Many of the ideas for my blog posts are coming directly from customers.  I'll be working with a customer to help resolve an issue - someone who has used the software for a really long time - and I'll suggest one of our tools and features.  When I find out that this customer didn't know about that item, I know he isn't alone.  

For example, I recently had a customer call our support line looking for a better way to update their net pricing on projects.  Specifically, they were trying to figure out a way to input better net pricing while still maintaining their Harrison list prices / multipliers.  When every dollar in your piping and plumbing estimates count, I can see why users are asking how to do this efficiently.

The good news is that we've got a great tool for that - it's our Material Multiplier Worksheet in AutoBid Mechanical.  You can access this tool after calculations from the Reports Screen through the Red "%" icon.



This spreadsheet is great because it shows you the total dollars for each material multiplier group.  You can use the numbers to negotiate better deals with your vendors - and it's easy to plug in net pricing.

You can either plug in a total net cost for that material multiplier group (the red arrow), and AutoBid will calculate the actual multiplier.  Or, you can plug in a new multiplier (green arrow), and we'll calcualte the new net cost.  When you close out of the screen, re-run your calculations.





Don't forget - not only do multipliers vary by company - they can also vary by project.  If you've got a really big job - or a job that has a lot of a particular item - you can often get a better material multiplier.  Use this tool to reach out to your vendors and get your best possible prices while you are quoting your jobs.

Happy estimating!