From an Excel takeoff to a priced draft quote

The takeoff is structured, the quote still is not

A spreadsheet takeoff looks like the easy case, and in one way it is: there is no handwriting to read. The work is elsewhere. Every estimator lays the sheet out differently. One calls the column "Qty", another "Quantity", a third "No. off". Descriptions follow the contractor's words, not your catalogue: "MCB 16A B curve SP", "15mm copper tube 3m", "4x2 C24 3.6". Someone at your branch still copies each row into the quote screen, searches for the code and picks the price.

On a 300 row takeoff that is an afternoon. I take over the copying and the searching, so the estimator on your side reviews rows instead of typing them.

How columns are recognised

When a file arrives, its header row is read and the columns are mapped to the fields a quote needs: product code, description, quantity, unit and, where the customer has given one, a price. Common header names are recognised automatically.

Two safety rules apply before any row is priced:

• If the same field would be taken from 2 columns, the mapping is rejected rather than picking one at random.
• If a required column, such as quantity, is missing, the mapping is rejected and the reason is shown.

During onboarding, the header names your regular customers use are set up as aliases for your account. If one contractor always writes "No. off" for quantity and "Ref" for code, that is configured once and recognised from then on. How this works in detail is on the trade name and column matching page.

What happens to each row

1. Match. The code or description is matched to a product in your catalogue. When a code from the takeoff is your own code, the match is direct; when it is a description, it is compared with your catalogue descriptions.
2. Check the unit. The unit from the row is kept with the quantity. A row in metres against a product sold by the length is flagged, not converted.
3. Price. The customer's own price first, then the customer group price, then the list price, with quantity breaks and price dates from your file. A tie or a missing price blocks the row.
4. Flag. Rows with more than one candidate, no match or no valid price are flagged with the reason.

The original row from the takeoff stays next to the match on the draft, so nothing disappears or merges silently. The price on each priced line comes from your own price data.

File limits

• Formats: XLSX, CSV and TSV.
• Size: up to 20 MB per file.
• Rows: up to 5,000.
• Columns: up to 60.

A takeoff that is a PDF export of a spreadsheet is read as a PDF instead, for up to 10 pages; see PDF material list to quote. A photo of a handwritten list is read with text recognition instead. Uncertain lines are flagged for a person to check. A clean spreadsheet with one header row is the most reliable input of all.

What comes back

The approved quote comes out as an A4 PDF with your logo for the customer, plus a UTF-8 CSV of the approved lines that you can open in Excel. There is no XLSX writer today, so the result is CSV, not a formatted workbook. Whether your merchant system can import the CSV for quotes or orders is checked during the pilot; there is no native connection to merchant systems.

Pricing

Team is £790 a month for 3 users and up to 200 requests, and Starter is £390 a month for up to 20 requests, both with no setup fee. The full rollout is £1,290 a month for up to 500 requests and 10,000 line items, or £3,900 a month for up to 1,500 requests and 30,000 line items, plus £5,950 onboarding including the £1,490 paid pilot. How the paid pilot works ↗

Frequently asked questions