Q & AProduct lists
I am just curious what everyone else is doing for database for cost of products and how they are managing there product lists. Are you even using products in ZZ and keeping those items up to date or do you do it in excel. I am finding hard to push through and make these items and templates ready and have real cost in them not knowing whether to put these cost in excel or ZZ, if they will sync back to excel or have to be manually imported every time. Any ideas or thoughts?
Hi Jeff, I use product lists heavily to build my templates (part assemblies) with. I do not put any costing into ZZ, that is not due to any issue with ZZ. We have an internal system where all costing is controlled.
I have the same set up, but i feel like i was having to keep up with two software programs with the same product lists. SO I found a way to move my takeoffs from ZZ (with or without costing) to my final estimating program (Winest). Now that i know i can do that, I can pretty much use zz for my numbers and move them over with the items. just do not know where to keep them. Excel so they can easily batch in, or just straight into zz. The fear there is if they change to a sync with excel or some other API will i have to do all this over again.
Hi Jeff, You will find many people doing the same as Doug (and me). We all work for builders or construction companies that have purchased their own software. Upon purchasing this software, they were told "one stop shop", "does everything", "all you will need" etc and clearly the software may have some accounting benifits but when it comes to estimating and on screen take offs in general, they are very poor. In my work experience, I have used Databuild, Buildertrend (Very poor), Wunderbuild (hhmm still deciding), Excel and other minor attempts at software and none of it can complete a decent on screen take off. I measure in one software and enter the details in another.
I'm looking forward to ZZ but I'm not at a stage where I can move on yet....