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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.
Editing the Rounding Sheet Window
Upon entering the Rounding Sheet window, most users will first, Auto Round and then Auto Balance the sheet. This is done from either the Actions menu or from the toolbar. In the video example, we also first reset the Rounding Sheet to give us the most accurate information once we begin the rounding process.
Once that is done, you will review each bid item, adjusting the prices in the Rounded Unit or Rounded Total columns in the top panel until the Rounded Recap off by field at the bottom of the window is as close to zero as possible. This can be done simply by double-clicking inside the field in question.
In the example, we focus on the 8" Water Main item, which has a Unit Price to Balance value of $131.7. However, the field below it tells us that overall Round Recap is off by $30 on a job of $1.4 million. This is the stage in which you will adjust prices and units in order to make that Round Recap number as close to zero as possible.
Changes made to the Rounding Sheet might highlight a certain item's row, for example when a change increases how much money we'll need to round off later. These KPIs can be adjusted in the Preferences menu.
After a bid item has been rounded off, go to the Actions menu and click Lock Selected Item(s) to lock the item so it cannot be changed. This helps to eliminate potential mistakes in the future, securing the data as is.
More importantly, selecting Auto Balance now that a bid item has been locked will remove it from the balancing process. This means that a bid item that has been previously zeroed out will not erroneously show up as money you still need to make back.
Subcontractor Comparison
This window displays the various subcontractor comparison packages (concrete, paving, excavation, etc.) that have been entered for the job. These packages are used to compare your subcontractor bids for evaluation and inclusion into the job. The system also allows you to email quote requests to your vendors and load your vendors' emailed responses directly into the package, eliminating manual entry. Once created, the package is listed in the window and you can double-click on it to open it and its detail window. From there you can email quote requests directly to the vendors you selected for the package. As you receive quotes back from your vendors you will load them into the detail window where you can compare their prices side-by-side and choose which ones you want to use in your bid.
Although the low vendor price for each material item will initially be automatically selected and highlighted in red, you can override the automatic price selection by clicking your preferred price and clicking Actions menu > Select Cell as Low. Once you have finished selecting the vendor and price combinations that you want to actually use in your bid, click Actions menu > Load Package as Selected. This will load the selected vendor prices into your bid.
When you use the Load button to select and load a vendor, the vendor's prices are loaded into the job. Once you click on the vendor's Load button, a message will appear briefly informing you the package is being loaded.
Returning to the Rounding Sheet after selecting old vendors or loading new ones may cause the job to either be above or below board. This information is presented to you clearly, allowing you to adjust units and prices for the best possible outcome.
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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Next blog: Rounding Sheet (Alternate Groups)
Video Subcontractor Comparison Estimator Rounding Sheet