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    Full Feature Overview

    Everything You Need to Estimate with Confidence

    Three complete pillars - structured costing, automatic profit protection, and professional client delivery. Every feature built to estimate with confidence, specifically for US contractors.

    • Core Costing
    • Overhead Automation
    • Profit Margins
    • Branded Proposals
    • Client Approvals
    • Revision Tracking
    Profit protectionProject #2241
    Materials$42,800
    Labor$31,200
    Equipment$8,500
    Subcontractors$14,000
    Direct cost$96,500
    Overhead added+$17,370
    Profit added+$25,051
    Client quote$138,921
    Margin target met, safe to send

    Illustrative example. Move the sliders to see the quote and margin health change. Your minimum here: 15%.

    • 3pillars: costing, profit protection, proposals
    • 4cost categories on every estimate
    • 12overhead categories in one rate
    • 1 clickto a branded PDF proposal
    Pillar 1 of 3

    Structured Cost Estimation That Leaves Nothing Out

    Every project has four cost pillars. QuickEstimate organizes them into a clear, line-item breakdown - so you never miss an expense again.

    Materials

    Every material, perfectly priced

    Add materials by quantity, unit cost, and supplier. QuickEstimate autotals everything and flags any line that looks unusually high or low based on your history.

    • Line-item material input

      Add each material with name, quantity, unit (m², lft, each), unit price, and supplier note. Nothing hidden in a lump sum.

    • Auto-totaling with subtotals

      Section and overall subtotals update instantly as you type. No formulas, no manual sums, no version errors.

    • Saved material library

      Frequently used materials, saved with your preferred pricing. Add them to any estimate in seconds, not minutes.

    Materials - Office Renovation #2241
    Hardwood Flooring (320 m²)$18,240
    Double-Glazed Windows (×14)$11,200
    Interior Doors (×8)$3,840
    Paint & Primers (18 tins)$2,160
    Electrical Fittings$4,300
    Hardware & Fixings$3,060
    Materials Subtotal$42,800
    Core Feature

    Labor Costing

    Calculate labor by hourly rate × hours, crew size, or lump sum per trade. Add different rates for each phase - groundwork, finishing, management.

    Core Feature

    Equipment Costing

    Track owned and rented equipment by day, week, or per-job. Crane hire, excavators, scaffolding - all itemized with hire period and daily rate.

    Gold & Premium

    Subcontractor Costing

    Add individual sub quotes per trade. Compare multiple quotes side-by-side and lock in the winner - it flows straight into your total automatically.

    Dashboard

    Cost Summary at a Glance

    Before you send anything, get a full one-screen cost overview - every category, its share of the total, and your real margin position. No surprises after you've hit send.

    • Real-time cost breakdown by category
    • Visual % share of each cost type
    • Running total with overhead & margin applied
    • Margin health indicator (green / amber / red)
    Cost Summary - Project #2241
    Materials$42,800
    Labor$31,200
    Equipment$8,500
    Subcontractors$14,000
    Overhead Applied (18%)+$17,370
    Profit Margin (22%)+$25,051
    Total Client Quote$138,921
    Pillar 2 of 3

    Automatic Profit Protection. Set Once, Applied Forever.

    The most expensive mistake contractors make is forgetting overhead. QuickEstimate makes it impossible — your company running cost rate is locked in and applied to every single estimate you ever create.

    Overhead

    12-Category Overhead Calculator

    Stop guessing your overhead %. Enter your real annual costs across 12 business expense categories — QuickEstimate calculates your exact company overhead rate and locks it in forever.

    • 12 expense categories covered

      Facility, admin labor, insurance, vehicles, technology, marketing, legal, licenses, equipment, HR, financial costs, and contingency.

    • Exact % auto-calculated

      Enter your annual $ spend per category — QuickEstimate divides by revenue and outputs your precise overhead percentage.

    • Applies to every estimate automatically

      Set it once in your company settings. Every new estimate you create will have overhead baked in — zero manual work required.

    Overhead Calculator — Company Settings
    Facility & Occupancy$48,000
    Admin Labor$72,000
    Vehicles$28,500
    Insurance$36,000
    Technology$14,400
    + 7 more categories$65,600
    Your Overhead Rate18.0%
    Applied to all estimates automatically Active
    Profit Margin

    Target Margin — Always in View

    Define the exact profit margin your business needs to grow. QuickEstimate shows live margin health as you build every estimate — green means you're good, amber means check, red means danger.

    • Set your minimum acceptable margin

      Input the % you need to stay profitable. QuickEstimate treats this as a floor and alerts you the moment you dip below it.

    • Live margin health indicator

      A colour-coded margin bar shows your real position at every step — before you've committed to a quote you can't afford.

    • Margin alerts before sending

      If any estimate has a margin below your minimum, QuickEstimate blocks the send and prompts you to review your pricing.

    Margin Protection — Active
    Total Direct Cost$96,500
    Overhead (18.0%)+$17,370
    Target Margin22%
    Minimum: 15%Current: 22%Target: 25%
    Profit Added (22%)+$25,051
    Client Quote$138,921
    Margin target met — safe to send
    Pillar 3 of 3

    Professional Proposals That Win Clients & Track Approvals

    Stop emailing spreadsheets. QuickEstimate generates polished, branded PDF proposals in one click — and tells you exactly when a client opens, reviews, and approves them.

    Branded PDFs

    One click. Professional proposal.

    Your logo, your colors, your name — on a polished PDF that positions you as the most organized contractor your client has ever worked with.

    • Branded proposals

      Send client-ready PDF proposals with your own logo and branding, and offer tiered package options on a single proposal. Available on every paid plan.

    • Logo & brand upload

      Upload your company logo and it appears on every proposal header, footer, and cover page automatically.

    • Optional cover page

      Add a professional cover with project name, client details, date, and a personal summary statement from your company.

    Proposal Preview — Office Renovation #2241.pdf
    QuickEstimate Inc.Office Renovation — Denver CO
    Client: Harper & Associates · Ref #2241 · Feb 18, 2026
    Materials$42,800
    Labor$31,200
    Equipment$8,500
    Subcontractors$14,000
    Total Project Investment$138,921
    Approve ProposalLeave Comment
    Approval Tracking

    Know exactly where every proposal stands

    No more "did they get it?" Gold and Premium users see real-time open tracking, time-on-page, inline client comments, and instant approval — all from the dashboard.

    • Real-time open tracking

      See the exact timestamp when a client first opens the proposal — and how many times they've returned to review it.

    • One-click client approval

      Clients approve directly from the proposal link. No account, no friction — just a single click and you're notified instantly.

    • Revision management

      Handle change requests with tracked revisions. Every version is archived — clients can always see what changed and when.

    Proposal Tracker — #2241
    StatusSent
    First OpenedToday 2:14 PM
    Times Viewed3 times
    Time Reviewing4 min 32 sec
    Client Comment“Small query on materials — rest looks good”
    Current Versionv2 — Updated today
    Approval StatusApproved 3:02 PM
    Notification sent to your email & dashboard
    Security

    Bank-Grade Security. Built In from Day One.

    Your estimate data, client pricing, and company financials are among the most sensitive information in your business. We treat them that way.

    AES-256 Encryption

    All data encrypted at rest using AES-256 and in transit using TLS 1.3. The same standard used by banks and governments.

    SOC 2 Type II Certified

    Annual third-party security audit completed with zero critical findings. Certificate available on request for enterprise clients.

    US-Based Infrastructure

    All data stored on SOC 2 certified servers located in the United States. Your data never leaves US jurisdiction.

    Secure by default

    Your data is encrypted with AES-256 and hosted on US-based infrastructure that is SOC 2 Type II certified.

    Comparison

    QuickEstimate vs. The Alternatives

    See exactly how QuickEstimate stacks up against Excel and generic estimating tools — feature by feature.

    FeatureQuickEstimateExcel / SpreadsheetsGeneric Tools
    Structured cost categories Built-in, guidedManual setupPartial
    Auto overhead calculation 12-category systemNot includedNot included
    Profit margin enforcement Live alertsManual formulasBasic only
    Branded PDF proposals Custom brandingRaw spreadsheetGeneric templates
    Client approval tracking Real-time dashboardNot availableNot available
    Subcontractor quote management Multi-sub comparisonNot availableNot available
    Revision history Full version archiveFile versions onlyLimited
    Mobile-friendly Full mobile supportPainful on mobileVaries
    SOC 2 security CertifiedLocal file riskNot certified
    Setup time < 10 minutesHours of setup30–60 min

    Comparing full platforms instead? See QuickEstimate vs. Buildertrend and QuickEstimate vs. JobTread.

    Every feature. 14 days free. No card needed.

    Start your trial and get full Gold plan access from day one — all features unlocked.