Paper spreadsheets and copy-paste templates made sense when margins were wide and suppliers updated price lists twice a year. In 2025, materials change before the truck leaves the yard and homeowners demand fixed-price contracts within hours of a site visit. The gap between those demands and yesterday’s tools is where projects bleed profit. Modern cost estimating software closes that gap, but only when it is built specifically for residential construction workflows. That is where CountBricks leads the industry.
• Instant material pricing pulled from live supplier feeds
• Labor allowances adjusted to real regional award rates
• Automated waste factors based on framing, roofing, and finishing best practices
• One-click conversion of estimates into client-ready quotes and invoices
CountBricks keeps every estimate, variation, and purchase order in a single data set. Trade partners access the latest figures without emailing Excel files back and forth.
Walk the site with your phone, talk through the scope—CountBricks listens, transcribes, and assigns each spoken item to the correct cost code. Timber frame walls, 7 kW solar array, engineered stone benchtop: line items appear before you finish the sentence.
Upload a PDF plan or snap photos of hand sketches. The AI detects dimensions, door and window counts, concrete volumes, and fixture schedules, then pushes them straight into the estimate.
• Direct API links to leading national and independent suppliers
• Automatic comparison of substitute products when preferred items are out of stock
• Calendar integration that turns approved estimates into task schedules and Gantt views
• 75 % faster estimate turnaround, winning more bids before competitors respond
• Average 3 % uplift in gross margin thanks to real-time material escalations
• Fewer disputes; every line item is traceable to an audio note, plan annotation, or supplier feed
1. Upload plans to CountBricks.com/takeoff
2. Conduct a voice walkthrough to capture custom inclusions
3. Review the auto-generated bill of quantities and adjust mark-ups
4. Click “Generate Quote” for a branded PDF ready for client signature
5. Upon acceptance, hit “Convert to Build” and CountBricks schedules tasks, orders materials, and issues invoices
• 12 bids submitted per estimator per week instead of 5
• Two fewer price variation disputes per project
• Administrative overhead cut by one full-time position
• Does the platform read my blueprints or do I still trace lines manually?
• How frequently are price files updated and are they tied to my preferred suppliers?
• Can I speak my estimate in the truck or do I need to be at a desktop?
• Will it create purchase orders, invoices, and schedules from the same data?
CountBricks answers yes to every one. Learn more at CountBricks.com/services.
Ready to move from spreadsheets to smart data? Book a live demo or start a 14-day trial at CountBricks.com/consultation and experience residential estimating without the guesswork.
A regional builder approached CountBricks to streamline a 22-townhome subdivision plagued by price creep. Prior estimates were assembled in Excel, updated weekly, and still missed framing lumber hikes by 11 %. Within one month of adopting CountBricks cost estimating software, the company achieved the following:
• Live timber pricing adjusted estimates daily, capturing a $62 000 increase the old system missed.
• Voice-captured onsite changes—an upgrade to matte black tapware—appeared in the quote before the client left the sales centre, closing the deal on the spot.
• Automated takeoffs reduced plan review time from three hours to twelve minutes, freeing staff to supervise site works.
• Sync your supplier accounts on day one to unlock real-time price feeds.
• Record a voice note at the end of every site visit; CountBricks tags it to the correct job and updates costs automatically.
• Use blueprint takeoff outputs to pre-fill purchase orders, saving admin double-handling.
• Review the dashboard weekly—any red variance alerts signal margin threats before they hit your P&L.
The Maple Grove team now plans to integrate CountBricks scheduling, creating a seamless flow from estimate to build program. With bank drawdowns tied to AI-verified progress claims, they expect further cash-flow improvements. Explore similar success stories at CountBricks.com/portfolio.
