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Overline Workflows: Hard Keyed, Sum by Unit, and Project Property Overlines

DESTINI Estimator allows users to utilize group overlines to display a range of useful sum totals, based on criteria such as unit of measure, project properties, or simply a manual selection of cost items. The latest additions to this powerful feature are hard key overlines and, in conjunction, an intuitive Overline Quantity Editor tool.

Hard Key overlines allow estimators to manually enter (or hard key) an overline quantity for any given group of cost items, with the group row automatically calculating the cost per unit accordingly. Additionally, our latest standard reports can access these overline quantities for more accurate data representation.

This article outlines the Overline Quantity Editor and the four overline quantity workflows that are now intuitively managed within it.

Summary of Overline Quantities

There are four distinct ways users can utilize overlines to enhance their estimates;

  • Hard Keyed
  • Sum by Unit (of measure)
  • Project Property
  • Contributes to Quantity*

Management of the first three workflows has been consolidated to a single tool – the Overline Quantity Editor.

*Note: The Contributes to Quantity method is not manually selectable in the Overline Quantity Editor – it will populate automatically when you set one or more line item(s) to contribute to quantity via the Estimate View. See the Contributes to Quantity section below for more.

Below, we will show you how to access to the Overline Quantity Editor, and how to use each of the above overline workflows.

Accessing the Overline Quantity Editor

  1. With your estimate open, navigate to the Estimate View.
  2. Make sure your Estimate View Layout has the Quantity column visible and a WBS grouping set.
  3. Right-click in the footer below the Quantity column and select Show Overline Total.
  4. You will now see pencil ‘Edit’ buttons In the Quantity column overlines. Click the pencil above the group for which you would like to display overlines.
  5. This will bring up the Overline Quantity Editor.
  6. In the Overline Quantity Editor window, the Method dropdown offers three options for overline types:
    • Hard Keyed
    • Sum by Unit
    • Project Property

Note: The Contributes to Quantity method is not manually selectable right now – it will populate automatically when you set one or more line item(s) to contribute to quantity via the Estimate View. See the Contributes to Quantity section below for more.

Method: Hard-Keyed Overlines

The Hard Keyed Overlines method allows you to quickly and easily hard key an explicit quantity into your estimate. When a hard keyed quantity is given, subsequent overline totals are automatically calculated and displayed for all five cost categories (Labor, Equipment, Material, Other, Sub).

  1. Follow the steps above to open the Quantity Overline Editor.
  2. Click on the Method drop-down and select Hard Keyed.
  3. Enter your desired quantity and select the relevant unit of measure.
  4. Click OK.

You will now see the overline calculated value in all cost category columns (Labor, Equipment, Material, Other, Sub) based on the given quantity.

What is Displayed?

Here’s a breakdown of the calculations made for each of the five cost categories (Labor, Equipment, Material, Other, Sub), when a hard keyed overline quantity is provided.

Note: The below formulas use the Labor cost category as an example, but these calculations remain the same when applied to any of the five cost categories.

Unit Cost:

  • Labor Cost [overline] = Sum(Total Labor Cost) / Overline Quantity

Total Cost:

  • Total Labor Cost [overline] = Sum(Total Labor Cost)

Burdened Unit Cost:

  • Burdened Labor Cost [overline] = Sum(Burdened Total Labor Cost) / Overline Quantity

Total Burdened Cost:

  • Total Burdened Labor Cost [overline] = Sum(Total Burdened Labor Cost)

Method: Sum by Unit

The Sum by Unit method lets you easily see the sum totals for cost items of a particular unit of measure.

  1. In the Quantity Overline Editor, click on the Method drop-down and select Sum by Unit.
  2. Use the Unit drop down to select the unit of measure for which you would like to see sum values. The Quantity field will be auto-filled with the applicable sum of the relevant cost items.
  3. Click OK.

What is Displayed?

Here’s a quick breakdown of what the Sum by Unit workflow will show in overlines:

  • The Quantity column displays the sum of all cost items within the group that have the given unit.
  • The Unit of Measure column displays the overline unit selected.
  • The Unit Cost column displays the TotalCost / overline summed quantity.

Method: Project Property

The Project Property method will use overlines to display the calculated value of cost items that are divided by a specified numeric Project Property.

  1. In the Overline Quantity Editor window, click the Method dropdown and select Project Property.
  2. A new Project Properties dropdown will appear. Click it and select the Project Property for which you would like to see the calculated value.
  3. Select the Unit to display – this is for display purposes and does not perform any conversion.
  4. Click OK.

What is Displayed?

Here’s a quick breakdown of what the Project Property workflow will show in overlines:

  • The Quantity column displays the value of the given Project Property.
  • Unit of Measure column displays the overline unit specified.
  • Unit Cost displays the TotalCost / overline Project Property value.

Contributes to Quantity

At its core, the workflow for selecting line items to contribute to an overline quantity has not changed. But with the introduction of the Overline Quantity Editor, users now have a quick and easy way to see a list of the line items that have been selected for contribution.

Note that ‘Contributes to Quantity’ does not appear as a selectable option in the Method dropdown by default. When one or more line items are selected for contribution to overline quantities, at that point, navigating into the Overline Quantity Editor will show ‘Contributes to Quantity’ pre-set in the Method field.

  1. In the Estimate View, click on the Row Header to select a line item, or use the CTRL or Shift keys on your keyboard to select multiple line items.
  2. Right-click on your selection and click Contributes to Qty.
  3. You will see the overline for that group will now display the sum values for the selected line items.
  4. Click on the Edit pencil icon in the Quantity overline of that group to bring up the Overline Quantity Editor.
  5. You will now see that the Method field is set to Contributes to Quantity, and a new field called Selected Items is now visible, giving users a new way to see exactly which line items are contributing to the overline quantities.