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Use our step by step guide to learn the main functions of our 360 Estimator software, with examples and pictures.
Check the how to estimate guide
Relax while watch our video lessons and learn how to create a Takeoff, Estimate, Proposal, Gantt Chart and Cost Report, using 360 Estimator.
Watch the video lessons
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The purpose of this lesson is to get you an overview of the 360 Estimator and show you how it can help grow your construction business.
360 Estimator is a simple but powerful construction estimating software that integrates with Craftsman Book Company’s cost books to give you the ability to add over 100 thousand cost items for any of your project needs. Using 360 Estimator you can manage your construction projects from the initial concept through to the end.
1. Create project takeoff
The phrase “takeoff” refers to the estimator taking each of the required materials off of the blueprint for a project. The central purpose of a construction takeoff is to provide a comprehensive list of all the essential materials to complete a project.
360 Estimator can help you eliminate manual plan takeoffs and drastically reduce the chance of miscalculating materials or missing items. You can import plans using industry-standard formats. You can quickly use 360 Estimator to measure square footage, perimeters, and volumes of simple or even complex areas.
2. Create estimates and send project proposals
Construction estimating is the process of anticipating the expense of building a physical structure. Every successful project starts with an accurate cost estimate.
360 Estimator allows you to easily create an Estimate and send proposals to your customers using Craftsman Cost books. You can choose from 11 books with over 100.000 Cost Items.
Cost items are the basics of an estimate, representing the quantity of work that needs to be done. A cost item has a symbol, description, material costs, labor costs, and equipment costs for one unit.
3. Manage your projects using a Gant Chart
A Gantt chart is a project management tool assisting in the planning and scheduling of projects. Project management timelines and tasks are converted into a horizontal bar chart, showing start and end dates, as well as dependencies, scheduling, and deadlines, including how much of the task is completed per stage and who is the task owner. This is useful to keep tasks on track when there is a large team and multiple stakeholders when the scope changes.
360 Estimator automatically creates a Gantt Chart for your project and allows you to modify the start and end dates, dependencies, percentage completed, and task owner.
4. Create cost reports
Cost reports are used in the post-contract phase of the project. Successful projects are delivered with the required quality standards, on time, and within budget. One of the most important cost control actions is submitting regular, monthly in general, up-to-date, and accurate cost reports.
360 Estimator assists you in the post-contract phase of the project to create regular, up-to-date, and accurate Cost Reports. The progress is recorded and automatically synchronized with the Gantt Chart.
5. Engage with your customers
360 Estimator allows you to Manage and build the relationship with your customers using our integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module.
6. Take control of your projects using the Dashboard
360 Estimator allows you to customize your dashboard and always have access to any information about your projects, customers, and teams.
7. Use the Mobile app
You can download the Estimator AR app on your mobile phone from 
or 
and use it as an alternative to viewing your projects created in 360 Estimator or as a stand-alone app for simple projects.
Thank you for watching this video and please go to 360estimator.com web page and create free trial account now!
In this lesson, I want to show you how to create an Estimate using 360 Estimator and Craftsman Book Company’s cost books.
An estimate is a forecast of the construction costs. An Estimate is prepared by breaking down the items of work of a project and determining the cost of each item.
1. Add a Project
2. Add cost items in your Estimate
360 Estimator has access to Craftsman Book Company’s cost books, a database with over 100,000 cost items for construction and installation works. You can search for items by name or symbol.
Cost items are the basics of an estimate, representing the quantity of work that needs to be done. A cost item consists of material, labor, and equipment prices.
If you want to search for a cost item in a specific catalog,
3. When you want to Print an Estimate
4. Set the Area of your project in order to be able to apply the Area Modification Factor
Area modification factors are revised and published by Craftsman Book Company to account for relative changes in labor and material costs from area to area.
Relative changes in labor and material costs will be applied to the cost items that will be added further to the project.
5. Create a Work Breakdown Structure for your complex projects
A work breakdown structure (WBS) defines all the things a project needs to accomplish, organized into multiple levels.
6. Use a Template to create a Work Breakdown Structure for your complex projects
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends Uniformat II as a classification framework to provide a consistent reference for the description, economic analysis, and management of a structure during all phases of its life cycle.
A new project will be added and you can start to modify it as needed.
Thank you for watching this video and please go back to your 360 Estimator and create an Estimate for your project now.
In this lesson, I will be taking you through each step necessary to create a digital takeoff.
Quantity takeoff from drawings can be carried out by using the On-Screen Digital Takeoff.
The purpose of measuring is to establish the correct amount of work that needs to be carried out.
1. Load a blueprint from a PDF or a DWG format
2. Set the scale
The scale is the relative size at which a drawing has been made.
3. Start a takeoff
The calculated quantity will be applied to the cost item you selected.
5. Print the Estimate
Thank you for watching this video and please go back to your 360 Estimator and create a Digital Takeoff for your project now.
This lesson is an overview of how to modify prices for your project.
The point of a good price estimate is to ensure both reliability and accuracy. Reliability comes from properly taking into consideration fluctuating market conditions, seasonal and location factors, as well as other project conditions.
1. Modify prices for a cost item
2. Modify soft costs
Soft costs are indirect costs that will normally be added to the direct costs. Generally, these are builder overhead and profit margin and are carried out on a percentage basis of your hard costs.
If you want to add specific or special soft costs for a project, open the Items left panel, from the Soft Costs section, select Special soft costs, press plus in front of the Soft Cost item you want to add.
3. Modify prices using percentages
You can use a set percent value to alter the prices for your either materials, labor, and equipment. You can also modify the value of your entire project or you can set a final value for it
4. Create and use Price Collections
Price collections are a unique selection of prices for cost items. A price collection can be used to easily transfer prices from one project to another.
The Price collection will be used to update the price for the cost items that will be added further in this project or in other new projects.
Thank you for watching this video and please go back to your 360 Estimator and modify Prices for your project now.
In this lesson, we’ll be going through how to create custom cost items.
A cost item is comprised of material, labor, and equipment prices. Cost items or cost lines are the basic parts of an estimate and represent quantities of various items of work that need to be done and purchased. A cost item has a symbol, description, material costs, labor costs, and equipment costs for one unit.
1. Modify an existing cost item
2. Create a new cost item
3. Add resources in a cost item
The cost item price for materials, labor, and equipment will be calculated from the resources automatically.
4. Save a custom cost item
The new cost item will be saved in the Custom items collection and will be available for your next projects.
5. Create an Assembly
Construction costs are comprised of material, labor, and equipment prices and can be referenced at the unit or assembly level of detail.
The new Assembly will be saved in the Custom items, Assemblies database and will be available for your next projects
Thank you for watching this video and please go back to your 360 Estimator and create a custom Cost Item for your project now.
Through this lesson, we want to make sure you will know How to configure a Gantt Chart.
A Gantt chart is a project management tool assisting in the planning and scheduling of projects.
1. Set the start date for your project
2. Change the order of your activities
You can create your Work Breakdown Structure by rearranging your activities in the order in which you will execute them.
3. Modify the time it takes to complete your activities
The time it takes to complete in days for your activities is calculated from the labor hours divided by the number of workers and hours spent on the job or project
4. Create dependencies for your activities
The critical path is the longest period of time in which the tasks of a project will be completed.
5. Use S-Curve
S-curve is a mathematical graph that illustrates the appropriate cumulative data for a project or task, in our case, the number of workers needed for your tasks
6. Print the Gantt Report
Thank you for watching this video and please go back to your 360 Estimator and configure a Gantt Chart for your project now.
In this lesson, we’ll be creating Cost reports
We are now in the post-contract phase of the project. Successful projects are delivered with the required quality standards, on time, and within budget. One of the most important cost control actions is submitting regular, monthly in general, up-to-date, and accurate cost reports.
1. Create a Cost Report
In a cost report you can have three types of quantities: Completed, Canceled, or Added
2. Create the Final Cost Report
The Cost report is connected with your Gantt chart and if you move on your Gantt chart you can see the percent completed for each activity from your project
3. Print a Cost report
Thank you for watching this video and please go back to your 360 Estimator and create a Cost report for your project now.
The purpose of this lesson is to show you how to export your projects. You can use the exported file to share your project with a partner, or Import a project received from a partner.
1. Export a project and send it to a partner
2. Import a project received from a partner
3. Export a project for Microsoft Project Manager
The XLSX file is ready to be imported in Microsoft Project Manager
In this lesson, you will be given the steps on how to manage your customers' accounts. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool helps you to keep track of the records of all contacts and projects for all of your customers.
You can find your customer in CRM and see the history of all of your projects and interactions with your customer.
2. Send your proposals and cost reports by email
3. Keep a log of emails, phones, or onsite interactions related to your customer
4. Add a new project for an existing customer
In this lesson, I will be showing you How to configure your Dashboard. The Dashboard helps you to get a 360 view of your projects.
The standard panels on your Dashboard are:
All the information from your panels is linked to the Estimates module so you can see the details about your project simply by pressing one click.
1. Hide and view the panels on your dashboard
2. Configure your panels
In this video, you will learn how to configure users. You can configure users for your application depending on the number of subscriptions you purchased. For more details, vizit our price page 360estimator.com/estimating-pricing.
1. Add a new user
2. Configure an existing user
In this lesson, I want to show you how to create an estimate using the simplified version of 360 Estimator for Mobile.
You can download the Estimator AR app on your mobile phone from or and use it as an alternative to viewing your projects created in 360 Estimator or as a stand-alone app for simple projects.
1. Add the Customer
Touch + at the bottom right corner, enter the customer's name, for example, John Smith, and touch Save.
2. Add the Project
In the projects section, touch +, enter the project name, for example, the Standard foundation, and touch Save
3. Add Cost Items
You can search for the cost items by name or symbol. The 360 Estimator program has partnered with Craftsman Books, providing a database with over 100,000 cost items for construction and installation works from the Craftsman Book Company of America.
Touch + from the bottom right corner and enter a keyword, for example, Excavation. Choose the correct item from the list, enter the quantity, for example, 2 Cubic Yards, and touch Add.
Touch + on the bottom right of the screen again and enter the search criteria, for example, Concrete form. Choose the right item, enter the quantity, 15, and touch Add.
Touch + on the bottom right of the screen again and enter the search criteria, for example, Concrete footings Choose the right item, enter the quantity, for example, 2 cubic yards, and touch Add.
4. Modify the cost items
If you want to modify the cost items, to account for the local market or seasonal availability, select the item you want to modify, press click, change the name, cost of materials, labor, equipment, or quantity, and touch Save.
5. Use On-site Quantity Takeoff
If you want to use On-site Quantity Takeoff select the item for which you want to modify the quantity, touch to open it, touch Takeoff from the right of the Quantity and use your camera or Augmented Reality gear to measure. Edit the formula as needed and touch Save.
6. Delete a cost Item
If you want to delete an item, click and drag the item to the left, and confirm the deletion.
7. Edit the project details
Touch + at the bottom right corner, press Settings, press Show more, change the project details, for example, set the Overhead and profit to 8% and touch Close.
8. Send the proposal to your customer
The program allows you to send the proposal in PDF format. Touch PDF in the top right corner, choose Proposal and press Send Report.
Thank you for watching this video and please download the Estimator app on your mobile phone from or
and create a free trial account now.
A Workflow is a sequence of tasks that describe how something goes from being undone to done.
Here is a proposed workflow in 360 Estimator that helps you to manage your construction projects from the initial concept through to the end.
What type of commercial pricing do you offer?
Craftsman publishes annually 11 databases, which include estimating data for commercial and industrial construction.
How many individual items are in your pricelists?
Craftsman offers a range of cost databases to suit your needs, including:
• General construction – approx. 30,000 cost items
• Repair & remodeling – approx. 6,000 cost items
• Renovation & insurance repair – approx. 12,000 cost items
• Electrical – approx. 9,000 cost items
• Plumbing & HVAC – approx. 8,000 cost items
• Home improvement – approx. 10,000 cost items
• Earthwork & heavy equipment – approx. 3,000 cost items
• Heavy construction – approx. 20,000 cost items
• Concrete & masonry – approx. 15,000 cost items
• Painting – approx. 5,000 cost items
• Framing & finish carpentry – approx. 5,000 cost items
What type of pricing services do you offer? (i.e. unit pricing, time & materials, etc)
Craftsman Book Company (“Craftsman”) has been a publisher of construction cost estimating references since 1952. Licensed Craftsman data shows the time (typical manhours per unit for installation), material cost per unit (including waste and coverage loss) and installed cost, based on an hourly labor rate (including taxes and insurance) appropriate for the locality. Overhead and profit are necessarily a function of the contractor performing the work, not the task.
Describe how you develop your estimating guidelines?
Estimating (including cat-loss adjusting) is an art, not a science. Good estimates are custom made for a particular project and a single contractor through judgment, analysis, and experience. On many jobs, the range between high and low bid will be 30% or more. There's room for legitimate disagreement on what the correct costs are, even when complete plans and specifications are available, the date and site are established, and labor and material costs are identical for all bidders. No one cost fits all jobs. There are better estimates and worse estimates. All good estimates are based on careful consideration of what’s included and what’s excluded. Without that, any price is the right price. That’s why Craftsman data includes robust explanations – a short essay anyone can use to evaluate how conditions on a particular job will affect costs.
How do you develop pricing?
Prices come from the same sources all professional estimators use: contractors and subcontractors, material suppliers, material price services, analysis of plans, specifications, completed project costs, and both published and unpublished cost studies. In addition, Craftsman conducts nationwide mail, email and phone surveys and has the use of several major national estimating databases. Craftsman monitors prices for over 1,000 key construction materials in essentially all metropolitan areas in the US.
How do you verify pricing?
Prices are checked continually, both by Craftsman staff and by reports from the thousands of contractors who use Craftsman references when pricing construction and re-construction work.
How often do you update pricing?
Craftsman maintains a set of geographic modifiers for US zip codes and Canadian postal sortation areas. New modifiers are produced and distributed monthly, with other cost data adjustments distributed on a quarterly basis -- automatically on the Web.
Do you update pricing in a catastrophe, and if so how do you update prices?
Craftsman occasionally publishes regional (localized) editions which reflect experience of adjusters working in the communities affected by a catastrophe.
Does your pricing account for the amount items cost in particular geographic locations?
Yes. Geographic modification factors are revised and published monthly to account for relative changes in labor and material costs from area to area. Modification factors are available for essentially every US zip and more than 1,000 Canadian postal codes.
Are local prices surveyed on a regular basis? Do you call local contractors or is some other method utilized to determine local prices?
Yes. Craftsman receives, collects, processes and publishes thousands of construction material costs daily. The Craftsman support line receives over a hundred calls per week from contractors and construction professionals, many confirming prices Craftsman has published.
Do you consider feedback concerning inadequate pricing from area residents, contractors, company personnel in developing your guidelines? If so, how do you address this?
Yes. All inquiries are treated seriously. We research claims about inadequate or erroneous data and publish expanded or corrected information on the Web through the Craftsman Software Update (CSU) when appropriate.
Does increased demand for updated pricing result in increased frequency of pricing updates?
No. There has been no request for updating prices more often than quarterly.
Do you update pricing guidelines in reaction to local area items?
Yes. All pricing is based on local costs. As local costs change, we publish revisions.
How long does it take you to update pricing guidelines in reaction to discovering an item that is localized to a certain area?
Scheduled updates are published quarterly. Unscheduled updates can be published and distributed on the Web within 24 hours.
Does your software allow for minimum charges in all categories, for retail labor in all categories, for trip and/or preparation charges based on “pure labor” that can be adjusted to account for excessive drive or transportation times?
No. Driving times, trip, job preparation, supervision, mobilization, and demobilization costs (and all non-productive labor) are overhead costs that are properly considered separately from labor and material costs. Craftsman recommends minimum job charges for many trades and tasks. But labor and material cost estimates are based on typical installation rates and exclude non-productive time.
What type of data supports your pricing?
Craftsman is acknowledged as a leader in publishing backup data for estimates – offering an item by item breakdown of all components in each assembly – including typical waste and coverage factors.
Is the data readily available for access when needed to support your pricing?
Yes. Craftsman includes a summary of all the cost components side-by-side with most estimates
How do you monitor new products in the market place and how or when are they added to your program?
Craftsman publishes about 50,000 pages of construction cost estimating data annually. About 200 pages of new data are added each year. This information comes from the same sources all contractors, architects, and engineers use: product catalogs, trade press, manufacturer press releases, and reports from building material dealers. New products are generally added during annual revisions but can be added with any monthly update.
For more info vist: Crafstman Company website
The phrase “takeoff” refers to the estimator taking each of the required materials off of the blueprint for a project. The central purpose of a construction takeoff is to provide a comprehensive list of all the essential materials to complete a project.
360 Estimator can help you eliminate manual plan takeoffs and drastically reduce the chance on miscalculating materials or missing items. You can import plans using industry-standard formats. You can quickly use 360 Estimator to measure square footage, perimeters, and volumes of simple or even complex areas.
Construction estimating is the process of anticipating the expense of building a physical structure. Every successful project starts with an accurate cost estimate. If a contractor produces a very detailed estimate he will be able to:
For most contractors Construction estimating is the most important marketing tool. A detailed estimate is not only used for bidding and competing against other contractors but is also a basic project management tool. A detailed estimate offer:
A detailed construction estimate or bid estimate is the product of a process whereby the cost of a proposed construction project is predicted. This prediction is based on a complete set of drawings from which the quantity of work is measured, specifications defining the quality of work, a developed construction plan, and time required for construction.
Using 360 Estimator you can upload the complete set of drawings and measure the quantity of work, create estimates, and track the progress of your project using cost reports and a Gantt chart.
A cost item is comprised of material, labor, and equipment prices.
360 Estimator integrates 11 databases from Craftsman, which include over 100.000 cost items for commercial and industrial construction.
Cost items are the basics of an estimate, representing the quantity of work that needs to be done. A cost item has a symbol, description, material costs, labor costs, and equipment costs for one unit.
Construction costs are comprised of material, labor, and equipment prices and can be referenced at the unit or assembly level of detail.
360 Estimator allows you to create and save custom assemblies and use them in your estimates.
A work breakdown structure (WBS) defines all the things a project needs to accomplish, organized into multiple levels.
For example, according to ASTM Uniformat II Classification for Building Elements, level 1 WBS for building elements are:
360 Estimator includes four templates that help you to create a proper WBS for your projects.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends Uniformat II as a classification framework to provide a consistent reference for the description, economic analysis, and management of a structure during all phases of their life cycle. This includes planning, programming, design, construction, operations, and disposal.
360 Estimator integrates three UNIFORMAT Templates that you can use to create the Work Breakdown Structure for your projects. You can also download the complete pdf format as published by NIST.
Area modification factors are revised and published by Craftsman to account for relative changes in labor and material costs from area to area. Modification factors are available for essentially every US zip.
360 Estimator allow you to set the area of your project and automatically apply changes in labor and material costs from area you selected.
A custom price collection is a bundle of resources' price (materials, labor, and equipment) used previously in one of your projects and saved, that you can reuse in other projects.
360 Estimator allow you to create multiple price collections and use them to update prices in your projects.
Cost reports are used in the post-contract phase of the project. Successful projects are delivered with the required quality standards, on time, and within budget. One of the most important cost control actions is submitting regular, monthly in general, up-to-date, and accurate cost reports.
A Gantt chart is a project management tool assisting in the planning and scheduling of projects. Project management timelines and tasks are converted into a horizontal bar chart, showing start and end dates, as well as dependencies, scheduling, and deadlines, including how much of the task is completed per stage and who is the task owner. This is useful to keep tasks on track when there is a large team and multiple stakeholders when the scope changes.
360 Estimator automatically create a Gantt Chart for your project and allow you to modify start and end dates, dependencies, percentege completed and task owner.
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In project management, an S-curve is a mathematical graph that illustrates the appropriate cumulative data for a project or task. This data can be the cost, or man-hours plotted against time.
360 Estimator allows you to view and print S-curve for your projects' cost, or man-hours plotted against time.
The scale is the relative size at which a drawing has been made.
Construction drawings are made to a reduced scale (smaller than the actual size). The scale of a particular floor plan, elevation, or detail is indicated on the sheet, either in the title block or beneath the drawing itself. A note such as SCALE: 1/4″ = 1′-0″, for example, identifies the drawing scale for the plan. The drawing scale will determine which scale the user of the plan will have to use to retrieve dimensional information.