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4.132. How do I price electrical signage in EstiMate?

I do electrical cabinets, neon and channel letters. How do I price these in EstiMate?

Channel letters

As an example to illustrate channel letter pricing lets use the word 'DOVE' in 24 vertical inch letters.
1. Click the New Estimate icon from the main screen.
2. Click the add item button and choose linear/square items.
3. Click the book icon to the right of the select an item dropdown box to bring up the linear/square database.
4. Click the new button and enter ?channel letters? as the description.
5. Choose your supplier from the drop down box or click the book icon to add a new one.
6. Since channel letters are most often priced by the vertical inch, select linear from the first ?this item is sold in? dropdown box and choose inches from the second box.
7. Enter your unit cost in the cost per unit field. This is your cost as quoted to you by your supplier. For our illustration input $3.95 in this field.
8. Tab over to the markup field and type in the markup (%) you want. For our example input 100% as the markup value and tab to the selling price field. EstiMate will calculate the selling price automatically. Click the green check mark to save our input to the database.
9. On the linear/square items main screen choose the channel letters selection we just created from the drop down box.
10. Place the number of vertical inches for one letter in the linear inches box. In the case of our example input the number 24.
11. Put the number 4 in the quantity box as we are pricing a total of four 24inch channel letters.
12. Click the calculate total button.
13. Click the green check mark to accept the item and add it to the estimate.

In summary, we have seen how pricing channel letters is now easy and straightforward with the linear/square items line item. Now you will have a quick convenient way for pricing channel letters on a consistent basis.


Neon
Neon can also be priced effectively using linear/square items. On the linear/square items screen:

1. Click the book icon to the right of the select an item dropdown box to bring up the linear/square database.
2. Click the new button and enter ?neon? as the description.
Choose your supplier from the drop down box or click the book icon to add a new one.
3. Select linear from the first ?this item is sold in? dropdown box and choose inches from the second box.
4. Enter your unit cost in the cost per unit field. This is your cost as quoted to you by your supplier. Tab over to the markup field and type in the markup (%) you want. Tab over to the selling price field: EstiMate will calculate the selling price automatically. Click the green check mark to save our input to the database.
5. On the linear/square items main screen choose the neon selection we just created from the drop down box.
6. Place the number of linear inches of neon that will be on the finished sign in the linear inches box. Put the number 1 in the quantity box if calculating for one sign or enter additional quantities for each sign you are fabricating.
7. Click the calculate total button.
8. Click the green check mark to accept the item and add it to the estimate.
As the above instructions illustrate neon jobs are now streamlined with the use of linear/square items. You also have a database that is always available when you need to quote any sort of neon job quickly.

Electrical Cabinets

To illustrate lets do a 6 foot x 8 foot cabinet that is 6 inches deep.

1. Click the New Estimate icon from the main screen.
2. Click the add item button and choose linear/square items.
3. Click the book icon to the right of the select an item dropdown box to bring up the linear/square database.
4. Click the new button and enter ?Electrical Sign Cabinet ? 6 inches Deep? as the description.
5. Choose your supplier from the drop down box or click the book icon to add a new one.
6. Since sign cabinets are most often priced by the square foot select square from the first ?this item is sold in? dropdown box and choose feet from the second box.
Enter your unit cost in the cost per unit field. This is your cost as quoted to you by your supplier. For illustration purposes input $30.00 in this field.
7. Lets say you want the square foot price to the customer to be $50.00. Click tab twice to bring your cursor to the selling price field. Input $50.00 and press the tab key. EstiMate automatically figures the markup percentage for you.
8. Click the green check mark to accept the entry into the linear/square database.
9. On the linear/square items main screen choose the ?Electrical Sign Cabinet ? 6 Inches Deep? selection we just created from the drop down box.
10. Per our example in the height field, put in 6 to represent the height of our sample cabinet and place the number 8 in the width field to represent the cabinet?s width dimension.
11. Enter a quantity of one and click calculate total.
12. Click the green check mark to accept the item and add it to the estimate.


Note: If you are pricing the cabinet components (lamps, ballasts, etc.) separately from the box itself, then use the retail items section of the program for the components and the linear/square items for the box.