Watch time: 12 minutes
The BuilderBid spreadsheet is the backbone of your estimating process. It allows you to organize projects into sections, groups, and line items, apply cost codes, assign markups and waste factors, and create formulas for quantities—just like a regular Excel spreadsheet. This guide will walk you through the structure, navigation, and basic editing tools so you can manage your spreadsheet efficiently.
Watch this video to learn more(12 minutes):
Steps to Use and Manage the Spreadsheet
1. Understand the Spreadsheet Structure
Sections
The spreadsheet contains sections that can be collapsed or expanded.
Click the section header to toggle a single section.
Click the two lines on the left to expand or collapse all sections at once.
To rename a section, double-click on its name.
Line Items and Groups
Within each section, you can have standalone items or groups of items.
2. Add or Delete Sections
Go to the section header.
Click the three dots (⋮) on the far right.
Select New Section to add a section or Delete to remove it.
3. Editing Cells and Using Formulas
The BuilderBid spreadsheet works like Excel: double-click any cell to edit it.
You can create formulas under the Quantity column.
Cells with formulas appear in light gray font to differentiate them from manual entries.
4. Modify Line Items
To modify a line item:
Gear Icon: Assign item type, markups, or waste factor (applies only to that line item)
Duplicate: Create a copy of the line item
Plus / Add Line Row: Insert a new line
Delete Row: Remove the line item
5. Work with Cost Codes
Click the Settings button and toggle on Show Cost Codes.
To assign a line item to a cost code, double-click the cell under the Cost Code column.
You can also rename or add cost codes as needed.
