A spreadsheet works. CostMate works out the quantities, hours and NZ trade pricing you would otherwise build yourself, and carries the job on after the quote.
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If you price in Excel or Google Sheets, you already know the job. You built the formulas, you keep the rates, and nobody can tell you how to lay it out. CostMate takes the part that eats your nights. Describe a NZ residential job and it works out the materials with quantities and the labour in hours by phase, priced from Dayle ITM and PlaceMakers trade pricing, with assumptions and exclusions written for the quote. Your own supplier pricing file goes on top and wins. Price one job you have already quoted and put the two numbers side by side.
| Feature | CostMate | A spreadsheet |
|---|---|---|
| Prices from your own supplier price list | Yes | Yes |
| Full control of the layout and every formula | Every line and rate is editable | Yes |
| NZ trade pricing loaded before you start | Yes | No |
| Works out the quantities and labour hours from a description | Yes | Only what you build in |
| Assumptions, exclusions and NZ Building Code checks written for review | Yes | Only what you type |
| Reprices variations when the scope changes | Yes | By hand |
| Client accepts the quote on a link | Yes | No |
| Purchase orders to suppliers | Yes | No |
| Progress claims and crew hours you approve | Yes | No |
| Reads a PDF plan | Measure a PDF plan into your estimate | No |
| Draft bills and invoices to your Xero | Xero: drafts you approve | No |
| A free plan | Yes | Depends on the program |
A spreadsheet can be built to do much of this, so a cross means a blank sheet does not do it until you build it. No prices are stated for any spreadsheet program.
It does exactly what you built it to do. You can price a job type CostMate does not cover, use rates and formulas you worked out from your own back-costed jobs, carry a provisional sum for something you cannot see yet, and lay the page out any way you like. If the sheet is the result of years of your own jobs, that is worth a lot.
It works out the quantities and the labour hours from a description of the job, using rules for its built-in job types, so you are not rebuilding the same formulas for every new deck, fence or bathroom. The same job entered twice gives the same numbers.
It brings Dayle ITM and PlaceMakers trade pricing, with the source shown on each line, and writes assumptions, exclusions and NZ Building Code checks for review before the quote goes out.
It reprices variations when the scope changes, sends the quote, and lets the client accept it on a link. Once you win the job it carries purchase orders, progress claims and the crew hours you approve, reads a PDF plan into your estimate, and sends draft bills and invoices to your own Xero for you to approve there. There is also a free Quote Checker for a quote you have already written.
In a spreadsheet, from whatever you type in and keep up to date. In CostMate, trade pricing from Dayle ITM and PlaceMakers is loaded into every account, including the free one, so a first estimate needs nothing uploaded. You can upload your own supplier pricing on any plan, and it takes priority over the built-in pricing. Where a line has no match it is marked so you check it, not left as a quiet zero.
When the job is one CostMate does not cover, when your rates and formulas come from your own back-costed jobs and you trust them more than any default, when it is a one-off or provisional-sum job, or when you want full control of how the page looks. In those cases keep the sheet.
When the hard part is working out the number and you would rather not build and maintain the formulas yourself: how much timber, how many hours, what to exclude. CostMate does it for NZ residential jobs, shows the working, and keeps going after the quote is sent.
Yes. Many builders will price a job in CostMate and compare it with the sheet they trust, which is the fastest way to see where the two differ. There is a free plan and a 30-day trial of the paid features, neither of which needs a card. The walkthrough shows the flow end to end, and plans and pricing are on one page. For the wider field see estimating software for NZ builders and the pricing guides for each job type, and the other comparisons: CostMate vs Buildxact, CostMate vs Tradify, CostMate vs Fergus and CostMate vs NextMinute.
Whichever tool you use, an estimate is a starting point you check, not a number to send unread. Confirm prices against your own supplier accounts and anything structural against your plans and the BCA before you quote.
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