Enter quotes

Every cell in Quote Comparison is one subcontractor's price for one line of your ledger. How you enter it changes what it means — and one distinction in particular is worth getting right.

Rate or total

Type a plain number into a cell and Estimator+ needs to know whether it's a rate or a total, because the two behave differently as the job changes:

• A rate is a price per unit. It tracks the ledger's live quantity — if that measurement changes later, the priced figure moves with it.
• A total is a lump sum. It's frozen at the quantity that was on the line the moment you typed it. If the quantity changes afterwards, the total stays exactly what the sub quoted.

If a sub gave you a rate per square metre, enter it as a rate — it'll stay correct even after the takeoff is refined. If they gave you a fixed lump sum for the whole line regardless of quantity, enter it as a total. Getting this backwards is the easiest way to end up with a number that quietly drifts away from what the sub actually agreed to.

The other cell modes

Select one or more cells — or right-click them — to bring up the cell toolbar. Beyond typing a number, a cell can be set to:

• Include (I) — the line reads INCL, with no number against it. Use it when a sub has confirmed they cover something but hasn't broken out a separate price for it.
• Fill from estimate (F) — mirrors your own ledger rate for that line, live. Edit the ledger rate later and the cell follows.
• Fill from another sub — the menu lists each other subcontractor on the trade by name (for example, "Fill from Acme Plumbing"). Pick one and the cell becomes a live reference to theirs on the same row — if their number changes, so does this one.
• Plug — a typed figure carried over from a quote that isn't actually on this job, such as a number from a previous project used as a placeholder. It's marked as a plug so nobody mistakes it for a real quote on this tender.
• Add note (C) — a comment attached to that one cell. See Notes & exclusions for how this differs from a quote's exclusions list.

Once a cell carries a real price — or Include — it's ready to be chosen as the number that prices the job. See Pick the price.