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P C - B I D P L U S
-----------------------
By:
I. J. Smith
9795 Rustling Oaks
Baton Rouge, La. 70818
----------------------
* * * PC-BID PLUS * * *
(Version 2.1)
This program maintains a database of bid items together with
Labor, Equipment, Material and Sub-Contractor costs. Ease of use
was the primary goal. What use is a program so complex that it
discourages you to use it? This program was designed to make it
easier to estimate, not harder. While originally intended for
contractors, many type businesses have found it useful for their
cost estimating purposes as well. Since labor costs can be
maintained by both time or monetary values, it could be useful
for many types of estimating.
The application uses the (c)BTRIEVE file handler. This
translates to superb data integrity...no lost files due to power
failures, etc. This does not mean you should not make backups of
your data files however, disk failures and system problems do
occur. Use of memory resident programs should be tested before
using, since BTRIEVE is a memory resident program also. The
program will remove the BTRIEVE file handler upon exiting.
NOTE: Use of accelerated file handlers such as ram-disks will
defeat the recovery features of BTRIEVE. Use them with care.
Requirements for this application is DOS 3.x or higher, 384k
memory and one drive. A hard disk is highly recommended since
file capacities are virtually unlimited and performance is
greatly enhanced. You will probably run out of floppy space
otherwise.
NOTE: A proper CONFIG.SYS file is also required. If you have
problems running the program, see CONFIG.SYS at the end of this
document file.
A list of the required files are at the end of this document
file. Make sure all files are in the same directory. The
program is started by entering PCBID which will load the Btrieve
program properly and then run the PC-BID program.
If you like this program, registration is 35.00. You will
then be sent the registered version which allows for additional
user defined overhead factors which could come in handy for
additional cost burdens such as out-of-town, storage, etc.
It will also create bid prices by percentage factor over all
costs. This could be useful for checking bid items as well as
establishing unit bid prices. Some contractors use the program
and this feature just to check other complex estimating programs
they have to use.
Feedback is welcome. Your continued support is appreciated.
I. J. Smith
9795 Rustling Oaks
Baton Rouge, La. 70818
- - - - -
As stated above, the program allows for two ways to maintain
unit labor costs, time and monetary. A rate is assigned to each
bid created and is thus used with the time data in each record.
For those wishing to maintain monetary costs, this rate should be
left to the default of 1. Notice however, that total labor costs
can still be manipulated with this feature, leaving unit costs
unchanged. This can be useful for "what if" cost purposes.
As an example, to increase or decrease total labor costs by
5 percent, the rate is changed to 1.05 or .95 respectively. This
cost will be reflected on the reports only and will not change
your existing bid data.
You will notice that default fields are used frequently,
simply press ENTER to accept these values. The cursor keys are
also allowed to move from one field to another and will accept
defaults also. Program is designed to maintain three decimal
fields which should not create any problems for most users. Some
contractors have items that need these decimal positions. The
ESC key is used frequently to restart or exit data entry screens.
The F10 key is used to process data entry screens when input is
complete. You do not need to exit all fields to save the data.
Menu options can be selected by number or cursor keys. Where
allowed, the PgUp and PgDn keys are displayed on the screen
for browsing purposes.
SUGGESTIONS FOR DIFFERENT USERS
The application is very versatile. You will find many
features that you may never use. I have tried to make the
program useful to all contractors and at the same time keep it
fast and simple to use. In programs, quantity of features
usually means complexity and time consuming data entry. By
monitoring your costs and keeping a good updated master bid file
such as the one in this program, your bidding should be much
easier, along with more accurate costs.
I hope you take a little time to become familiar with the
program's features and capabilities. Following are suggestions
which you may find useful for your own bid needs.
As stated above, you can use a time based bid file for your
labor costs. Rates can then be entered in the job name file for
various job rates. This can be very useful for some contractors
not having various labor rates. I don't suggest mixing your
master bid files with both time and monetary labor costs until
you become familiar with the program. You may then find by
adding a T or M to your master bid item numbers helpful, (T for
time, M for monetary) so as to bid jobs with the appropriate job
labor rate.
Contractors having various labor rates will find that
monetary values are needed in their bid master file. Labor
rates in job name files should then be left at 1.00 unless you
wish to use it to manipulate the labor costs for different jobs.
Remember, you can change all labor costs with the change all
option also.
Building contractors having standard jobs (jobs whose
quantities do not change) will probably find that establishing
standard bids and maintaining those costs and prices may be more
effective than maintaining a large bid master file. Updates
can then be done on a regular basis. For example, you could
have bathroom bids, kitchen bids, etc. that could be used for
an item in a main bid.
Some contractors may need to create separate small bids
representing one bid item in the main bid...for subcontractor
prices, etc. This can easily be done, and use of the selective
bid field listings could be very useful for this purpose. For
example, you may have an item in your main bid number 1000
for electrical. You may wish to create a job number 1000E so
as to relate it to the main bid.
Please keep in mind that the master bid file records are
kept sorted by their numbers. A good numbering system for
adding records is essential in maintaining a good bid master
file.
For those requiring a large bid master file, the bid item
numbers allow for both numeric and alphabetic characters. You
may wish to maintain several bid items for the same unit of work
by adding digits. Examples could be 10011, 10012 and 10013,
where 1 could stand for your lowest cost and prices, 3 for high
and 2 for medium, etc. I have found this to be very useful
through the years I have been estimating and bidding jobs.
Although you can easily change the costs in a bid, you may find
less changes are necessary by using this method in establishing
your bids. (Of course, many items may require more records then
above).
A sample bid number 100 is included for fast trial purposes.
Master item numbers 1, 101, 202 and 303 are also included. Please
experiment with these items. They can be deleted when no longer
needed. After some practice, I think you will find the program
to be very easy to use, fast and reliable.
Following are instructions in the order of the main menu
options, with sub-menus described under the menu option calling
it. Pop up windows are used for prompts and informational
purposes where needed.
PC-BID (INSTRUCTIONS BY MENU OPTIONS)
MENU OPTION 7. Company Data
This option is introduced first since it is the first to be
executed on startup. A sample file has been created and you
will need to change the information to tailor the costs for your
particular uses. The values used are only for testing purposes
and examples.
The following information will be needed to properly install
the application. Any field you do not need, or choose not to
use, may be eliminated by entering zeroes in the field. The
information may still be used in the future with this option.
ALL PERCENTAGES MUST BE ENTERED AS DECIMAL VALUES (12 percent
must be entered as 0.12). Some estimators may need to change
some of these values for each bid. Your accountant and/or
insurance agent should be able to furnish you with these
percentage factors.
When choosing this option, a pop-up menu will appear. The
first option is for changing the company name, address and phone
number.
The second option is for entering company data for indirect
overhead cost factors as follows:
Terms: (Any data you wish printed on proposals.)
Percentages:
Payroll Taxes on labor costs.
Worker's comp or other labor based insurance.
Insurance on equipment costs.
Insurance on sub-contractor's costs.
Insurance based on bid.
Bond Premium based on bid.
Sales taxes on materials.
Overhead on sub-contractor's costs.
Overhead based on direct costs (Labor, Equipment,
Materials (sales taxes included.)
For convenience purposes, the following will default in
their respective fields of the Job Name screens. You can change
them in the bid name file as needed or when creating new bid
name records.
Default labor rate
Default sales tax rate used on proposals (If any)
MENU ITEM 1. BID NAMES
In order to create a bid, you must first establish a job
name record. This record will contain the bid number, job name,
job description, labor rate and proposal sales tax rate if used.
Letters as well as numbers are allowed for bid numbers.
A pop-up menu will appear when choosing this option. The
first choice is for adding and changing data. If you enter an
existing bid number, a tone will be heard and the current data
will be displayed for changes. Otherwise, a blank data entry
screen will be displayed for the new bid.
The second option is for deleting bids. It's important to
note that all items pertaining to the bid will be deleted with
this option. Use this option when a bid is no longer needed.
MENU ITEM 2. ADD BID ITEMS
Create or add new bid items with this option.
You will be prompted for the job number, item number and the
master file item number to be used. The job number must exist in
the job name file and the master file item number must exist in
the job cost master file. You can reuse the same master file
item number as frequently as needed for your bid items. A blank
master record with a number such as 1 can be handy to enter bid
items not needed in the master file. You can then enter bid data
at this time or wait and enter it with the change bid option 3.
The bid item number determines the order of the listing on the
printer. The program will automatically increment these numbers
by 1. Some may wish to use larger item numbers so as to insert
missed or new items later. Duplicates are not allowed.
The master job cost data will then be displayed and you will
be prompted for the quantities to be used for this bid item. You
can also change any data you wish at this time or change it later
with option 3 below. Press F10 to save this bid item when ready.
An option is also available to change the master file data
displayed. By pressing PgUp you can step backwards thru the
master file, step forward by pressing PgDn. This feature can
obviously be very useful in deciding which cost you wish to
choose (assuming you have multiple costs for the same bid item
and their record numbers are closely related). Locating items
in a data file which may have thousands of records is not what
you want to use this option for.
MENU ITEM 3. CHANGE BID ITEMS
When your bid file is created with the above options, you
can now make bid changes as needed. This includes all data
inserted from the bid master file, description, unit, costs, etc.
The program will prompt you for the bid number and item
number to be changed. You may have to use the report menu to
get a listing in order to make the changes. You can also step
forwards or backwards to locate items in a bid. This is done
with the PgUp and PgDn keys. Remember however, you must use
the F10 function key to save changes to an item. This feature
can be very useful to browse through a bid in order to make
changes as necessary. To avoid errors, the program will only
step thru the bid number called for.
Remember, you can change all the values at one time with
option 5 below.
MENU ITEM 4. DELETE BID ITEMS
This option allows you to delete items from a bid. You will
be prompted for the item number to be deleted.
MENU ITEM 5. GROUP CHANGES
This option allows you to change all common fields in a bid
by percentage factor. A pop-up menu will allow you to choose
which fields to change. For example; if you choose the labor
field and want to increase all labor field costs by 5%, enter
1.05 at the prompt. To decrease the costs by 5%, enter .95 at
the prompt.
Some restrictions have been added to avoid errors. You
cannot use a factor greater then 2.0 or less then 0.5. These
two factors double or halve the existing data fields. Should
the need arise, simply re-use the factors again.
MENU OPTION 6. BID MASTER FILE
Maintains the job cost data base used for bids. It allows
for labor, equipment, material and sub-contractor's costs, along
with bid prices, description and unit description.
Five positions are used for each job cost item. You may use
any combination of letters and numbers. Remember, this file has
virtually unlimited capacity so choose your numbering system for
future expansion. For consistency in your job cost listings, it
is usually best to keep the same number of characters in your
numbering system. The index will maintain the records in sorted
order by the item number.
It should be noted again that the labor data will be
multiplied by the labor rate used in the job name file.
Obviously, this data can be used to store time or monetary
values, depending on the contractor's cost system.
A pop-up menu will appear after choosing this option. The
first option allows for adding and changing records. If the
record exists, it's data will be displayed for changes, otherwise
a data entry screen with blanks will be displayed for the new
record.
The second option is for material updates.
Since material prices are the most constantly changing cost
factors, this option was included to make the master file
changes easier. Many contractors will choose not to use the
material or sub-contractor costs in their master files, choosing
to enter them in the bid update option instead. If your
material prices are fairly standard, you should find this option
useful.
The third option allows for deletions of master records.
MENU OPTION 7. COMPANY DATA
See first option described above.
MENU OPTION 8. REPORTS MENU
Several reports and optional file listings are offered.
Pop-up menus are used for options where needed. The following
descriptions are in the order of the report menu options. Please
try them all out so as to familiarize yourself with them. While
explanations are brief, I don't think you will have any problems
understanding the information contained in them.
OPTION 1. PRINT BID ESTIMATE
This report may very well be the most important of all.
Unit costs are shown with bid extensions below them. A summary
sheet is generated listing the various indirect costs as well.
The summary sheet will also show the profit or loss based on the
estimated costs and prices used.
OPTION 2. PRINT BID ANALYSIS
This report prints the totals of direct costs, other costs,
total cost, profit (or loss) and percentage of cost associated
with each bid item. This is a good report to decide which
prices need adjustments.
OPTION 3. SELECT BID LISTINGS
This option allows for bid listings of a single field only.
You may, for example, only want a bid listing of material fields
to use for incoming material quotes. Extra lines are included on
the report for this purpose. A listing of prices may be useful
for bid tabulations. A pop-up menu allows you to choose which
field you want listed.
OPTION 4. DISPLAY BID TOTALS
This option allows for displaying a bid total on the screen.
You may often make price changes and want to see the total bid
amount before printing it out. Sometimes you may know what the
final figure should be, this is a fast way to check it out. It
will display the bid total and bid sales taxes.
OPTION 5. PRINT PROPOSAL
This option will print a report useful for proposal purposes.
It can be useful as an attachment to a contract or in some cases,
the only quote needed.
OPTION 6. PRINT BID NAMES
This option will print a name listing of all bids currently in
your files.
OPTION 7. PRINT COMPANY DATA
This option will list the various overhead percentages
currently being used.
OPTION 8. MASTER LISTINGS
This option will print out the items in your bid master file.
A pop-up menu will allow you to choose a full listing or only
selected field listings...useful to maintain material costs,
price lists, etc.
MENU OPTION 9. EXIT
Closes files and returns to system. You should always exit
programs with the menu options when finished. You may lose some
data if the storage buffers are not properly flushed to disk.
===============================================================
The following files are needed for this application.
With the exception of the Company data file, you will get an
error if these files are not present in the same directory.
PCBID.BAT Start up batch program
PC-BID.EXE Main program
PCBIDP.LBR Screen library
BTRIEVE.EXE File handler
BNQJNAM.DAT Job name file
BNQJBID.DAT Job bid file
BNQJCOST.DAT Master file
BNQCMPNY.DAT Company data file
BNQTNADR.DAT Company name & address
================================================================
CONFIG.SYS file
This application, like many others, requires a CONFIG.SYS
file in your root directory. Specifically, the file should
contain two lines assigning values to the files and buffers. A
typical entry might look like:
files=24
buffers=16
While this application does not require the numbers above,
they are good ones to start with. You will find many data base
applications requiring this file as above.
If you do have a CONFIG.SYS file in your root directory,
check to see if it has statements similar to the above. If it
does not, use your editor to add these two line of code to it.
If you do not have a CONFIG.SYS file then copy the
CONFIG.DTA file included on the application disk into your root
directory and rename it CONFIG.SYS.
The above changes only go into effect when computer is first
turned on. After adding the above, reboot the computer and the
program should run properly.
================================================================
To print this file on your printer, enter the following at
the DOS prompt:
COPY PCBID.DOC LPT1:
==========================================================================
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY
THIS SOFTWARE IS SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.
BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH THIS
PROGRAM MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS
OFFERED.
GOOD DATA PROCESSING PROCEDURE DICTATES THAT ANY PROGRAM BE THOROUGHLY
TESTED WITH NON-CRITICAL DATA BEFORE RELYING ON IT. THE USER MUST ASSUME
THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM. ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL
BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE.
==========================================================================
Some other programs by this author you may wish to look into:
BID-BIZ More complex estimating program offering
multiple component and phase costs tied to
each bid or primary item, direct and indirect
costs burdens...
COST BIZ Job cost program.
WYS-AR Accounts receivable program.
EIMS Equipment Inventory and Maintenance Scheduler.
EASY QUOTE Product quotes and cost estimates.
EASY INVENTORY Easily adapted for in-house uses.
- Others -
