What does kitchen estimating software do? Your questions, answered

If you work in the construction industry, chances are some of the most lucrative projects you work on are kitchens and bathrooms. Homeowners want these spaces to be luxurious retreats that improve their home value and make every day feel like a vacation. And while these remodels can make you a lot of money, they also involve a lot of spinning plates.

Keeping kitchen projects running smoothly means managing a number of different factors. Good kitchen estimating software can help you stay on time and under budget. Read on to learn more about these programs and what they can do for your construction business.

Generate Faster Estimates

One of the biggest benefits kitchen remodeling software can offer is that it can help you generate faster estimates. When you’re working with potential new clients, turning around estimates in a reasonable timeframe can make a big difference. Homeowners want to see what their new kitchen will be like, and they don’t want to wait weeks for you to generate an accurate estimate.

Kitchen estimating software automates your estimate generation. This makes it a much faster, smoother process.You can put in standard estimates for various elements of the remodel. For instance, quartz countertops vs. solid surface countertops vs. laminate countertops.

During or after your consultation with your client, you can put in all the elements they want and generate an estimate right on the spot.

Provide More Accurate Estimates

Kitchen estimating software can help you provide your clients with more accurate estimates. While clients do want quick results, they also don’t want to be hit with surprise fees. Estimate too high and you’ll lose clients to other companies; go too low, and you’ll wind up with angry clients and a bad reputation.

Having an automated estimate process can help you reduce your margin of error for kitchen estimates. You won’t have to calculate current materials costs and profits by hand, and you’ll have all additional expenses already accounted for. You can even look at final costs from previous similar projects to check that your estimates are right on the money.

Set Easy Profit Margins

One of the biggest calculations you’ll need to do as a part of your estimate process is your profit margins. Generating a materials cost for the project is fairly straightforward. But how do you make sure your company is getting the profit you need to continue growing and thriving in the construction industry?

Good kitchen estimating software makes it simple to set your profit margins wherever you need them to be. You can set up a raw materials cost for the project and then add whatever percentage profit you need. A larger project might work on slimmer profit margins, while you can beef up that income for smaller jobs.

Communicate with Clients

Client communication is one of the most important aspects of a successful kitchen remodel. From day 1, you need to get a clear picture of your client's expectations, budget, timeline, and wishes. Throughout the project, you need to send them updates about the timeline, subcontractor arrival times, and so on.

A good kitchen estimating program can help you to communicate easily with your clients. Your sales team and construction team can have one integrated platform.

All updates can be shared so your clients are getting the latest updates on their projects. And you can check in on individual projects more easily, making sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Communicate with Team Members

You also need to be able to communicate well with your team members. Not only does your sales team need to be in touch with your construction crew, but your financial team needs to have contact with your sales team. Your warehouse crew needs to communicate with your purchasing manager, who needs to talk to your site crew and your sales team.

Remodeling estimating software can help you manage all these messages easily and in one place. You can create chats around specific projects, as well as general team discussions. All these discussions will be on one platform that’s mobile-accessible so they’re easy to find and keep up with throughout the project.

Organize Documents

Raise your hand if you feel like you spend most of your days shuffling paperwork between different departments of your company. There’s a huge amount of documentation that goes into managing a remodeling business. You have to keep up with subcontractor bids, client bids, financial records, material orders, and so much more.

Having estimating software for kitchens can help you to keep your documents organized so you can find what you need quickly and easily. You can group these documents into folders by project or department, just as with a normal file organization system. You can also restrict who has access to certain files so no sensitive client information gets leaked.

Provide Visual Inspiration

When clients begin planning a new kitchen, they want to see what the remodel of their dreams will look like in reality. They want that vision that they’ve worked and saved for to come to life from the moment they begin to work with you.

An estimate sheet that’s comprised entirely of boring numbers and product SKUs can turn off a previously enthusiastic client.

Kitchen estimating software can help you show clients that vision and excitement they crave. You can generate actual models of what the new kitchen will look like at the same time you send out the estimate. This can help you close more sales, since excited clients will want to dive in on making that vision a reality.

Manage Bids

Even if you work primarily with residential homeowners, chances are you’ll have to manage a bidding process at some point. You may have an opportunity to bid on a kitchen remodel for an apartment complex, office building, or other commercial building. At the least, you’ll need to accept bids from subcontractors when you’re building your team.

Managing bids can be confusing, but kitchen estimating software can make it simple. For outgoing bids, you can keep up with RFP requirements and deadlines, as well as tracking whether you won the bid. And with your subcontractors, you can track different prices, services, experience, and so on to make sure you get the best people for the job.

Track Finances

Of course, you have to make sure that at the end of the day, you get paid for the work you’ve done. When you’re first starting out, this might be easy enough, but it can get more complicated as your company grows.

Not only do you have to track incoming payments and payroll, but you also have to make sure you stay up to date on outgoing payments.

Your kitchen estimating software can help you track your internal finances as well as the bidding process. You can manage invoices, both incoming and outgoing, and track whether clients have made payments. You can also handle payroll and even keep up with tax information for your company.

Get Accurate Company Data

Having accurate company data is important for any business that wants to stay competitive in today’s cutthroat world. If you aren’t looking at data for your company, you’re losing thousands of dollars a year to inefficient practices and company losses. You have to work to continue to improve, and your data reports are what will guide that change.

With kitchen estimating software, you can get up-to-date information about your company processes. You can see what’s working well for you, where you’re losing money, and which projects generate the most profit. From there, you can analyze what needs to change to keep you on top of the construction industry.

Learn More About Kitchen Estimating Software

Kitchen estimating software can be a great way to keep your remodeling projects on track and on budget. You can communicate with clients and teammates; get fast, accurate estimates; and stay more organized on projects.

You can track everything from company finances to most profitable projects to keep your company growing and thriving.

If you’d like to find the right kitchen estimating software for your company, check out the rest of our site at Bolster. We can help you turn your boring, static construction estimates into a beautiful, e-commerce buying experience for your customers. Book a demo with us today and start providing a frictionless e-commerce experience in construction.