Current Version Details

 Version 7.4 enhancements

Version 7.4 contains over 30 enhancements and new features. The table below outlines just some of the major enhancements.

Support for Microsoft .NET Framework 4

Benchmark Estimating Software Version 7 is based on the Microsoft .NET Framework application development platform.

Version 7.4 of Benchmark Estimating Software supports Microsoft .NET Framework 4, the current version recommended by Microsoft for application development.

Microsoft .NET Framework 4, together with our commitment to keep up with the latest development framework from Microsoft, translates into various benefits for our customers:

• improved overall application performance
• improved visuals with better User Interface responsiveness and improved text clarity
• better application memory management
• better interoperability with the Microsoft Office suite
• better parallel programming support for more complex operations including Three Point Estimating simulations.

Microsoft .NET Framework 4 is installed for you as part of your Version 7.4 upgrade.

Over 30 new Shortcut keys

Over 30 new shortcut keys have been added throughout the program for some of the more common day-to-day features and also to make existing shortcuts consistent across the software.

All new shortcuts are included in the right click menus to help the user learn them and utilise them.

Improved Auto Allocate features

Auto Allocate has been improved to allow you to tailor the way in which it searches for matches from your Item Library.  You can now match on the following permutations:

• Item Description only (as it does in Version 7.3)
• Item Code only
• Item Allocation Code Only
• Item Description AND Item Code
• Item Description AND Item Allocation Code

In the Administration screen you can configure these settings as a default if you always would use Auto Allocate a certain way, and you can also configure these default settings on a user by user basis if different users in an organisation would use Auto Allocate differently.

 NEW Application Service Module

The Benchmark Estimating Software “Application Service” module is designed to facilitate automated and customised integration between our software and your other mission critical business systems.

Our Application Service module can help your business overcome many common challenges in businesses today including:

1. Having one source of Customer and Subcontractor/Supplier data and having this synchronised with Benchmark Estimating Software’s Libraries
2. Having one source of financial Cost Codes and having this synchronised with Benchmark Estimating Software’s Codes feature
3. Creating a consistent Budget format and populating your accounting/ERP/job costing system with a budget automatically from your estimate.

Overcoming these challenges and others saves time re-entering data, eliminates errors, improves operational workflows, improves morale and helps you to improve job costing reporting which can also help to improve your estimating accuracy and profits.

 NEW Integration with On Screen Takeoff

Benchmark Estimating is an authorised Integrated Business Partner with On Center Software, developers of the popular and powerful quantity takeoff system On-Screen Takeoff (OST).

Version 7.4 of our Professional and Corporate editions include a powerful feature that can import a bill of quantities from OST automatically.  If you then amend your Takeoff in OST after you have imported the bill of quantities, this new feature will allow you to view what has changed and update your estimate with new Items and/or updated quantities.  Where quantities are changed, this integration will also update your cost for you automatically.

 Improvements to Progress Claims

Version 7.4 of Benchmark Estimating Software includes significant improvements to the Progress Claims module.  These improvements are:

• You can now edit Item descriptions in the Progress Claim Input window without having to return to the Project Items window
• You can now add comments to an Item in the Progress Claim Input window and these comments will flow through to your detailed Claim reports
• You can now flag a Progress Claim that “practical completion” has occurred and this will allow you to “release” Retention held based on user definable % or lump sum values
• You can flag a job as “Complete” meaning no more Progress Claims are required
• A new report accessed from the Project Browser which provides you with a 360 degree view of all Claim summary values for “un-complete” jobs.

Exporting

Our estimating software gives you numerous options when it comes to exporting your estimate data to other programs. In 7.4 we’ve added some new exports as well as improving on existing exports to Microsoft Excel. Some of the changes include:

• New Export to Excel exports Resources by Category data with Subcontractor/Supplier details to help project managers/supervisors on site.
• Improved import/export features will now remember the last folder where the import/export is imported from/saved to, and will open this folder by default when the relevant import/export is initiated.
• Library exports now default to Excel format by default rather than XML.