B2W Estimate allows you to save crews, tasks, and items from any estimate back to your Resources or Item Databases areas. This is extremely useful when you realize that certain cost structures created within an estimate might also be useful for future estimates.

For example, you might add a crew template to your estimate and then modify it on the Estimate Detail tab to handle a specific type of work called for by this estimate. If you want to save this to use again in a future estimate, right-select the estimate crew and save it back to Resources as a crew template which will be available to add to any future estimate. Similar scenarios also apply to estimate items and estimate tasks.

In the sections below, you will find information about the five ways this feature can be used:

Save an estimate item as an item template

To save a single estimate item as an item template within the Item Databases area, follow these steps:

1. On the Estimate Detail tab, right-select the item you want to save and select Save as Item Template. The Save Item, Task, and Crew Templates Wizard appears.
2. Select Next to proceed to the first page in the wizard.
3. On the Item Template Information page, enter the item number and description you want to use for your item template, and then select the item database to which it should be saved. Select Next to proceed.
4. If the estimate item you are saving has an item number which matches that of an item template already stored within the selected item database, the Item Templates page appears. Here, you may specify whether you want to replace the cost structure of the existing item template with the cost structure from your estimate item, or create a new item template instead. To help ensure you make the right decision, you may use the Preview button to compare the cost structure of the existing template with that of your estimate item. Once you've made your selection, select Next to proceed.
5. If there are crews within your estimate item whose description does not match the description of any crew within Resources, the Crew Templates page appears. Here, you may select the crew template Resources which B2W Estimate will use when saving your item template cost structure. Alternately, you can specify that you want to create new crew templates - assuming you have permission to do so - and use the newly created crew within your new item template structure. To help ensure you make the right decision, you may use the Preview button to compare the cost structure of the existing template with that of your estimate item. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
6. If the estimate item you are saving includes links to an embedded Excel workbook, the Excel Workbooks page appears. Here, you may select Excel Workbook Resources to which B2W Estimate will attempt to match the links from your estimate workbooks. You may also specify that you want to create a copy of the estimate workbook in Resources, assuming you have permission to do so. Alternately, you may specify that you want to remove your workbook links, saving the previously linked values as "manually entered" values instead. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
7. On the Summary page, B2W Estimate lists the information you need to know about how your item will be saved. Review these notes carefully, then select Finish to save your item as an item template.

Save an estimate item as a task template

To save an estimate item as a task template in Resources, follow these steps:

1. On the Estimate Detail tab, right-select the item you want to save and select Save as Task Template. The Save Item, Task, and Crew Templates Wizard appears.
2. Select Next to proceed to the first page in the wizard.
3. On the Task Template Information page, enter the name you want to use for your new task template, then select Next.
4. If there are crews within your estimate task whose description does not match the description of any crew within Resources, the Crew Templates page appears. Here, you may select the Crew Template Resources which B2W Estimate will use when saving your task template cost structure. Alternately, you can specify that you want to create new crew templates - assuming you have permission to do so - and use the newly created crews within your new item template structure. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
5. If the estimate item you are saving includes links to an embedded Excel workbook, the Excel Workbooks page appears. Here, you may select Excel Workbook Resources to which B2W Estimate will attempt to match the links from your estimate workbooks. You may also specify that you want to create a copy of the estimate workbook in Resources, assuming you have permission to do so. Alternately, you may specify that you want to remove your workbook links, saving the previously linked values as "manually entered" values instead. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
6. On the Summary page, B2W Estimate lists the information you need to know about how your task will be saved. Review these notes carefully, then select Finish to save your task as a task template.

Save an estimate task as a task template

To save a single estimate task as a task template in Resources, follow these steps:

1. On the Estimate Detail tab, right-select the task you want to save and select Save as Task Template. The Save Item, Task, and Crew Templates Wizard appears.
2. Select Next to proceed to the first page in the wizard.
3. On the Task Template Information page, enter the name you want to use for your new task template, then select Next.
4. If there are crews within your estimate task whose description does not match the description of any crew within Resources, the Crew Templates page appears. Here, you may select the Crew Template Resources which B2W Estimate will use when saving your task template cost structure. Alternately, you can specify that you want to create new crew templates - assuming you have permission to do so - and use the newly created crews within your new item template structure. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
5. If the estimate item you are saving includes links to an embedded Excel workbook, the Excel Workbooks page appears. Here, you may select Excel Workbook Resources to which B2W Estimate will attempt to match the links from your estimate workbooks. You may also specify that you want to create a copy of the estimate workbook in Resources, assuming you have permission to do so. Alternately, you may specify that you want to remove your workbook links, saving the previously linked values as "manually entered" values instead. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
6. On the Summary page, B2W Estimate lists the information you need to know about how your task will be saved. Review these notes carefully, then select Finish to save your task as a task template.

Save an estimate task as an item template

To save an estimate task as an item template within the Item Databases area, follow these steps:

1. On the Estimate Detail tab, right-select the task you want to save and select Save as Item Template. The Save Item, Task, and Crew Templates Wizard appears.
2. Select Next to proceed to the first page in the wizard.
3. On the Item Template Information page, enter the item number and description you want to use for your item template, and then select the item database to which it should be saved. Select Next to proceed.
4. If the estimate item you are saving has an item number which matches that of an item template already stored within the selected item database, the Item Templates page appears. Here, you may specify whether you want to replace the cost structure of the existing item template with the cost structure from your estimate item, or create a new item template instead. To help ensure you make the right decision, you may use the Preview button to compare the cost structure of the existing template with that of your estimate item. Once you've made your selection, select Next to proceed.
5. If there are crews within your estimate item whose description does not match the description of any crew within Resources, the Crew Templates page appears. Here, you may select the crew template Resources which B2W Estimate will use when saving your item template cost structure. Alternately, you can specify that you want to create new crew templates - assuming you have permission to do so - and use the newly created crew within your new item template structure. To help ensure you make the right decision, you may use the Preview button to compare the cost structure of the existing template with that of your estimate item. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
6. If the estimate item you are saving includes links to an embedded Excel workbook, the Excel Workbooks page appears. Here, you may select Excel Workbook Resources to which B2W Estimate will attempt to match the links from your estimate workbooks. You may also specify that you want to create a copy of the estimate workbook in Resources, assuming you have permission to do so. Alternately, you may specify that you want to remove your workbook links, saving the previously linked values as "manually entered" values instead. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
7. On the Summary page, B2W Estimate lists the information you need to know about how your item will be saved. Review these notes carefully, then select Finish to save your item as an item template.

Save an estimate cost group as an item template

To save an estimate cost group as an item template within the Item Databases area, follow these steps:

1. On the Estimate Detail tab, right-select the cost group you want to save and select Save as Item Template. The Save Item, Task, and Crew Templates Wizard appears.
2. Select Next to proceed to the first page in the wizard.
3. On the Item Template Information page, enter the item number and description you want to use for your item template, and then select the item database to which it should be saved. Select Next to proceed.
4. If the estimate item you are saving has an item number which matches that of an item template already stored within the selected item database, the Item Templates page appears. Here, you may specify whether you want to replace the cost structure of the existing item template with the cost structure from your estimate item, or create a new item template instead. To help ensure you make the right decision, you may use the Preview button to compare the cost structure of the existing template with that of your estimate item. Once you've made your selection, select Next to proceed.
5. If there are crews within your estimate item whose description does not match the description of any crew within Resources, the Crew Templates page appears. Here, you may select the crew template Resources which B2W Estimate will use when saving your item template cost structure. Alternately, you can specify that you want to create new crew templates - assuming you have permission to do so - and use the newly created crew within your new item template structure. To help ensure you make the right decision, you may use the Preview button to compare the cost structure of the existing template with that of your estimate item. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
6. If the estimate item you are saving includes links to an embedded Excel workbook, the Excel Workbooks page appears. Here, you may select Excel Workbook Resources to which B2W Estimate will attempt to match the links from your estimate workbooks. You may also specify that you want to create a copy of the estimate workbook in Resources, assuming you have permission to do so. Alternately, you may specify that you want to remove your workbook links, saving the previously linked values as "manually entered" values instead. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
7. On the Summary page, B2W Estimate lists the information you need to know about how your item will be saved. Review these notes carefully, then select Finish to save your item as an item template.

Save an estimate cost group as a task template

To save an estimate cost group as a task template in Resources, follow these steps:

1. On the Estimate Detail tab, right-select the cost group you want to save and select Save as Task Template. The Save Item, Task, and Crew Templates Wizard appears.
2. Select Next to proceed to the first page in the wizard.
3. On the Task Template Information page, enter the name you want to use for your new task template, then select Next.
4. If there are crews within your estimate task whose description does not match the description of any crew within Resources, the Crew Templates page appears. Here, you may select the Crew Template Resources which B2W Estimate will use when saving your task template cost structure. Alternately, you can specify that you want to create new crew templates - assuming you have permission to do so - and use the newly created crews within your new item template structure. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
5. If the estimate item you are saving includes links to an embedded Excel workbook, the Excel Workbooks page appears. Here, you may select Excel Workbook Resources to which B2W Estimate will attempt to match the links from your estimate workbooks. You may also specify that you want to create a copy of the estimate workbook in Resources, assuming you have permission to do so. Alternately, you may specify that you want to remove your workbook links, saving the previously linked values as "manually entered" values instead. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
6. On the Summary page, B2W Estimate lists the information you need to know about how your task will be saved. Review these notes carefully, then select Finish to save your task as a task template.

Save an estimate crew as a crew template

To save an estimate crew as a crew template in Resources, follow these steps:

1. On the Estimate Detail tab, right-select the crew you want to save and select Save as Crew Template. The Save Item, Task, and Crew Templates Wizard appears.
2. Select Next to proceed to the first page in the wizard.
3. On the Crew Template Information page, enter the name you want to use for your new crew template, then select Next. The name you enter cannot match the name of a crew already in Resources.
4. If the estimate item you are saving includes links to an embedded Excel workbook, the Excel Workbooks page appears. Here, you may select Excel Workbook Resources to which B2W Estimate will attempt to match the links from your estimate workbooks. You may also specify that you want to create a copy of the estimate workbook in Resources, assuming you have permission to do so. Alternately, you may specify that you want to remove your workbook links, saving the previously linked values as "manually entered" values instead. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
5. On the Summary page, B2W Estimate lists the information you need to know about how your task will be saved. Review these notes carefully, then select Finish to save your task as a task template.

Save multiple estimate items as item templates

To save multiple estimates item as item templates within the Item Databases area, follow these steps:

1. On either the Item Listing or Estimate Detail tab, select the Costing menu and then select Save Items. The Save Item, Task, and Crew Templates Wizard appears.
2. Select Next to proceed to the first page in the wizard.
3. On the Item Database Selection page, select the item database to which your estimate items should be saved. Select Next to proceed.
4. The Item Selection page appears. Select the items you want to save by placing checkmarks next to the desired items. Note that you may use B2W Estimate's familiar variety of filtering, sorting, and previewing features to help you quickly locate the items you want to save. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
5. If one or more of the estimate items you are saving has an item number which matches that of an item template already stored within the selected item database, the Item Templates page appears. Here, for each item you may specify whether you want to replace the cost structure of the existing item template with the cost structure from your estimate item, or create a new item template instead. To help ensure you make the right decision, you may use the Preview button to compare the cost structure of the existing template with that of your estimate item. Once you've made your selection, select Next to proceed.
6. If there are crews within your estimate items whose description does not match the description of any crew within Resources, the Crew Templates page appears. Here, you may select the crew template Resources which B2W Estimate will use when saving your item template cost structure. Alternately, you can specify that you want to create new crew templates - assuming you have permission to do so - and use the newly created crew within your new item template structure. To help ensure you make the right decision, you may use the Preview button to compare the cost structure of the existing template with that of your estimate item. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
7. If one or more of the estimate items you are saving includes links to an embedded Excel workbook, the Excel Workbooks page appears. Here, you may select Excel Workbook Resources to which B2W Estimate will attempt to match the links from your estimate workbooks. You may also specify that you want to create a copy of the estimate workbook in Resources, assuming you have permission to do so. Alternately, you may specify that you want to remove your workbook links, saving the previously linked values as "manually entered" values instead. Once you've made your selections, select Next to proceed.
8. On the Summary page, B2W Estimate lists the information you need to know about how your items will be saved. Review these notes carefully, then select Finish to save your items as item templates.

Component Matching Rules

Note: When saving templates to Resources, B2W Estimate attempts to link child components within the templates you're saving to existing cost components within Resources. If matching cost components do not exist in Resources, B2W Estimate attempts to create new components as needed for all component types, with the exception of labor and equipment which are omitted from the new template when no matches are found.

Learn more about how B2W Estimate matches to existing cost components