Estimate Options - Cost Components, Items and Tasks page

Manage estimate-specific settings for new items and tasks, including default behaviors for creation and preferences for how item quantities are entered within the current project.

To navigate to this page of the dialog, select the Edit & Tools command tab and select Options > Estimate Options. Then select Cost Components > Items and Tasks.

The Estimate Options version of the Items and Tasks page contains estimate specific settings which apply to new items and tasks you create in the current estimate, and also preferences which affect how item quantities are entered.

Every time you create an estimate, this information is copied from the Options Dialog into Estimate Options, where it can be modified for the current estimate only.

Item and Task Template Defaults

Here in Estimate Options, you may set the item and task template defaults for your current estimate as follows:

FieldDescription
Item cost method This setting determines which cost method will be used whenever you create a new item in the current estimate. Your choices are Plug, Subcontracted, Quick, Detail, or Comparison.
Task cost method This setting determines which cost method will be used whenever you create a new task in the current estimate. Your choices are Plug, Subcontracted, Quick, Detail, or Comparison.
Auto-assign take-off quantity when bid quantity is entered

When enabled, this option automatically enters your item's Bid Quantity into its take-off quantity field. This occurs only until you have manually adjusted the takeoff quantity for the pay item in question - once you have modified an item's takeoff quantity, entering a new bid quantity will not affect takeoff.

Learn more about using takeoff quantities

Quick item and task defaults

Quick items and tasks allow you to enter unit costs or total costs on the cost category level. If you consistently use the same cost categories inside your quick items and tasks, you may find that it saves time to set default cost categories that are automatically built into every quick item or task you create.

Add a default cost category

  1. Select Add.
  2. Place checkmarks next to the desired cost categories.
  3. Select OK.

Remove a default cost category

  1. Select the record selector record selector for the cost category you want to remove. You may also highlight multiple rows with a control-select or a shift-select.
  2. Select Remove.
  3. Select OK to verify the removal.

The settings on any page in Estimate Options reflect the properties or dictate the behavior of the current estimate only. Your global settings, that set the default properties and behavior of all new estimates you create, are stored on the corresponding page in the Options Dialog.

Learn more about how Estimate Options differs from the Options dialog