Create accurate and detailed estimates in minutes, no matter what type of work you do.
Bolster users spend an average of 84% less time estimating.
With pre-built assemblies containing items, costs and profit, you can estimate in minutes, not hours, even if you're estimating bigger jobs.
Use AutoCost's millions of items for live, region-specific pricing for both materials and labor. See item stock at local stores based on zip code.
Bolster's estimating tool looks like a spreadsheet, but is much more powerful. Items and assemblies can have formulas attached to them, updating costs based on inputted dimensions.
"The software has done exactly what I got it for, which was to not spend four hours a weekend writing estimates. With a bathroom - done before I leave the customer's home. Kitchen? 80% done before I leave."
Bolster gives you all the tools you need to help you scale your construction business.
Save time, win more jobs, increase profit, and get paid faster with Bolster.
Get startedIn an industry where margins are thin and deadlines are tight, every construction company needs a clear and detailed way to create a precise estimate or calculate project costs. Estimating materials, labor hours and other expenses can be the make or break of a bid—and that’s where Bolster’s Estimating Software comes in.
By using digital solutions in your estimating process, you reduce risk, keep jobs on schedule, keep customer up to date, and increase your bottom line. With Bolster you’ll not only streamline your estimating process, but get your jobs off on the right foot from day one.
Cost estimators have traditionally used manual methods like spreadsheets, printed plans and long calculations. While these can work they are prone to human error and waste a lot of time. Traditional methods often fail to accurately account for material and labor costs, leading to financial mismanagement. Add in the complexity of reading multiple plan sheets, cost catalogs and historical data and the risk of error grows exponentially. One small mistake—like miscounting a material or forgetting to account for fluctuating labor rates—can lead to delays, cost overruns and profit loss.
A good Construction Estimating Software tackles these problems head on. Cost estimation software allows you to make accurate bids - reducing the margin of error, and making the pre-construction phase more predictable. Modern estimating software also includes project management tools specific to the construction industry to streamline workflows and improve collaboration.
The bottom line is simple: whether you’re a large general contractor or a specialty subcontractor, modern cloud based software gives you a competitive edge by enabling error free estimating, and allowing you to generate more accurate bids quickly.
Bolster’s Estimating Software is a comprehensive cost estimation software that eliminates the need to juggle multiple tools and data sources. The platform combines takeoff, cost estimation and professional proposal generation into one interface. No more re-entering the same data across spreadsheets or verifying line items in multiple documents. Save money and time with Bolster's all in one solution, avoiding manual calculations and creating more accurate estimates.
Import your specifications into Bolster, and then choose from various takeoff methods—linear, area, volume or weight-based—to get an exact count of what’s needed. Use Bolster's all in one solution, and avoid subscribing to external takeoff software.
Once the quantities are verified, Bolster helps you assign cost factors using pre built catalogs or your own easily customized pricing tables, ensuring accurate tracking of material and labor costs. With the ability to pull up historical cost data from past projects, you get valuable insights into material, labor and equipment costs. Clear estimates can be the difference between a winning bid and a lost opportunity.
Bolster’s Estimating Software turns completed estimates into formal proposals, and allows you to send them in just a few clicks. No more manually re-entering data into another document, you can generate a professional client-facing proposal quickly, enabling more competitive bids for your construction business.
Ensure your workers and subcontractors turn up to the job site with all the correct materials with automatically created material lists and budgets, generated automatically from your estimate items.
With Bolster's Client Portal, available to customers as a free version, they can view past projects, revisions, change orders, view their project financials and even make itemized payments, increasing your cash flow and ensuring profitable work for your business.
Fast estimates mean nothing if they’re inaccurate. Construction is full of variables—material, labor markets, etc. One miscalculation at the bidding stage can lead to losses down the line. Bolster’s Estimating Software reduces those risks by bringing all your estimating data into one source of truth. Additionally, using construction analytics software can further reduce risks by providing deeper insights into project variables.
When you combine quantity takeoff data with validated cost catalogs—industry standard or your own custom tables—Bolster ensures each line item is consistent and verifiable with detailed cost estimates, including accurate tracking of costs. The result? You’ll have fewer non-recoverable change orders and rework due to an incorrect bid. In fact, recent industry surveys have shown companies using integrated estimating solutions see a measurable reduction in revisions and reworks.
One of the biggest benefits of Bolster’s Estimating Software is the time it saves for your business. Create estimates faster, allowing you to win more jobs for your construction business.
Estimating faster is crucial for construction companies to create more profitable work for their business. Modern construction estimating software automates many of the manual tasks that traditionally bog down estimators, such as data entry and calculations. By providing real-time data and enabling collaboration among team members, these tools help create accurate estimates faster and more efficiently. Construction estimating templates are often used in this streamlined process to further enhance accuracy and efficiency.
With a streamlined process, construction companies can focus more on strategic planning and less on financial management tasks. This not only reduces the time spent on creating estimates but also increases the chances of winning jobs. Accurate estimates are essential for competitive bidding, and a streamlined process ensures that every detail is accounted for, minimizing the risk of costly errors.
Construction projects rely on good communication. From pre construction to completion everyone involved in the project need to be on the same page. One of the biggest benefits of using digital tools like Bolster’s Construction Estimating Software is the seamless handoff from estimating to construction.
Since all project data is in one place, the handoff from the pre construction team to the onsite project managers is seamless, thanks to construction management software. No more lost spreadsheets or inconsistent data across different teams. Bolster converts estimates into budgets and schedules, so everyone is on the same page for projected costs, schedules, resource needs, and the viability of future projects.
Cloud-based collaboration is a game-changer for construction companies, enabling teams to work together seamlessly on estimating and project management tasks with just an internet connection. Bolster's construction estimating software provides a centralized online location for all job data, making it easy to share information and coordinate tasks.
With cloud-based collaboration, communication improves significantly, reducing the likelihood of errors and misunderstandings. Teams can access the latest job data from anywhere, at any time, which is particularly beneficial for remote or distributed teams. This level of accessibility and transparency enhances productivity and is an essential part of keeping more jobs on track.
Rework is the silent profit killer in construction. Whether it’s design errors, miscommunication or inaccurate estimates, rework adds unexpected labor hours, material costs and equipment costs—eating into your profit margins. While no software can eliminate rework completely, Bolster’s Construction Estimating Software, with its robust job costing features, can reduce it significantly.
This is all about consistency. Since your estimates and quantities are in the same environment, there’s less scope creep. Plus any changes to the drawings or models can be synced with your estimates using construction management software, so changes are captured and updated without manual intervention. By keeping everyone in the loop and working from the same data you’ll reduce the chances of someone building a wall or putting an HVAC unit based on old plans.
In addition to daily project management, having the right analytics can help you refine your business strategy. Bolster’s Construction Estimating Software doesn’t just store data—it gives you insights. You can track which types of projects or client sectors are most profitable for example or analyze cost overruns in specific categories.
Effective cost management is crucial in construction projects to ensure timely completion and budget adherence. Cost estimation software plays a pivotal role in this by providing a centralized online location for all project data. This enables real-time tracking of all costs, allowing construction companies to make informed decisions about project scope and timelines.
With construction estimating software, companies can create accurate estimates, including detailed breakdowns of material and labor costs. This helps in grouping costs together and adding appropriate markups, ultimately reducing overall expenses and increasing profitability. The software simplifies understanding the costs associated with a project, making it easier to manage construction costs and stay within budget. By leveraging these tools, construction companies can ensure that their projects are not only completed on time but also within the financial constraints set at the outset.
Customizable estimate templates are essential for construction companies aiming to create accurate estimates quickly and efficiently. Construction estimating software offers these customizable templates, including construction estimating templates, allowing estimates to follow the standard workflow of a project. These templates can be tailored for various types of jobs that you estimate often, such as kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels, and additions.
By using customizable templates, construction companies can significantly reduce the risk of overlooking costs related to specific project types. These templates save time and boost productivity by automating much of the estimating process.
Additionally, they enable companies to produce professional-looking bids that include all necessary information, thereby increasing their chances of winning jobs. With these templates, construction companies can streamline their estimating processes and ensure that every bid is comprehensive and competitive.
In today’s construction world it’s rare to find one piece of software that does everything you need—especially when you have to consider financial reporting, client relationship management and safety compliance. Bolster recognizes this and provides robust integrations with third party applications, as a comprehensive construction management software.
Want to reconcile cost estimates with your accounting software? Bolster’s construction software connects directly to Quickbooks, ensuring that your cash flow lines up with your books.
Implementing construction estimating software can be a transformative step for your business, but it requires careful planning and support to ensure success. Here are some key factors to consider:
Comprehensive training and ongoing support are crucial for a smooth transition. Look for software providers that offer detailed training sessions, user manuals, and responsive customer support to help your team become proficient with the new system.
If you’re switching from an existing estimating software, migrating your data can be a daunting task. Choose a provider that offers data migration services to ensure your historical data, cost catalogs, and project information are seamlessly transferred to the new platform.
The ability to integrate with other tools and systems you use, such as project management software or accounting software, is essential. This ensures a cohesive workflow and eliminates the need for duplicate data entry, saving time and reducing errors.
Every construction business has unique processes and requirements. Look for software that can be customized to fit your specific workflows, from custom templates to tailored reporting features. This flexibility ensures the software works for you, not the other way around.
By focusing on these factors, you can ensure a successful implementation of your construction estimating software, leading to more efficient and accurate project estimates.
Companies that use digital estimating solutions see dramatic improvements in job costing, leading to:
Industry surveys show integrated estimating tools can reduce non-recoverable change orders by 50%.
With a central system updating changes in real time, rework can drop by 16%.
With more efficient processes, some companies are doing 48% more construction volume per person.
Ready to see how construction estimating software can revolutionize your business? Schedule a demo with one of our experts to discover the full potential of our software and how it can help you create accurate estimates, streamline your workflow, and boost your profitability.
In today’s fast paced construction environment the pressure is on to get bids out faster than ever. Manual processes and fragmented software solutions can’t keep up with the complexity and collaboration requirements of modern projects. By choosing Bolster to create project estimates, one of the best estimating software options available, you’ll experience significant construction estimating benefits, including advanced takeoff, real time cost tracking, smooth handoffs to project management and deep insights to future opportunities.
