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Plug Items in SharpeSoft Estimator
A plug item in construction is usually in reference to bid items that were neglected during the course of the original bid for one reason for another; usually these items were missed, excluded, or underpriced. These plug items are not associated with any table-based data, allowing users to enter any appropriate plug item information for a given item of work. The SharpeSoft Estimator does not require that these plug items be replaced before the final proposal is generated, ope
Dylan C
2 hours ago2 min read
Cloud vs. Desktop Estimating Software: The 2026 Decision Guide
Cloud vs. Desktop Estimating Software: The 2026 Decision Guide If you have been estimating heavy civil projects for any length of time, you already know the tools you choose can make or break bid day. For decades, desktop estimating software was the standard. It lived on your office computer, it stored your historical data locally, and it worked well enough when the entire estimating process happened in a single location. But the heavy civil landscape has changed. Projects a
SharpeSoft
Jul 168 min read
Why Smart Heavy Civil Contractors Are Bidding Fewer Jobs and Winning More
Why Smart Heavy Civil Contractors Are Bidding Fewer Jobs and Winning More There is a counterintuitive pattern showing up across the heavy civil industry in 2026. The contractors winning the most work are not the ones bidding on every project that hits their desk. They are the ones saying "no" more often, and it is making them more profitable, not less. This is not guesswork. It is a shift that industry analysts have all identified in their 2026 outlooks. In a market defined b
SharpeSoft
Jun 198 min read
Job Owner, Job Default, and Company Default Tax Rates in SharpeSoft Estimator
Determining and applying a proper tax rate is an imperative aspect of running a business. The SharpeSoft Estimator offers multiple different methods by which to determine an appropriate tax rate based on different default criteria. These are tax rates based on Job Owner, a Job Default, or a Company Default. Job Owner Tax Rate As the name implies, the Job Owner Tax Rate is a tax rate associated with a specific owner of a job. Owners are first entered in the Owners table, along
Dylan C
Jun 172 min read
Copying Prices From Another Job in SharpeSoft Estimator
How to When copying bid items, especially between jobs, it's important to remember there are options present within Estimator for registering any changes between prices. This article concerns specifically the option Prompt to keep existing item detail costs during item copy. This is done from the Options tab within the Preferences window. It's located within the Defaults menu on the toolbar. In practice, If the box is NOT checked and you copy an item from another job, the sys
Dylan C
Jun 12 min read
How AI Is Reshaping Heavy Civil Estimating: What Contractors Need to Know in 2026
How AI Is Reshaping Heavy Civil Estimating: What Contractors Need to Know in 2026 If you have been in heavy civil construction for any length of time, you have probably heard the buzz about artificial intelligence changing the way contractors estimate and bid projects. And if you are like most estimators, you might be wondering: is this actually real, or just another tech trend that fades in a year? The short answer: it is real, it is here, and it is already reshaping how the
SharpeSoft
May 228 min read
WBS Codes in SharpeSoft Estimator
For project management purposes, you can assign WBS Codes for each item in a job bid. Work Breakdown Structure Codes (also known as WBS Codes) are codes related to a specific Work Breakdown Structure; a hierarchical schema used by project managers to help divide projects into manageable deliverable items. Work Breakdown Structures are usually either divided by deliverable-oriented, or phase-oriented projects. This window is used to enter WBS codes based on the metric required
Dylan C
May 131 min read
SharpeSoft Estimator Wins the Spring 2026 Top Performer Award from SourceForge
SharpeSoft is proud to be a winner of the Top Performer award from SourceForge, the world’s largest software reviews and comparison website. SharpeSoft is proud to be a winner of the Top Performer award from SourceForge, the world’s largest software reviews and comparison website. 04/29/2026 - SharpeSoft, Inc., the civil construction software company dedicated to putting clients first, announced today that it has been awarded the Spring 2026 Top Performer Award by SourceForge
Dylan C
Apr 292 min read
Alternate Methods to Bid Fuel Usage in SharpeSoft Estimator
For certain operations, tracking relevant fuel costs for each piece of equipment for a given project may be somewhat difficult to track. Whether you are running smaller crews with workers wearing multiple hats, or larger fleets of equipment assigned to multiple different areas of work, the SharpeSoft Estimator provides users with multiple different options for making sense of these important, if somewhat tricky to manage costs. The method used in the video above is forbidding
Dylan C
Apr 282 min read
How to Manage Material Price Volatility in Heavy Civil Estimating
How to Manage Material Price Volatility in Heavy Civil Estimating If you've bid on a heavy civil project in the last few years, you already know the story: the price you quoted for concrete in January isn't the price you're paying in June. Steel fluctuates with global scrap markets. Asphalt moves with the price of oil. And aggregates, once the most predictable line item on your estimate, are now subject to localized shortages that can spike costs overnight. Material price vol
SharpeSoft
Apr 227 min read
SharpeSoft Newsletter (March 2026)
Inside... SharpeSoft Webinar GT Weldon Finds the Joy in Estimating Again Refer a friend and earn $750 SharpeSoft Employee Highlight 2025 Construction Industry Retrospective Past Webinar Information The Fruit of the Spirit The Story Celebrating its 50th year of operation in 2025, GT Weldon Construction, LLC, is a general engineering and oil field services contractor based out of Vernal, Utah. GT Weldon has created a legacy of value since 1975, putting its culture of integrity
Dylan C
Mar 195 min read
What Winning Construction Bids Have in Common (And How Estimating Software Helps)
What Winning Construction Bids Have in Common (And How Estimating Software Helps) Every contractor knows the feeling: you spend days preparing a construction estimate. You double-check the numbers. You submit the bid with confidence. Then the results come back. You lost the project by a few thousand dollars. In heavy civil construction , that scenario happens all the time. The difference between winning and losing a project often comes down to accuracy, speed, and confidence
SharpeSoft
Mar 185 min read
Better Communication and Easier Documentation: How Heavy Civil Contractors Use SharpeSoft
Better Communication and Easier Documentation: How Heavy Civil Contractors Use SharpeSoft Heavy civil construction isn’t just about dirt, pipe, asphalt, or concrete. It’s about coordination. And when communication breaks down, documentation follows; and margins disappear. If you’ve ever dealt with multiple versions of the same estimate, confusion between field and office numbers, missing backup during a change order dispute, or time wasted searching for the “final” file. You
SharpeSoft
Feb 234 min read
SCI Infrastructure Uses SharpeSoft to Continue a Legacy
The Story Located in the Seattle-Tacoma area, SCI Infrastructure, LLC. has been a mainstay of the area for decades, transforming from a simple operation helmed by brothers Armondo and John Scoccolo, to an incorporated venture providing trusted construction services up and down Washington state. Like the legendary fig tree which graces the company’s property, SCI has grown to become a beloved member of the community. 2821 S 154th St, SeaTac, WA 98188 With the Scoccolo brand ce
Dylan C
Feb 104 min read
SharpeSoft Customer Webinar (January 29, 2026)
The SharpeSoft Customer Webinar series is designed to assist SharpeSoft users of all skill levels in getting the most out of the Estimator set in a new collaborative online environment. What to Expect Quality presentations performed by SharpeSoft's knowledgeable Success Team every month, demonstrating only the newest of Estimator releases. Dedicated timeslots throughout the webinar to allow for user-submitted questions and answers. A new perspective on SharpeSoft's powerful f
Dylan C
Feb 51 min read
SharpeSoft Customer Webinar (December 18, 2025)
The SharpeSoft Customer Webinar series is designed to assist SharpeSoft users of all skill levels in getting the most out of the Estimator set in a new collaborative online environment. What to Expect Quality presentations performed by SharpeSoft's knowledgeable Success Team every month, demonstrating only the newest of Estimator releases. Dedicated timeslots throughout the webinar to allow for user-submitted questions and answers. A new perspective on SharpeSoft's powerful f
Dylan C
Feb 51 min read
SharpeSoft Customer Webinar (November 20, 2025)
The SharpeSoft Customer Webinar series is designed to assist SharpeSoft users of all skill levels in getting the most out of the Estimator set in a new collaborative online environment. What to Expect Quality presentations performed by SharpeSoft's knowledgeable Success Team every month, demonstrating only the newest of Estimator releases. Dedicated timeslots throughout the webinar to allow for user-submitted questions and answers. A new perspective on SharpeSoft's powerful f
Dylan C
Feb 51 min read
SharpeSoft Customer Webinar (October 29, 2025)
The SharpeSoft Customer Webinar series is designed to assist SharpeSoft users of all skill levels in getting the most out of the Estimator set in a new collaborative online environment. What to Expect Quality presentations performed by SharpeSoft's knowledgeable Success Team every month, demonstrating only the newest of Estimator releases. Dedicated timeslots throughout the webinar to allow for user-submitted questions and answers. A new perspective on SharpeSoft's powerful f
Dylan C
Feb 31 min read
SharpeSoft Customer Webinar (September 25, 2025)
The SharpeSoft Customer Webinar series is designed to assist SharpeSoft users of all skill levels in getting the most out of the Estimator set in a new collaborative online environment. What to Expect Quality presentations performed by SharpeSoft's knowledgeable Success Team every month, demonstrating only the newest of Estimator releases. Dedicated timeslots throughout the webinar to allow for user-submitted questions and answers. A new perspective on SharpeSoft's powerful f
Dylan C
Feb 31 min read
Boost Construction Productivity: Integrating SharpeSoft with Your Project Workflow
Boost Construction Productivity: Integrating SharpeSoft with Your Project Workflow Construction productivity doesn’t usually fail because teams work too slowly. It fails because information breaks down between estimating, project management, and the field. An estimate gets approved. A project gets kicked off. And suddenly, the numbers that made the job profitable are buried in spreadsheets, PDFs, or tribal knowledge that never fully makes it to the people executing the work.
SharpeSoft
Jan 294 min read
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