The Rounding Sheet is used to round off the bid unit price of your top-level bid items as the final step before printing and submitting your final bid proposal. You can have the system automatically round each item or you can enter the rounded amount for one or all items yourself. Items may be rounded up or down depending on the nearest whole dollar amount.
The Rounding Sheet is where you'll go after completing entering bid items and markups in the Summary window. Rounding rules determine how the Rounding Sheet will present the information entered into the window, such as rounded to the nearest cent, tenth of a cent, etc. These can changed per your company's needs in the Defaults menu.
Alternate Groups
When working in the Bid Items and Rounding Sheet windows, users have the ability to set up and maintain bid item alternates, which can be selected to fall under a single bid package.
Remember that each bid package includes the basic bid items, the bid item groups, and the alternate bid item group(s) that have been included in it. This table is read-only and no new data can be entered.
As the user rounds the unit prices displayed in the bid items table at the top of the window for the base items, the group items and the alternate group item, the bid package amounts displayed in this table will be adjusted to reflect those changes.
If you want to know which alternate bid item groups (displayed at the bottom of the bid item table) are included in each bid package, move your cursor over the bid package name and a tool tip will appear listing the alternate bid item groups included in the bid package.
Enter the Bid Items window from the Job drop-down menu (you can also press Ctrl+B or click the Bid Items button on the toolbar).
When this window is opened, all Bid Item Groups currently entered in the Bid Items window will be listed. The Bid Package you are currently working on will be displayed in the window title bar (if one is active).
This window is used to add the Alternate Bid Item Groups that you want included with the regular bid items. This will be used later in the Rounding Sheet to represent an Alternate Bid Package.
To select alternates for a package, right-click on an item in the table, and select Mark from the context menu as shown below. If you want to mark all items for inclusion, select Mark All. Now that your items are marked, create an alternate by selecting Insert Group/Alternate in the context menu, or by pressing Shift+Insert.
This will open the Insert Bid-Item Group/Alternate window.
Click the magnifying glass to choose from your registered item codes. Check the box next to Alternate group to set up your marked items as alternates.
Note that alternate groups are not automatically populated, you will need to do so by copying and pasting your marked items, or dragging the selected item underneath the alternate group title while holding Control.
In the Rounding Sheet window, you will now see your alternate bid package displayed, as well as associated price totals with and without the alternates.
Once you've ascertained the appropriate prices for your alternate groups, you can lock them by right-clicking and selecting Lock Selected Item. Now, by selecting Auto Round again, the new Total Rounded Price will no longer include the locked alternate items.
All generated proposals will account for alternate groups, as well as display the total rounded price with and without these groups.
Conclusion
Getting started with SharpeSoft is a breeze. Whether you are looking to create a new job or add one, SharpeSoft has got your back. We have the tools and expertise necessary to help you make it happen without breaking a sweat.
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Previous blog: Rounding Sheet (Subcontractor Comparison)
Video Rounding Sheet Estimator Alternate Groups