What is DESTINI Cloud Estimator?

DESTINI Cloud Estimator is Beck Technology's estimating application for general contractors and other construction estimators. DESTINI Cloud Estimator helps you build, organize, price, and present construction estimates. Estimates and cost data are stored in the cloud, so your whole team works from the same live data.

Who Estimator is for

Preconstruction and estimating teams that need consistent, repeatable estimates across many projects.
Estimating leaders and administrators who want company standards, like cost data, WBS structures, and fee categories applied to every estimate.
Project executives and stakeholders who need clear totals, comparisons and reports from the estimate.

How Estimator fits into DESTINI Cloud

Product	What it does
DESTINI Cloud Estimator	Where estimates are built, priced, reviewed, and reported.
DESTINI Cloud Cost Library	Your company's central source of cost data: line items, assemblies, WBS properties, units, variables, formulas, rate tables, resources, and crews. Estimator pulls its cost data from Cost Library.
DESTINI Takeoff	Measure quantities from drawings and connect them to line items in your estimate.
DESTINI Bid Day	Manage bid packages and subcontractor bids.

Some features, including Takeoff, Self Perform, Bid Day, and Cost Library, need their own license. If you don't see a feature described here, contact your administrator or Beck Technology.

Getting Estimator

Estimator is a Windows desktop app installed from the Microsoft Store. Each time you open it, Estimator checks for updates. You're offered optional updates, and required updates must be installed before you can continue. For more information, see How to Install and Log In to DESTINI Cloud.

Key concepts

Estimate: a priced scope of work for a project, made up of line items, assemblies, fees and alternates.
Line item: a single cost entry with a quantity, unit of measure, unit cost and WBS values. A quantity can be a typed value or a formula built from variables.
Assembly: a reusable package of line items. You answer the assembly's questions, and Estimator loads the right line items and calculates their quantities.
WBS properties: classification categories, such as CSI or Uniformat levels, used to organize, filter and report your estimate.
Alternates: priced options kept separate from the base estimate so you can present them to owners.
Fees: costs like markups, bonds and insurance that are applied on top of direct cost.
Template: a starting point for new estimates that carries your company's standard setup.

What you can do in Estimator

Start and manage estimates

Create estimates from scratch or from a template.
Find estimates on the Start Page by name or estimate number. You can group and sort estimate cards, including by client information.
Copy, version or delete estimates. Layouts, highlight rules, saved filters, the Project and Dashboard spreadsheets and the project image carry over when you create an estimate from a template, version an estimate, or copy it.

Build the estimate

Add line items and assemblies from your company's cost database.
Edit details in the Cost Information View (CIV): quantities, formulas, unit costs, and WBS values.
Use unit conversions and units of measure from your cost data.
Copy, paste, and duplicate assemblies. You can also edit an assembly's name, description, and line items.

Organize and review

Filter and group the estimate grid by WBS properties and other fields. Filtered views show direct cost and total cost.
Roll up matching line items so you can review and edit them together.
Overlines: add summary rows to grouped data. You can type a value, sum by unit or use a project property.
Highlight rules: color-code rows and values that match conditions you set.
Layouts: save column setups and share them with everyone working in the estimate.

Project information

Use the Project View to store project properties, such as size, building type, or client details, with one or more values each.
Use the built-in project spreadsheet to link cells to properties. Linked cells can drive calculations, and you can import a spreadsheet into a template.
See totals per area at the bottom of the estimate grid.

Alternates

Create, edit, and delete alternates from the alternates summary.
Add, move, copy, and edit costs inside each alternate.
Add custom columns to the alternates summary and tag alternates during closeout.
Give alternates their own fees, or keep them in sync with the base estimate.

Fees and closeout

Apply fees and totals to the base estimate and to alternates.
Close out an estimate to lock it as read-only. You can also close out individual alternates.

Dashboards and reporting

See summary data on the Dashboard, which can be printed and recalculates automatically.
Run banded reports, such as owner reports, or design your own with the report wizard.
Export the estimate view to formatted or unformatted Excel reports. Reports follow your filters and alternate selections.

Working as a team

Several estimators can work in the same estimate at once. Layouts, highlight rules, and dashboard changes are shared.
Changes are recorded in the estimate's audit trail.

Connecting takeoff

Link an estimate to a DESTINI Takeoff project.
Select a condition to see its quantities in the CIV. Drag quantities onto a line item's quantity, its formula variables, or assembly questions.
When the takeoff changes, mapped quantities update until you type over them.

Frequently asked questions

Is my estimate data stored locally?
No. Estimates and cost data are stored in DESTINI Cloud, which lets several users work in the same estimate.

Where does my cost data come from?
From your company's cost database in DESTINI Cloud Cost Library. Administrators maintain it, and estimators use it in their estimates.

Can I customize how my estimate looks?
Yes. Use layouts, filters, grouping, overlines, and highlight rules. You can reset views at any time.