FAQ
Q. I would like to view more of my items in Takeoff. Can I change the screen views?
A. There is a preference to control how much of the Takeoff screen is displayed. You can choose how much of the Takeoff screen you want to see. The default view of the Takeoff screen displays the Audit Trail and the Item Library Controls and hides the Settings Controls. Settings include Size, Material and Labor factors, Scaler settings and the phase totals. The advantage here is that IntelliBid can display more of the Audit Trail by hiding the sections you do not need to work with at the time. To change the preference so you can see your phase totals, click on Preferences from the menu bar and click on Select Takeoff Level.
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Q. There is a difference in the way profit and overhead is being calculated in my bids. Can you explain how this is calculated?
A. Version 3 calculated overhead as a Markup, which simply multiplies a percent times the job cost. In version 4, we give you a choice. The Quick and the Basic Bid Templates use the familiar markup method to calculate overhead and profit. If you want to continue to use this method, base you bids on one of these templates. The Short and Standard Bid Templates are using margin to calculate overhead in the bid. Margin is a more accurate calculation: when a contractor allows you 10% overhead on a job, he is saying that 10% of the total job price can be assigned as overhead. This is a margin. He is not saying that overhead can equal 10% of everything else in the job (that would be a markup), he is saying it should be 10% of the bid total.
Let's say the job will cost $100,000 to complete and the contractor is allowing a 10% profit and overhead. With the markup method, you would take 10% of the 100,000 and get $110,000. That extra $10,000 represents your profit and overhead. In reality, it is only a 9% margin, because $10,000 is about 9% of the total bid price of $110,000. A 10% margin on 100,000 would give you $111,111.11 for a bid total -- a difference of over $1,100 for overhead and profit. This example is based on a small Material amount; consider the implications on a large job.
The calculation IntelliBid uses on the Short and Standard templates now is:
Using the margin method of calculation, your estimates will be far more accurate, and you will leave far less money on the table.
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Q. Why do I get a message to save the Untitled Job when I close IntelliBid?
A: Many estimators start a takeoff in the Untitled job which is perfectly acceptable. This ability is often a handy way to check something out or do some ‘what-if’ takeoffs. However, in version 3 if you closed IntelliBid before saving the Untitled job, you lost all your work. Version 4 has a warning when it finds items in the Untitled job; this simply reminds you to save your work. We have also made this a preference setting. You can choose how it works on your system. From the Menu bar, select Preferences > Save Untitled. When this preference is checked and there are items in the Untitled job, IntelliBid will automatically go to the Save As screen before you can close IntelliBid. This setting requires that you save the Untitled job before you can close IntelliBid. If the preference is unchecked, IntelliBid will ask you whether you want to save the Untitled job but will allow you to close IntelliBid without saving the Untitled job.
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Q. My machine is the only one that cannot see the key on the server. Why is that?
A: Sometimes Windows XP has a compatibility problem. Try this: right-click on the IntelliBid shortcut icon on your desktop and select Properties. Click on the Compatibility tab and make sure all the boxes are unchecked. This should clear up the problem.
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Q: When I switch the key to another machine, the program does not always find it.
A: If the computer is running Windows NT, XP or 2000, the system does not automatically see the key. Most likely, the key service needs to be started, which will happen on a reboot. To start the service manually: Click Start > Run. In the 'Open' box enter: NET START PARCLASS and click OK.
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Q. When we launch IntelliBid, a pop up window appears asking if we want to upgrade prices in the master database. What are the effects of answering Yes or No?
A: IntelliBid has detected a new price update file from Trade Service on your system. If you select Yes, the base prices, the price before the vendor discount, will be updated by Trade Service. You can lock the vendor price by unchecking the Update Vendor checkbox field for any item you want to leave unchanged. The 3rd column pricing will change but the vendor price will not. If you answer No, the price update will not run.
You can eliminate the message window entirely by deleting all files named 'Trade' in the C:\TSP\CONEST\ folder (example: Trade.1, Trade.2, etc.)
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Q: Is there a way to save the phases selected in Summary? I have certain phases I need to see separately; they have subphases and levels that I have to select every time I go into summary.
A: Create a new bid in Bid Recap selecting the phases you want to see in Summary and then 'Freeze' the bid. When you go to Summary, select the frozen bid from the Bid Name (PM) drop down list. The phases you selected in the bid will be the only phases in the Summary. If you want to add or change any items or values in these phases, you can refresh the values in the Summary view by un-freezing and then re-freezing that bid to pick up the new takeoff.
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Q: How does IntelliBid assign group numbers in the building of assemblies?
A: IntelliBid assigns the group number consecutively when you create the assembly group.
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