Low voltage estimating software prices security, data, audio-visual and fire alarm work from the drawings: device counts by type, cable runs measured off the plan, terminations and labor units per device, then equipment at the distributor's price with the markup and the programming hours. The integrator buying it should ask about the assembly library and whether labor units are editable, because a device priced on someone else's labor unit is a bid that loses on a hard ceiling. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, cited below, puts the median annual wage for cost estimators at $78,740 in May 2025; the free template on this site prices the takeoff total at the company's rate and markup.
Devices and runs from the plan
Cameras, readers, drops, speakers and detectors counted by type, cable runs scaled off the drawing, terminations per device; software that carries assemblies turns the count into hours and material without a second pass.
Labor units the company sets
A camera on a nine-foot ceiling and one on a thirty-foot atrium are not the same labor unit; software that lets the company set units by access is estimating software, and the template on this site prices the resulting hours at the loaded rate.
Equipment at cost, programming as hours
Head-end equipment at the distributor's quote with the markup on its own line, and programming and commissioning as hours rather than a percentage; Pro keeps the estimate with the win or loss against the markup by system type.
Questions people ask about low voltage estimating software
Is there free low voltage estimating software?
The estimate template on this site prices a job from your own takeoff, rate, overhead and markup, free and with no account, and prints the estimate. Markupbird Pro adds the rate tables, the estimates kept against customers and jobs, and the wins recorded against the markup.
What markup should the estimate carry?
Whatever covers the overhead share and leaves the profit the company needs, chosen with the margin in front of you; the template prints the margin the total carries at any markup you try.
What does a low voltage estimate count?
Drops and devices by the piece, cable by the foot with waste, terminations, racks and patch panels, the head-end equipment at cost, and the hours per drop from the company's own record.