Glossary of Terms
A helpful glossary of terms that you may encounter in DESTINI products and communications with the Beck Tech Team
The below table serves as a handy glossary of terms that you may encounter in learning and using DESTINI products.
If you encounter a term that is not detailed below, please reach out to Support and it will be added.
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Alternate |
An option that an owner will want priced separate from the main estimate or Base Estimate. The Alternate section in Estimator can be collapsed or expanded. |
| Asm Items | A button in the Cost Information View (CIV) to open the pane to assembly items as questions are answered. |
| Assembly | An assembly is a grouping of line items that can be added to an estimate by making a series of logical choices and answering questions, which quantify based on specific variables and formulas. |
| Audit Trail | The tool in Estimator on the Estimate View ribbon where you can review the actions taken by your team for the estimate. It is very helpful since the Estimate is saved automatically. |
| Base Estimate | The main estimate where cost is built. The Base Estimate section can be collapsed or expanded. |
| Bid Leveling | Process during the construction estimating cycle of mitigating risk on a scope of work in a bid package. DESTINI Bid Day serves as a bid leveling tool. |
| BIM | Building Information Modeling |
| Choices | Building blocks of an assembly. Choices contain line items that appear inside an assembly takeoff based on user-defined questions and answers. |
| CIV | Cost Information View in Estimator. Details about line items and assemblies may be viewed in the CIV. |
| Column Header | The dark gray area in Estimate View where the column name is shown as part of the grid. The column header may be right-clicked on to open a menu with several useful commands. |
| Conditions View (Beta) |
Displays a list of takeoff conditions—predefined measurement types or items (e.g. linear, area, or count)—each with its own unique properties (e.g. calculation formulas, units), visual appearance (e.g. color, line style, fill patterns), and real-time quantification results. Select and apply them by drawing in the Takeoff view, and associate the resulting quantities with corresponding cost items in the estimate. |
| Cost Category | Estimator has 5 cost categories to organize cost They are Labor, Material, Subcontractor, Equipment, and Other |
| Cost Code | Client specific accounting code to classify cost categories. May be a custom WBS property. |
| Cost Database | Data Manager or Excel spreadsheet containing line items with cost information. |
| Dashboard | The Dashboard is a Microsoft Excel-based summary tool embedded in DESTINI Estimator. The Dashboard is used to aggregate data based on WBS Properties, Fees, Project Properties, and Comparison Data in the Estimate. |
| Data Manager | The program used to import and export cost database data such as updated pricing, new rates, or brand new assemblies. |
| Deliverable | A document that to be provided to the client or owner as a result of estimating. |
| DESTINI | Design Estimation Integration Initiative |
| DESTINI Suite | All software products that Beck Tech produces are branded with DESTINI. The Suite includes all of the software programs that we produce/support. |
| DollarDollar/$$ Sheets | The dump sheets within the Dashboard that allow Estimator data to be referenced in Excel for actual Dashboards. |
| Enhancement | Product improvement suggestion. |
| Estimate Properties | The Estimate Properties include data from the initial estimate setup form as well as the version name. Project properties are sometimes used interchangeably with Estimate Properties. |
| Estimate Template | An estimate template provides a consistent, efficient starting point for each of the estimates you produce in DESTINI Estimator. |
| Estimate View Excel Report | Unformatted and formatted reports that may be exported from Estimate View. Formatted Reports require a template that includes tokens and cell styles to produce a branded deliverable. |
| Fee | Indirect dollars added to the estimate in the Fees Editor. i.e. overhead, taxes, etc. |
| Filter View | The Filter View allows users to isolate specific scope for review utilizing WBS properties as groupings. Selection of a Filter displays only the line items that match that selected criteria. |
| Formulas | Formulas are tied to Line Items to calculate quantities in Estimator. They are especially used in Assemblies. Formulas can be made up of Variables, Numbers, and nested Formulas. |
| Help Center | An online resource with various help recources to answer common questions or issues. |
| Highlight Rule | Highlight rules are included in DESTINI Estimator to allow users to draw attention to rows of data in Estimate View based on specific cost or WBS criteria |
| Line Item | An item of cost, containing a unit of measure, WBS Properties, and cost information housed within the Cost Database and added to an Estimate |
| Log File | The log file may be saved by clicking View Log on the Home tab ribbon of Estimator. The log file helps Support diagnose problems if there are any. Anytime a user needs help it is best practice to include the log file for diagnosis of the problem. |
| LMSEO | Labor, Material, Sub, Equipment, Other Cost Categories. The LMSEO report displays cost for each cost category. |
| Phase Code | Common term within Accounting software that is one of a few accounting codes that may be added as a WBS property within DESTINI products This enables DESTINI data to be imported into Accounting systems. |
| Preferences | The button on the Home tab and in the Title bar in Estimator that allows the user to setup Report locations, Quantity Highlighting and other useful features such as decimal precision. |
| Production Environment | Estimator environment where clients access Estimator. The Windows App is connected to your Production Environment. |
| Project Property | The properties tagged within Project view that live in the right-hand pane and may be used to drive quantities in an estimate or displayed within reporting and cost history. |
| Project Property Pane |
The right side of the screen in the Project View where project properties/estimate properties/variables are saved for use in reporting, driving quantities, and cost analysis. |
| Questions | Questions are used within Assemblies. A question is asked within an assembly to allow the user to make a selection that drives the correct line item and quantity to be delivered to the estimate. Choices and Variables require question prompts. |
| Rate Tables (coming soon) | Rate Tables allow the company to set varying labor or equipment rates for different areas of the business. For instance, there may be regional, time-sensitive (this year vs next year), union, and non-union rate tables. Hub+ includes Rate Tables for multiple cities. |
| Report | Term most commonly used to point users to the banded reports that are available in the drop down button called Reports on the Home tab ribbon of DESTINI Estimator The banded reports are developed and modified by Content & Enablement. |
| Reset Views | The button on the Estimator Home tab that brings all tabs back into one screen. This button is very useful when learning Estimator, especially if a screen is accidentally moved out of the default view. |
| Row Header | The white grid area on the far left side of the Estimate View. The row header may be left-clicked to select a row or rows or right-clicked on to open a menu with several useful commands. |
| Selected Layout | Predefined Layouts of the Estimate View where specific columns are included and/or grouped. |
| Services | The department that works with the customer from implementation through mastery. Teams include Support, Onboarding, Customer Success, and Content & Enablement |
| SOP | Standard Operating Procedure |
| Token | A token is a tag that works behind the scenes to pull data into the excel report |
| Variables | Variables are used in formulas to prompt a user to provide a value for calculation or question logic. |
| WBS | Work breakdown structure used in Estimator for tagging line items with Custom data for sorting and filtering. WBS properties act like a folder structure. Also a button in the Cost Information View (CIV) to open a pane to review or assign WBS values to line items. |