Best Electrical Estimating Guides

A generic spreadsheet markup or a scribbled ticket is the fastest way to surrender your profit margin on an active job. When unexpected conduit...

Renting your estimating software is a hidden tax that quietly drains your hard-earned profit margins every single month. In an industry where the...

How much of your profit is being siphoned off by software companies that force you to "rent" the tools you need to bid? By late 2026, the...

Why does your bank account often look empty even when your crew hits every estimated labor hour on the job? It's a common, painful reality for...

— POST 10 — Why Good Electrical Estimators Still Matter in an AI World I have watched a lot of changes in electrical estimating during my career. I started when estimates were created with pencils, paper, and a calculator. Today we have powerful computers, digital takeoff, databases, and now artificial intelligence. Every time a new technology arrives, someone asks the same question: "Will this replace the estimator?" I heard that question when computers entered the estimating world. I heard it when estimating software became more powerful. I hear it today with AI. My answer has always been the same. Technology does not replace great estimators. It makes great estimators more valuable. The difference is understanding what technology can do and what still requires experience. Estimating Has Never Been Just About...

Why are you still paying "rent" on the tools you use to build your business? For most contractors, the cycle of monthly subscriptions feels...

Everybody Has A First · Chapter 8 One of the biggest lessons I share in my book, Everybody Has A First is that some of the most important changes in my career started with something that seemed simple at the time. For me, assemblies were one of those turning points. Learning about assemblies was one thing. Learning how to actually use them was another. When I first discovered assemblies, I thought I had simply found a faster way to put an estimate together. I didn't realize I was about to change the way I looked at electrical work. Once I started using assemblies in my Electrical Estimating, I had to rethink the way I counted, organized estimates, and visualized a project before the first electrician ever stepped onto the jobsite....

Electrical Estimating Assemblies: The Ultimate Balancing Act Between Speed and Accuracy | Steve Griffin Home› Blog› Electrical Estimating Assemblies: The Ultimate Balancing Act Between Speed and A Estimating Philosophy  ·  Series Part 8 of 30 Electrical Estimating Assemblies: The Ultimate Balancing Act Between Speed and Accuracy Assemblies are the most powerful tool in electrical estimating — and the most misunderstood. Steve Griffin explains how to build and use them to win more profitable work. By Steve Griffin  ·  Founder, Best Bid Electrical Estimating Software  ·  July 23, 2026  ·  8 min read 📖 Part of the Complete Series This article is Series Part 8 of 30 in The Art of Balance in Electrical Estimating Software — the complete 30-section philosophy guide by Steve Griffin. Read all sections in one place....

If you're re-typing the same numbers into two or three places, missing labor adjustments on every job, or spending more time formatting a proposal than estimating the actual work, a spreadsheet has stopped helping you and started slowing you down. Professional electrical estimating software like Best Bid is built to take over exactly those tasks. Here are five clear signs it's time to make the switch and what actually changes when you do. How Best Bid Electrical Estimating Software Came to Be Best Bid Electrical Estimating Software didn't start out as Best Bid. The company began life as 1st Choice Electrical Estimating Software, also known as 1CEES, founded around 1989. The first product was the First Choice Budget Estimator, a simple tool designed to help people who weren't deeply versed...

If you're still relying on a "gut feeling" or an overworked in-house team to price your bids, you're likely leaving thousands of dollars on...

How much of your hard-earned profit is siphoned off every single month just to keep your estimating tools running? If you feel like you're renting...

Did you know that electrical contractors using dedicated estimating software now see a bid-to-win ratio of up to 40 percent, while those stuck with...

How much profit did you leave on the table last year because of a missed conduit run or an outdated pricing sheet? It's a frustrating reality for...

Why are you still paying "rent" on the tools you use to build your business? The industrial bidding landscape of 2026 is more complex than...

— POST 8 — The Two AI Auto-Count Models Every Electrical Estimator Should Know I have spent a lot of time testing AI auto-count software. Not reading about it. Not watching demonstrations. Actually testing it on real electrical drawings. One of the most common questions I hear from contractors is this: "Why did the software miss items on my drawings? I can see them clearly on my screen." That question is understandable. When a person looks at a drawing, an experienced estimator immediately recognizes patterns. We know what a receptacle looks like, what a lighting symbol represents, and what information is important. Software does not have years of field experience. It has to interpret what it sees. AI auto-count has improved tremendously. There is no question about that. The technology...