Estimating Speed Hints

Speed Hints

To increase calculation speed in the BidMagic construction estimating program, for those times when you are willing to sacrifice a little accuracy for speed:

* The more buttons there are on a specifications card, the longer the BidMagic estimating program will take to calculate it. Use the Delete Button command to remove any buttons you aren't using (see pages 277-278).
HINT: You can create a template with a minimum number of buttons, for maximum speed.
* If there are categories you aren't using, choose Flat fee as a bid type for them (see page 255), then choose Clear Card from the Bid menu to set them all to zero (see page 419).
* Specification items that are unlocked will be calculated faster than those that are locked.
WARNING: Unlocked items will not be updated if dimensions are changed.
* Unlock the Approximate Project Cost fields on the Dimensions directory card to prevent the recalculation of building permits and other costs based on the Bottom Line cost (see pages 171-172).
* Unlock the Completion Date field on the Bottom Line card, to prevent the recalculation of costs based on the project duration (see pages 335-336).
* Unlock the Bid Delay and Project Duration fields on the Soft Costs card (see page 162).
* Work in the BidMagic category system rather than the CSI category system.
* Turn on the Show Soft Costs button on the Bottom Line card, so the BidMagic estimating software will not have to take the extra time to distribute soft costs through the hard costs.