[David Cutler]

Interesting to know that there is a function in Adobe Pro that allows you to pull the data in.

A couple of follow up questions about your current process:

1. What is the name of the function in Adobe Pro?

2. Does the functionality read/match the bid form or do you have to ensure that the data is in the correct order in your Excel file?

3. Is the bid form consistent with regards to the location of the fields that you need to fill? Is the item description limited to 2 lines or do they sometimes stretch to 3 lines?

4. For large bids are pages 2, 3, 4 etc. consistent with regards to the number of items on each page?

As with most estimating tasks the time you invest in the begging to set up your estimate format greatly reduces bid day stress. You might be able to use a procedure similar to what I outlined above to set your “initial” bid at bid time – 60 minutes and then make the final adjustments on the items that have last minute changes with simple text boxes with white backgrounds that sit on top of the original numbers. As a final check have your total locations setup with text boxes ready to be entered at the time you close your bid.

One word of caution – ensure that you flatten your bid document before you submit it. This should eliminate the risk of someone accidently moving some of your data after you have submitted it.

Bonus thought – for your last minute changes you could create a custom tool with two text boxes pre-sized and formatted to drop in to post your final adjustments.

Interested to see what others recommend…