Setting up a new item

You can set up new items for a standard database that you have open in the Estimating application.

To set up an item:

1. Open the Edit Items window in one of the following ways:

   • On the ribbon, from the Elements group on the Data tab, click  Items.
   • In classic view, click Database menu > Items.

2. In the phases pane, select the phase to which you want to add the item.

   Estimating displays existing items associated with the selected phase in the items grid.

   Tip: If you want to show only certain phases from a long list of phases, you can use the Search box above the phases pane to filter the phases using a keyword.

3. There are two ways to add a new item to the phase:

   • To create a brand new item, click [Add].

     Estimating adds a new, blank row to the grid, highlighting the fields to which you need to add information about the item.

   • To create a new item based on an existing item:

     1. On the items grid, select the row for the existing item, and then click [Duplicate].

        Estimating adds a nearly identical row to the grid, with a blank item number in the new row.

     2. In the new item row, double-click in the Item cell, and then type a unique item number for the new item.

4. Enter or change other values for the item, as needed.

   Use the columns in the grid to identify the phase, item number, item description, unit, formula, crew, waste factor, and price code for the item.

   You can also add a note or an attachment for a selected item from the items grid.

   To make these changes.

   • To change the phase, click the list button () in the Phase column, and then select a different phase from the Edit Phases window.

   • To change an item number, double-click in the Item column, and then type the new code.

   • To change the description for the item, double-click in the Description column, and then type the new description.

   • To change the unit, click in the Unit column, and then select the unit you want to use.

   • To change the formula, click the list button () in the Formula column, and then select the formula to use from the Formula List.

   • To change the crew, click the list button () in the Crew column, and then select the crew to assign to the item from the Crews List.

     Note: This feature is available only if you have a license to use Crews.

   • To change the waste factor, double-click in the Waste Factor % column, and then type the new percentage.

   • To change the price code, click the list button () in the Price code column, and then select the price code to assign to the item from the Price Code List.

   • To add an attachment, click the list button () in the Attachment column, and then in the Attach File window, type the name of the file to attach, including the path, or browse to and then select the file.

   • To change the bill of materials, click the list button () in the BOM column, and then select the bill of materials to assign to the item from the Database Bill of Materials window.

   • To add a note, double-click in the Notes column, and then type the note in the Edit Notes window.

   Tip: If you assign a crew to the item in the Crew field, you cannot enter labor or equipment prices for the item. Sage Estimating (SQL) calculates item prices using the crew and the rate table specified for the estimate.

5. Using the tabs in the Item Details pane, enter pricing, rounding and waste percentages, linked items, subcategories, WBS codes, and, if you have integrated a job cost program, the Job Cost Phase, as needed.

   If you duplicated an existing item, some of this information may be filled in. Make any changes you need.

   Tip: If the Item Detail pane is not visible, click the button below the grid to display it.

   For information about each tab, see the following topics:

   • Pricing tab

   • Rounding tab

   • Links tab

   • Subcategory tab

   • Job Cost tab

   • WBS tab

6. Change other items in the same manner.

7. When you finish changing items, click [OK] to save your changes and close the window.

8. Complete the fields on the tabs. You can use [Copy] and [Prefill] for this purpose. At a minimum, you need to complete the Phase/Item, Description, Takeoff unit, and New Category fields to set up a new item.

9. To enter a new category, click the first New Category button on the Pricing tab and then select a category from the list. You can select up to five categories for an item.

10. When you finish setting up the item, click [OK] to save it.

11. Set up additional items in the same manner.

12. When you finish, click [Close] to save the items and close the Edit Items window.