Follow these three steps, and you'll get your BuildTools account up and running quickly. If you'd like to get a full tour of BuildTools and all its features, please book a time for a live training session.
The three steps to set up success
Adding codes
Adding contacts
Creating your first project
These steps will take you up to 10 to 15 minutes per step. Once you're done, you'll be able to get rolling.
Step 1. Setting up budget categories
To find the budget setup page, head to the settings icon on the upper right-hand side of your screen. Next, click on System Configuration and finally on Budget.
Note: There are two options for adding budget codes to the system. Below, we will be able to walk you through the steps of each
Option 1: Selecting from our preloaded code lists
Click on the drop titled Choose your codes, and you'll be given the option to select from two sets of preloaded codes. The first will be NAHB codes, and the Second will be the CSI codes.
Once you have selected one of the two choices, all you need to do is click the Load Codes button, and you're done!
Quick Tip: Feel free to make some quick tweaks to the codes that you've just loaded. You can always edit the codes you've imported.
Option 2: Upload your codes using Excel import
If you choose not to use or modify the codes we provided to set up the system. In the following, we'll walk through the steps of using our import tool to help you get the codes specific to you loaded so you can get up and running.
Click the import button. Once you've opened that next screen, you'll use the Upload File button to map your cost codes to the proper columns.
Quick Tip: You can download a per-formatted Excel template to help you upload your codes. You can find this link at the bottom of the import page. Just click the link, and the Excel downloads onto your computer.
The final item on the list you'll want to do before moving on to the next step is to tag all the fee-related budget codes. To accomplish this, could you scan the codes you've just imported and click on the fee icon next to the code?
Now, you're ready to move on to the next step!
Step 2. Importing your contacts
This step will show you how to upload your contacts into BuildTools. We group contacts into three primary buckets in BuildTools.
Note: When importing contacts, the system will not send out welcome emails to the imported contacts.
Companies .- These are your subs and vendors at a company level. This bucket allows you to keep all information related to a company's organization.
Company Representatives refer to all the subcontractors and vendor reps that work for or are related to the companies.
Employees: these are folks who work for you and are considered "paid users."
The import process is very much the same for each of the above users. We will walk you through the loading companies below. This should give you a good feel for how the system works. The upload process should take you 15 to 20 minutes to complete at most!
First things first! Navigate to the contacts module - click on the contact icon on the upper right-hand side of the screen.
Company Import
First, you'll want to click the Companies tab on the left-hand menu. Next, click on the Import icon on the toolbar ribbon at the top of the screen. This will open the import guide.
First, you'll want to click the Companies tab on the left-hand menu. Next, click on the Import icon on the toolbar ribbon at the top of the screen. This will open the import guide.
Quick Tip: If you want more information on field mapping definitions, please click here
Important: Please let us know if you need help uploading your information into BuildTools. We are here to help in any way we can!
Step 3. Creating your first project.
Now you're ready to put it all together. Creating a project in BuildTools is easy. We've created a project creation guide to help you get your project started. The only step is showing you where to locate the project creation button.
First, click on the All Projects drop-down on the top menu ribbon. Next, click the New Projects button, and you'll be coming!
Need additional help?
If you are stuck or need additional help, please set up a training call by clicking here. We like to think we're part of your project team, and we love to help you reach your goals!