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version 6.05
Benchmark Estimating
Software's latest release is Version 6.05.
In terms of features,
V6.05 is unbelievable, with over 110 user requested enhancements!
It includes several features that would be considered
as the marquee feature of any other release, but they all
combine here in one release to provide our current and future
customers with exceptional value.
We recommend you consider utilising our outstanding support
services to ensure you get the most out of these new features. Our support staff
can help with training, implementation, and technical support.
Our implementation team can
even design and create your Word reports or quantity takeoff
sheets -
contact our implementation team.
Top 10 features in Version 6.05:
Download the Version
6.05 Brochure
(PDF 688Kb)
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1. |
Microsoft WordŽ Quote
Reports
(FULL version only) |
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Produce professional quotes to
get your competitive edge:
You can use the functionality of Microsoft WordŽ to
create your own quote templates, giving you more control
over the presentation of your quotes to your
client. This new feature allows you to establish
your brand, stand out from your competitors, and improve
your marketing.
Included in your purchase are 10 templates in different
formats; you can use any of these, modify them to suit
your business, or create your own.
Benefits:
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>> |
The ability
to completely customise your quotes to establish your
brand |
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Unique,
professional quotes to help you win more work |
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You can
stand out from your competitors |
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top |
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2. |
Quantity Takeoff
facility (FULL version only) |
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Implement standard takeoff procedures and save your
takeoffs with your estimate:
With Benchmark's new Quantity Takeoff functionality,
you can do your complex or large Item quantity
calculations and store them with your estimate!
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Click to view a simple Takeoff Sheet template
example |
The Quantity
Takeoff feature uses spreadsheet templates in
Benchmark that you can associate with any of your
Items. You can use your standard templates by
attaching them to Items and then
editing them
or you can do an ad-hoc quantity takeoff
for a unique item. You can also
assign takeoff sheets to items in your
Item Library, so that when you add an
Item to a project, it is already
associated with its relevant takeoff
sheet. |
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Benefits:
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Time savings as your standard sheets
are already created |
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Captures and stores the knowledge of your
senior staff |
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Creates consistency across your organisation
as everyone will be using the same takeoff
sheets |
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Your quantity takeoff sheets are saved with
your estimate, so you wont lose them |
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Simplifies and improves the accuracy of your
bid as changes to the takeoff sheet update
in your estimate |
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Gives traceability so you know how you
arrived at your quantities |
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You can have any staff member simply
entering project data into your takeoff
sheets |
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3. |
More Exports to
Microsoft ExcelŽ |
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Streamline business
reporting and integration of your estimating and
project management process:
Benchmark has created some powerful new reports
based on your key project data that export directly
to Microsoft ExcelŽ. These include:
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Project Review/Analysis
Sample Project Review/Analysis (PDF 40Kb) |
This will export details of your entire
estimate. It is the ideal tool to handover to project managers
who can use it to perform sensitivity (or 'What-if')
analysis, use as a basis for job costing,
and better manage the project in line with
the estimate for maximum profits. You
can also use it as a way of reviewing your
estimate.
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Resources by Subcontractor/Supplier |
This will export all of the Resources used
in a project, and group them according to
the Subcontractor or Supplier used.
The main benefit of this report is that it
will facilitate your Resource ordering for a
project.
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Other Exports to Excel
that are new in Version 6.05 include 'Resources by Cost Code
by Selected Sections', 'Resources by Item', and
'Resources by Item - Plant, Labour, Materials,
Subcontract'.
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4. |
New Quote with Options
report |
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Producing quotes
quickly and in the format you want!
Benchmark's highly popular Quote with Options quote
report has 26 new options in Version 6.05 to give you much
more flexibility. It continues to be a very fast
way of producing quotes that are consistent with
your branding, and to help you stand out from the
competition. |
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Benefits:
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More customisation gives you a greater
ability to stand out from your competition |
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More customisation gives you a greater
ability to display only the information you
want to be shown |
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The Quote with Options is a very fast way to produce quotes |
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Easy to use
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5. |
New
Marketing Reports
(FULL version only) |
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Analyse and drive your business
with more powerful market share
data:
Benchmark's marketing reports have been
enhanced to allow you to create
marketing reports for your business on an increased
number of useful
variables, such
as these:
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1. |
The Won/Lost
report has been enhanced to include those
estimates in your system that are yet to be
Won or Lost (i.e. Pending) |
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2. |
A Forward
Order report has been added to allow you to
compare your budgets to your forecasted
revenue |
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3. |
An
Items by Market Share Export to Excel that
exports your Won, Pending, and
Lost projects, showing you who won the
project, and the Items in the project with
their quantities and rates. It is
very useful for businesses that
require market share information at a more
detailed level. |
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Benefits:
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Greater ability to analyse your businesses
performance |
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Greater ability to analyse your market share |
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You can now determine projected budgets and
compare actual results |
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Improved scope for business decision making |
Click to
see the main
Marketing Reports screen
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6. |
New Reporting Options |
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Benchmark sets the standard in
reporting options:
Benchmark's Version 6.05 release contains many
brilliant new features, including many additions to
the software's Reporting capability. We have
already showed you above the power of
Microsoft WordŽ Quote reports,
the Quote with Options
enhancements, the additional
Exports to Microsoft
ExcelŽ, and the
improved marketing reporting.
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Benefits of the additional reporting capabilities:
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More flexible reporting capabilities to give
you greater control of your business |
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Consistency in the reporting methods used
across your business |
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Greater ability to customise the information
your business produces |
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Accuracy and speed in producing the reports
you need |
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Integration of your business; provides
information for construction teams and
transparency for management |
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7. |
New search features in
the Project Browser |
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Find previous estimates faster and
easier:
Benchmark's Project Browser includes enhanced
'Find' and new 'Quick Find' features that give you
the ability to quickly search for any project in
your Benchmark data file:
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1.
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The 'Find'
functionality allows you to search on many
variables, including Quote Number, Title,
Estimator, Client, Pending, Won, Lost, and
other fields |
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2. |
The new
'Quick Find' feature has been added to the
top of the Project Browser screen for quick searching |
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Benefits:
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Allows you to search your projects on an
increased number of variables |
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Makes the process of finding your past
estimates very fast |
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Improved productivity |
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8. |
'Reset All Lines' in the Spread screen |
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More power when manipulating your
submission price on an item by item basis:
The Spread screen allows you to manipulate how your
profits and indirect costs (overheads and
contingencies) are spread over the Items in your
project to maximise the competitiveness of your bid.
In Version 6.05, the 'Reset All Lines' feature in the Spread screen
will reset the Submission Rate and Submission Amount
for all of your Items to reflect an even spread of
profits and indirect costs over these Items. This is a very
useful, time saving feature especially if you
duplicate a previous estimate and wish to modify it. |
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Benefit:
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>> |
Saves you time; you do not have to reset
Items individually |
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top |
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9. |
New Resource Rate Change
(FULL version only) |
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Make project specific price
changes faster and easier:
Benchmark's Resource Rate Change feature gives you
the ability to change any Resource prices in your
project from the one screen. Changes you make
in
the Resource Rate Change Screen will update the
price of that
Resource
throughout your project. In
Version 6.05, the Resource Rate Change feature now
includes:
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1. |
A new column
called 'Discount %', where you can enter a
percentage discount you have received from
your Subcontractors/Suppliers |
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2. |
A new Find
function to help you find your resources on
many variables, including on
Subcontractor/Supplier |
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Benefit:
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Save time |
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Reduces errors calculating and entering your new Resource rates for a
project |
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You can easily and accurately account for
project specific changes in price |
Click for full screen
view
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top |
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10. |
Subcontractor/Supplier improvements |
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Assign your Suppliers or
Subcontractors to your individual Resources:
With Benchmark you can assign a
Supplier or Subcontractor to your Resources, either
within a project or in your Resource Library.
This is a very useful feature; it allows you to
search your Resource Library by Subcontractor/Supplier. This
will speed up the process of updating Resource costs
from one particular supplier.
You can also perform a search in a Project for only
those Resources that you get from a
particular Subcontractor or Supplier to make
project specific changes to Resource rates.
Also read about the
Export to
Excel > Resources by Subcontractor/Supplier,
another new feature in Version 6.05, which you can
use for ordering purposes.
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Benefits:
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Updating Resource costs is much faster and
much easier |
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>> |
Reports can be created to assist the
ordering process |
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top |
RECAP
(Feb 2006):
See the features that were new in
Version 6.03
RECAP
(Aug 2005):
See the features that were new in Version
6
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What are our clients
saying about
Version 6.05?
“The new WordŽ
quotes will come in very handy; we will establish our own
quote template with all the required information and our fax
cover sheet so Benchmark can produce the whole thing exactly
how we want it. The 'Reset All Lines' feature in the
Spread screen is saving us a great deal of time. We
requested this feature to speed up our use of the Spread
screen, and we got exactly what we asked for.”
Brian Salmond
Chief Estimator Urban Land Development
Works Infrastructure
The
Quantity Takeoff sheet (QTS) function is a most valuable and
highly used function in my estimates. QTS allows me to
attach detailed descriptions to my measurements which makes
checking for omissions easy; it allows the project crews to
follow my calculations and know exactly what is included in
the project; and most of all the spreadsheet functionality
ensures accuracy in calculations. It’s flexible, in that you
can program it in any layout that most suits your situation.
The QTS' are great to work with.
As an Estimator and Quantity Surveyor I find the Benchmark
Software with the QTS function an excellent software package
for construction.”
Joe Franco
Estimator
Abergeldie
Contractors
“The 'Resources
by Item Export to ExcelŽ' assists us with our budgets.
It shows us the Cost Code information for the Resources in a
project, making it much easier for our accounting staff to
integrate with our financial systems. The new ‘Quick
Find’ in the Project Browser is also making finding projects
much, much easier.”
Kelly McDonald
Sales and Tendering
Georgiou Group
“The greater
customisation and flexibility in the 'Quote with Options'
report allows us to quickly produce a very effective quote.
The additional reports found in Version 6.05 are excellent;
they offer much more flexibility and help me pass on our
information to project managers.”
Jane Le Grove
Operations Manager
Frogmat Environmental
"The
Project Review Export to Excel enables us to follow our
actual costs from start to finish, which will help us to
both control our projects, and to give us an analysis of our
estimate versus our actual figures.”
James Simpson-Lee
Director
Integral Landscapes
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