Feature
Version 3.1 of the Goldenseal construction estimating
software adds automatic updating of material prices
from a vendor price list.
Suggested By
Many users. Turtle Creek staff too, since it will make our own material price updating much easier.
Setting up Cost Items
You'll need to set up your material Cost
Items with
some "match" information, so the import can put each
vendor price into the right place.
To set up your Cost Items for the price import, follow
these steps:
- Choose Cost Items from the Costs menu.
- Use the Find command to locate the appropriate material
that matches an item in the vendor price list.
- Make sure the unit size is the same.
- Fill in vendor match info (described below).
Goldenseal construction
estimating software lets you
match materials by any of five different methods:
- Cost Item Name-- the quickest import, if you are willing to rename each material Cost Item so it has the exact
same name as your vendor's description.
- UPC Code-- you can enter one
vendor's UPC or SKU code into the UPC field in
each Cost Item record,
then use it as a match when importing data. The
UPC field is a simple
text field, so you can enter
any combination of numbers, letters, spaces and
punctuation.
- Code Number-- each Goldenseal
Cost Item includes a code number that can be
anywhere between 1 and 2,000,000,000 (two billion),
with up to four decimal places. If your
vendor uses a number that fits in that format,
you can match by the code number.
- Vendor Product Name-- if you import prices from more than one vendor, click
the Vendor Prices button on each Cost Item, and enter the vendor and their product name description.
The product name is simple text field, so you can enter any combination of numbers, letters,
spaces and punctuation.
- Vendor Product Code-- for each vendor you can enter a separate code number for their SKU or other
identifying code.
The product code is simple text field, so you can enter any combination of numbers, letters,
spaces and punctuation.
Getting Data from your Vendor(s)
The hardest part is getting data from your Material
Suppliers!
It should be a text file, with one price on each line
separated by either tabs or commas, with each material
separated by carriage returns. Each row should
contain some kind of identifier for that item, plus
the current price. It doesn't matter how you get the
data-- it can be by email, CD, flash drive or download.
HINT-- If your vendor provides prices, it will nearly
always be in .txt "tab delimited text" or .csv
"comma separated values" format. In either case Goldenseal
will be able to import it.
Running the Import
To import vendor prices, follow these steps:
- Choose Import from the File menu, and choose Vendor
Prices from the submenu.
- Fill in a match field and vendor.
- Click OK.
- You'll be asked to choose a file to import. Select the
correct data file on your hard drive.
- Goldenseal will run the import automatically.
Technical Details
The price importing goes very quickly if you index the field used to identify the imported items.
If you use vendor product names or codes for importing, follow these steps to quickly add an index:
- Choose Preferences from the Options menu, and choose Income from the submenu.
- Turn on the checkbox for Update Prices by Vendor Code or Update Prices by Vendor Name.
- Goldenseal will ask if you'd like to create a price index. Click OK.
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