Timberline Estimating keeps builder from making mistakes

Edwards Constructions (NSW) Pty Ltd, based in Southern New South Wales, Australia, did all its estimating manually, but as it handled increasingly larger jobs, the company’s management knew they needed help.

"I was doing estimates for jobs up to $8 million manually, and I knew we had to do something," says John Dubbelaar, Technical Director of Edwards Constructions.

After using Timberline Estimating for several years with dramatic results, Edwards Constructions added Timberline’s Accounting, Project Management and Timberscan Modules.

Speed matters

Using Timberline has greatly sped up the estimating process for Edwards Constructions. "I have my database set up in such a way that I could easily do a takeoff on the room you’re sitting in now and have an accurate number sitting on my screen in a matter of seconds," John says.

"The great thing about the estimating software is that it gives you the flexibility to set up the database in any way that you want. This allows takeoffs to be done in the way that suits your business and the estimates produced are in the format that you or your client requires."

Even more important, the software has made the estimates more accurate, both by eliminating empirical errors and because the database acts as a checklist to prevent oversight.

"The biggest problem in estimating is when you miss something. This software, if you set it up properly, enables you to put in very accurate tenders," John says.

Edwards Constructions has also seen its accounting processes speed up since adopting Timberline and Timberscan.  Previously, the contractor had two people working on accounts virtually full-time. Since starting to use Timberline accounting software, Edwards Constructions has been able to add other roles and tasks into the Accounting Team.

"The only thing we can put our finger on is the efficiency brought about through the Timberline software - it’s made the whole process simpler, and that’s where we’re saving our time," John says.

Integration cuts rework and double up

With Timberline’s integrated modules, it’s no longer necessary to re-key data from one accounting function to another, saving time and eliminating errors. "I like that I can do everything I want to do in accounting in the one package," John says.

With Edwards Constructions former accounting tools, the Financial Controller had to use Microsoft Excel and Access, plus other platforms to manipulate the data to produce the necessary reports.  Each step in the process tacked on additional time.  That’s no longer an issue because Timberline does everything Edwards Constructions needs it to.

"The best thing about Timberline is you can do almost everything within the package modules and you don’t have to export your data to other programs to manipulate it.  If the report does not exist in Timberline, I use a Timberline consultant to create the report," John says.