Landscape estimating software is bought by a landscape contractor whose jobs mix three kinds of count: areas of sod, mulch, gravel and paving by the square foot and the cubic yard; plants by the piece and the size; and irrigation by the zone, the head and the foot of pipe. Landscape takeoff software does the areas from the drawing, landscape quoting software and landscape proposal software present the price, and irrigation estimating software counts the zones and the heads. All of them produce a material total and crew hours, and the estimate template on this site turns those into a price with waste, a loaded rate, equipment, overhead and markup.
Areas into yards and plants into pieces
Sod, seed, mulch, gravel and soil are areas from the plan multiplied by depth into cubic yards or tons, with the waste the delivery and the grade will take; pavers and edging are areas and lengths with a cut allowance; plants are pieces by species and container size at the nursery's price. Takeoff software that scales the plan does the areas; the estimator decides the depth, the waste and the plant substitutions the nursery will force.
Irrigation counts zones, heads and pipe
An irrigation estimate is the controller and the backflow as items, valves by the zone, heads by the type and count, pipe by the foot and size with fittings per head, wire by the foot, and the trenching hours by the foot in that soil. Irrigation estimating software that carries the company's own head counts per zone and hours per foot produces a number the crew can meet; a per-zone price from a forum does not.
Crew hours, equipment and the proposal
Hours come from the crew's own record of square feet or plants per day, priced at a loaded rate that carries taxes, insurance, the truck and the drive time; equipment such as the skid steer and the sod cutter is charged by the day. The proposal shows the customer the plan, the plant list, the scope and one total; the company keeps the takeoff and the hours. Pro files every estimate against the customer and the property, so the spring proposal can be repriced when the nursery's list changes.
Questions people ask about landscape estimating software
Does a small landscape company need estimating software?
A crew that installs a few designs a month can estimate from a template that carries areas, yards, plants and hours; software pays when the plans are drawn and scaling them by hand costs more than the license.
How is irrigation estimated?
By the zone: valves, heads, pipe by the foot and size, wire, the controller and backflow as items, and trenching hours by the foot, priced at the company's own rates.
What should a landscape proposal show the customer?
The plan, the plant list by species and size, the scope, the exclusions, the total and the terms; the yards, the hours and the markup stay with the estimate.