Construction Estimating Software
Build a priced estimate from your own material catalog, reuse the assemblies you quote most, and send it out for a signature without leaving the job.
Most estimates die in a spreadsheet. The prices go stale, the last version lives in someone's email, and the numbers you quoted never make it into the job you actually run. SiteAnchor treats the estimate as the start of the job record rather than a document you re-key later.
Line items come from a company material catalog with your own pricing. Once an estimate is signed, its line items carry straight through into the project budget, the bill of materials, and the purchase orders — no second entry, and no drift between what you quoted and what you bought.
What it does
Assemblies you build once
- Group the materials and labor you quote repeatedly — a bathroom rough-in, a square of shingles, a panel swap — and drop the whole group onto an estimate as a single line. Assembly pricing rolls up from the catalog, so a supplier price change updates every assembly that uses it.
Estimate templates
- Save any finished estimate as a template and apply it to the next job of the same shape. Line items, quantities, and markup come across; you adjust the specifics rather than starting from an empty sheet.
Margin control by role
- Cost, markup, and margin are visible only to the roles you allow. A foreman can open the same estimate to check scope and quantities without seeing what the job makes.
Signatures collected in the browser
- Send the estimate to the customer and collect a legally binding e-signature through their portal — no third-party signing service, no printing, no scanned PDF coming back a week later.
Material prices that flag themselves
- Weekly checks against published producer price indexes — a construction materials composite, lumber, steel mill products, and ready-mix concrete — flag movement above a threshold, so you find out lumber moved before you quote at last month's number rather than after. Your own supplier pricing lives in the catalog and is what estimates are actually built from.
Multiple materials lists per job
- A job can carry several named materials lists — by phase, by building, by scope — instead of one flat bill of materials you have to mentally divide.
How it works
- 01
Start from a lead or a template
Pull a lead out of the pipeline, or apply a saved template from a job you've done before.
- 02
Price it from your catalog
Add materials, assemblies, labor, subcontractors, permits, and rentals. Markup applies per line or across the estimate.
- 03
Send it for signature
The customer reviews and signs in their portal. You see when it's opened and when it's signed.
- 04
It becomes the job
On signature the estimate converts to a project with its budget, materials list, and purchase orders already populated.
Works with the rest of the platform
Estimating isn't a standalone module — it shares the same job record as everything else in SiteAnchor.
Job Costing
See committed versus actual cost on every job while it's running, broken down by cost code and phase, instead of finding out the margin after it closes.
Invoicing & Payments
Invoice from the work you've actually logged, take card and bank payment online, and stop chasing the paperwork that proves you did the job.
Purchase Orders
Generate purchase orders from the signed estimate, receive against them, and keep stock levels honest without a separate inventory system.
Client Portal
Give homeowners and property owners their own login for photos, schedule, invoices, change orders, and messages — branded to your company.
For General Contractors
Coordinate subs, schedules, budgets, and clients across every job you have running — without a different app for each one.
For Remodelers
Manage change-heavy work in occupied homes, with change orders the client actually approves in writing and photos that settle disputes before they start.
For Roofing Contractors
Run a high volume of short jobs around the weather, with crews tracked by job and material ordered off the estimate you actually signed.
Frequently asked questions
Can I reuse pricing across estimates?
- Yes. Materials live in a company-wide catalog with your pricing, and assemblies let you save a group of materials and labor as one reusable line. Updating a price in the catalog updates every assembly built on it.
Can customers sign estimates online?
- Yes. E-signatures are built in — the customer signs in their own portal and the signed copy is stored against the job. There's no separate signing subscription to buy.
Do I have to re-enter the estimate to start the job?
- No. A signed estimate carries its line items into the project budget, the bill of materials, and purchase orders automatically.
What is the best estimating software for contractors?
- The one that doesn't end at the estimate. Standalone estimating tools produce a good-looking proposal and then hand you a re-keying job when the work is won. What matters more than the pricing screen is whether the signed number becomes the budget, the material list, and the purchase orders without being typed twice.
Does it do takeoff from plans?
- No. Quantities come from your own takeoff — there's no on-screen measurement tool. Plans are viewable and markable in the browser, including DXF and IFC, but the estimate is built from the quantities you enter against your catalog.
Can I stop my crew seeing the margin on a job?
- Yes. Cost, markup, and margin are visible only to the roles you allow, so a foreman can open the same estimate to check scope and quantities without seeing what the job makes.
Can I quote jobs from a phone or tablet?
- The office app works in a mobile browser and is installable as a progressive web app, so an estimate can be built or edited in the field. The dedicated field interface for crew covers time, daily logs, and assigned work rather than estimating.