted project into a basic template, you risk leaving out important cost information and you don’t get the level of detail and clarity your project requires.
ConstructionOnline has estimate options and templates for all kinds of jobs – big and small. Our estimating software offers an additional layer of cost detail, profit margins, markup, financial dashboards, and more advanced options so nothing gets missed and every dollar is clearly accounted for.
🚀ConstructionOnline Advanced Estimating: With our robust estimating software, you have access to many advanced estimate and financial tools perfect for residential, commercial, and multi-family builders alike. This includes 3-level estimating that has categories, subcategories, and line items; estimate multipliers for multi-family builders; and more features to help you estimate with clarity and accuracy.
2. Avoid Rework with Estimate Templates
ConstructionOnline allows you to build estimate templates and generate new estimates directly from them, so you can produce accurate estimates faster. This helps you avoid the extra work of creating estimates from scratch.
If you’ve ever been in a position where you are doing a project with a similar cost structure as a previous project, you know how annoying it can be to re-create those templates from the ground up. You already used a very similar template in the past; why not start off with an estimate template that removes the redundant data entry?
With ConstructionOnline’s estimate template software, you can increase efficiency and accuracy in your project estimates.
🚀FREE Construction Estimate Templates: Looking for a way to create accurate project estimates for free? Click below to download our free construction estimate templates which allow you to classify costs, apply margin and markups, manage actual costs, and create a budget dashboard - all with templates you can reuse for multiple projects.
3. Create Estimates Directly from Takeoffs with Redline Takeoff Integration
Our Redline Takeoff integration makes the estimating process more seamless and simple by allowing you to create estimates directly from takeoffs. That means you save time and increase accuracy with just a few clicks instead of creating estimates from scratch.
Without takeoff integration, the task of creating project estimates becomes much more difficult and time-consuming. Normally, you’d have to re-enter financial data into an estimate, which takes hours and increases the probability of human error.
ConstructionOnline’s Takeoff Integration helps you create accurate estimates that win you more bids and make your business more money.
4. Win More Jobs with Proposal Generation Tools
ConstructionOnline has proposal generation tools that make your job of bidding and communicating costs much clearer and easier. It provides you an in-house way of creating proposals that can be viewed, printed, shared, and signed all in one platform without the need for third-party software, which can complicate the process.
If you don’t have a way of generating proposals for potential clients and stakeholders, you have no way of giving them a simplified cost breakdown that’s easy to understand.
Our software streamlines your pre-construction operations by allowing you to generate professional customizable proposals from your estimates and download or send them to relevant parties.
5. Streamline Estimate Updates with Costbooks & Items Database
ConstructionOnline offers costbooks and an items database so you can centralize your cost data and seamlessly update those costs in your estimates.
Without centralized costbooks to pull data from, you risk creating estimates with inaccurate, out-of-date cost data. Then when you do have to update costs, you have to manually do it on every single project estimate and each individual line item.
ConstructionOnline eliminates that tedious process with in-app costbooks and cost databases. That means you’ll be able to create, modify, and update estimates with clarity and confidence. You can also group commonly-associated costbook items into pre-configured assemblies within company costbooks which simplifies things and keeps your costbooks organized.
6. Stay on Budget & Track Every Dollar with Financial Reporting & Analytics
ConstructionOnline has a host of financial reporting and analytical tools to help you stay on budget during project execution. This type of insight helps you make sure your projects are profitable from start to finish.
Without tools like financial reporting and analytics, you run the risk of going over budget because you don’t have a way of tracking finances during and after the project. It’s not enough to create an accurate estimate before the project starts; it’s crucial that you stay on top of project finances from start to finish so your construction projects actually make money.
Our software offers a variety of financial reports and dashboards so you are always aware and up-to-date on your projects’ financial health.
🚀ConstructionOnline Financial Reporting and Dashboards: Our estimating software includes a variety of financial reports and financial dashboards to keep your projects on track and on budget, including Estimate vs. Actuals Reports, Estimate vs. Invoiced Reports, Committed vs. Actual Reports, Over Budget Report, Financial & Profitability Dashboards, and many more tools so you know how every single dollar is being spent. Want an up close and personal view of how these tools work? Click the button below to schedule your free demo of ConstructionOnline today:
7. Foster Accountability with Estimate Change History
ConstructionOnline logs a detailed history of user actions within the platform, including changes to project estimates, report generation, and more.. The change history logs increase transparency within your team so you know who is accountable for what change.
Without documentation for project estimate updates (and other important project updates), you’ll be left wondering how and why certain changes occurred. The last thing you want is to be uninformed about how and why changes to the estimate are happening, especially if it can impact your bottom line.
That’s why ConstructionOnline includes activity logs for many important changes that are updated automatically and displayed in a user-friendly format.
✅Pro Tip: To prevent unapproved team members from editing important estimate data, use an estimating software that lets you manage team member permissions and access, like ConstructionOnline’s User Permissions Software. Only certain team members should be able to view or edit construction estimate data, and your estimating software should accommodate that.
8. Track Finances from the Office to the Field with Cloud-Based Access
The cloud-based nature of ConstructionOnline makes all of your estimate and project data accessible from wherever you are, whether it’s the office or the field. That way, you’re never left out of the loop when it comes to important financial changes.
Without easily accessible construction project data that you can view and edit anywhere, you risk missing important information that holds things up. When you have to wait until you’re back at your desk to see and make updates, important details are delayed or even forgotten about.
With cloud-based estimating software like ConstructionOnline, you can manage projects from anywhere with ease.
🚀ConstructionOnline Mobile: In addition to our online project management software, we have a mobile app that lets you manage construction projects any place, any time. This increases productivity and connectivity for you and your team!
9. Centralize Financial Data with QuickBooks Integration
ConstructionOnline offers QuickBooks integration that eliminates hours of redundant data entry. That way, you can manage your financial data in one, centralized place.
It can be a pain having to manually transfer financial data from one platform to another. It’s time-consuming and it leaves more room for error in your estimates and financial reports.
With our software's accounting integration, financial data can be imported and exported between your QuickBooks account with the click of a button.
10. Track Budget Changes with Cost Adjustment Integration
Our construction management software automatically links change orders and client selections to your estimates, so that every dollar is accounted for and you can ensure your project doesn’t go over budget.
When your estimates and financial tracking tools aren’t automatically linked with items that affect the budget, you’ll have to manually modify an estimate every time something small or major changes. This increases your workload and can potentially cause errors if you enter data incorrectly or forget to change the estimate.
ConstructionOnline’s estimating and financial tools eliminate those issues by integrating your project estimates with other features that affect the budget. That means no more budgets getting out of control because you let cost changes creep up on you.
11. Get Accurate Estimates from Outsourced Work with Construction Bid Tracking
ConstructionOnline’s Bid Tracking Software gives you the online tools needed to efficiently handle bid tracking with clarity, which makes the whole process easier for you and your bidders.
When you don’t have a clear, streamlined process for soliciting bids and receiving submissions in a standardized format, your job of selecting the right hire for the job becomes more difficult and possibly more costly.
With bid tracking software like what ConstructionOnline offers,you can easily review comparable submissions and make smart decisions when awarding bids.
These are just an overview of the estimating features that make ConstructionOnline the best in the industry. There are many more features that put us above the competition, including scheduling, project tracking, job costing, file and photo management, and so much more. Check out our Competitor Comparison to see how ConstructionOnline stacks up against other project management platforms.
Conclusion: ConstructionOnline Is the Best Software for the Job!
When it comes to estimating software that gets the job done with accuracy, detail, and clarity, ConstructionOnline outperforms the competition.
Ready to see for yourself how ConstructionOnline can help you manage more profitable and successful projects with ease? Schedule a free demo with a ConstructionOnline specialist today and explore how our OnCost Estimating feature can help your business grow and achieve more profitable projects!
If you enjoyed this article, you might enjoy reading our other articles about estimating:
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