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.

Alternate	An option that an owner will want priced separate from the main estimate or Base Estimate
Asm Items	A widget in the Cost Information View (CIV) to view assembly items.
Assembly	An assembly is a grouping of line items that can be populated into an estimate by making a series of logical choices and quantified based on specific parameters
Automatic Pricing	The feature is Estimator that allows the user to choose a line item or assembly from the Cost Database, then complete quantification through Takeoff with an automatically assigned "material" or component to add quantity and cost to the estimate.
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
Bookmark	A bookmark is assigned in a pdf before opening it in DESTINI Estimator's Takeoff view. The bookmarks may be accessed while in Estimator to quickly navigate to the correct drawing.
Choices	One of the 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, takeoff, and assemblies may be viewed in the CIV. Automatic Pricing may also be turned on and off in the CIV.
Column Header	The dark blue area in DESTINI Estimator's 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.
Community	Online peer to peer repository where you can find answers to common questions or issues.
Comparison View	The Comparison view allows for multiple estimates to be brought into one view for comparison. It is most useful for multiple versions of an estimate.
Component	A "material" with takeoff assigned to it. Typically the component name is assigned as the line item name as a function of automatic pricing.
Cost Category	DESTINI 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, Comparison Data, and Variables 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 will be provided to the client or owner.
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/MoneyMoney/$$	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 and values to calculate productivities.
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. The Estimate View and Takeoff View utilize the same Filter View. A single selection in the Filter displays only the line items and takeoff 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
Hosted	Hosted Environment - Remote license and document server. This is a Beck Tech maintained server.
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.
LMB	Left Mouse Button
LMSEO	Labor, Material, Sub, Equipment, Other Cost Categories
Markup	Markup is located in the Rates & Resources tables. Markups are typically associated with Fringe benefits or other specific fees only applied to Resources.
On-Prem	Local installation of software.
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
PPE	Pre-Production Enviroment
Preferences	The button on the Home tab in Estimator that allows the user to setup Report locations, Quantity Highlighting and other useful features such as decimal precision.
Procore	Construction management software. Estimator has integration capabilities with Procore Financials and Document Management.
Production Environment	Estimator environment where clients access Estimator
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/Jobs Database	DESTINI Estimator has 2 different types of databases housing data: Cost Database and Project or Jobs Database The Jobs Database houses the estimates built within DESTINI Estimator
QTO Prop	A widget in the Cost Information View (CIV) to view quantity takeoff draw styles and properties.
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	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.
Remote Desktop	A software or operating system feature that allows a personal computer's desktop environment to be run remotely from one system
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 Infrastructure
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.
Resource Groups	Resource Groups are setup for each individual resource as well as groups of resources or crews that work together to complete a task.
RMB	Right Mouse Button
Row Header	The light blue area on the far left side of the grid in DESTINI Estimator's Estimate View. The row header may be left-clicked on to select a row or rows or right-clicked on to open a menu with several useful commands.
Services	The department that works with the customer from implementation through mastery Teams include Sales Engineering, Implementation, Customer Success, and Training
SOP	Standard Operating Procedure
SQL	Microsoft database program that our backend of the program is supported by
Takeoff	Takeoff is a process of listing and measuring the materials required for the project to calculate the cost to complete it. DESTINI Estimator includes 2D and 3D takeoff tools.
Takeoff Palette	The list of draw styles assigned through automatic pricing or manually to represent a specific line item or scope of work called a component.
Token	Tokens a tag that works behind the scenes to pull the data into the excel report
Variables	Variables are used in formulas to prompt a user to provide a value for calculation or question logic.
Vectors	Data in drawings which allows the user to snap to lines and corner points while drawing takeoff in DESTINI Estimator. This is only available if the drawing set is "vectorized" when it was created. Architects can supply this information.
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 widget in the Cost Information View (CIV) to review or assign WBS values to line items.
Z Drive	The common drive per company that is most efficient for use within the Hosted Environment