Learn Electrical Estimating Online: Is It Worth It?

Learning electrical estimating online is worth it if you want a repeatable way to structure an estimate and price a job accurately, taught by people who estimate electrical work themselves. The Best Bid Online School for Electrical Estimating teaches exactly those two skills. It has open enrollment, and each course is shaped around what the student needs. This post covers who the school fits, what you learn, and how to decide before you commit.

Why would an electrical estimating software company run a school?

I started down this road around 1989, when our company was called 1st Choice Electrical Estimating Software, or 1CEES. Our first product was the First Choice Budget Estimator. It was made for people who weren’t well versed in electrical estimating or cost estimation but still needed an electrical price, and it let them get one with very little electrical knowledge.

That product was eventually discontinued. When it went away, we saw a real need for entry-level estimating and bidding software. We wanted it to be more than a calculator. We wanted it to be a teaching aid that helped people get better at estimating electrical projects.

So we built the 1CEES System for commercial work. We also built the 1CEES Residential Estimator, which was the start of electrical bidding software made specifically for residential electricians. Those programs taught a lot of electrical contractors a more efficient way to estimate.

As our customers grew, they asked for more complete software. That became the Best Bid product line. Best Bid started as a product line sold under the parent company, 1CEES. Over the years, the name people know us by became Best Bid Electrical Estimating Software.

The school is the same idea carried further. We teach the person, not only the program.

Best Bid Electrical Estimating Software started as a teaching tool for estimators, so the Online School for Electrical Estimating is a continuation of the company’s original purpose.

What is the Best Bid Online School for Electrical Estimating?

The Best Bid Online School for Electrical Estimating is a set of courses that teach you how to estimate electrical projects, or how to estimate them better. Enrollment is always open. The school covers two core skills:

• How to structure an estimate
• How to price a project accurately

The courses are designed around the specific needs of each student. That matters because a person starting from scratch and a person polishing a method they’ve used for years don’t need the same material.

The school is offered through three plans, each with its own page:

Current plan pricing is on the pricing page. We also offer several ways to pay, including a buy now, pay later option.

Who is the school for?

The school is for anyone who needs to put a number on electrical work. The range runs from someone with no estimating background to a seasoned electrical estimator. Because the courses are built around the student, the starting point can differ.

Electrical estimating can be learned by people at any level, and the Best Bid Online School for Electrical Estimating shapes its courses around the student’s needs.

What will I actually learn?

You learn two things first: how to structure an estimate and how to price a project accurately. Our teaching follows the way a bid comes together, and a few ideas come up again and again.

Counting and measuring from the plans. Takeoff is where an estimate starts. The quantities you pull from the drawings drive everything after them.

Letting quantities do the work. In Best Bid, you enter your quantities and the software builds the rest. We teach you to think in quantities and assemblies rather than hunting through page after page of products.

Adjusting labor honestly. Every job has its own difficulty. We teach you to change labor by percentage, a little or a lot, on the assembly it applies to, instead of a single global adjustment.

Remembering the costs that are not material and labor. More on this below. It’s where many bids lose money.

Finishing with a proposal. An estimate isn’t done until the customer can read it. We teach the proposal as the last step of the estimate, not an afterthought.

How does learning on electrical estimating software change the way you estimate?

Learning on electrical estimating software changes where mistakes can happen. Here’s the habit I see in a lot of shops, and the reason we built Best Bid the way we did.

Every time you print a full-size plan, highlight symbols, total everything by hand, then type those totals back into estimating software, you’ve created another opportunity for mistakes. We built Best Bid so those numbers only have to be entered once.

That’s why Best Bid includes built-in on-screen takeoff. You import PDF drawings and do your counting and measuring directly on your computer screen. You don’t need a third-party takeoff program, and the counts feed the estimate directly.

There’s more on this in our post on reducing bid mistakes with electrical estimating software.

Entering a quantity once, on screen, removes the retyping step where electrical estimating errors most often slip in.

What does an estimate look like from start to finish?

Here is the path a Best Bid estimate follows. It’s also roughly the order we teach it in.

1. Start the estimate. Our page on starting an estimate shows the first screens.
2. Take off your quantities. Count and measure on screen from the PDF drawings.
3. Enter the quantities. You enter quantities, then open Assembly Details to see your results.
4. Review each phase. Assembly Summaries, Man-Hours, Material Summaries, Audit Trails, and Breakdowns are all there to check your work. Warning lights flag data that wasn’t entered correctly.
5. Check the Worksheet. It shows your low quotes, labor for quotes, rough-in material, labor for rough-in material, total man-hours, and labor cost. You can add extra markup to each phase.
6. Finish on the Summary page. This is where you add profit, overhead, bonds, and engineering. The Summary shows the selling price.
7. Build the proposal. Choose what the customer sees, such as exceptions, assumptions, terms and conditions, scope, and your logo.

Seeing the full path matters for a student. You learn that each step feeds the next, and that nothing is left to memory.

What costs do estimators forget?

Estimators most often forget the indirect costs, the ones that aren’t material or direct labor. Best Bid has a place for each of them under Other Cost. We list them in class because they’re easy to skip when you’re rushing to meet a bid deadline.

Call these costs whatever you like. What matters is that they make it into the bid.

A reliable electrical estimate includes indirect costs such as permits, lifts, per diem, and supervision, not only material and labor.

How do I keep material prices and labor accurate?

You keep them accurate by deciding how prices get updated and by adjusting labor where the job demands it.

Keeping material prices current is extremely important, and it’s time-consuming. Best Bid lets you manage prices in-house, or through NetPricer or Real-Time Pricing services. We work with those two services daily. The database is also accessible, so you can change a price on the fly.

Best Bid has also announced a partnership with Esmarts’ NetPak. It gives users access to the IDEA Industry Data Warehouse, manufacturer product data, third column market prices, and tools such as searchable eCatalogs, industry calculators, and conversion tables.

For labor, you aren’t limited to picking a column. Each Assembly Summary sheet has a Labor Adjustment tab. You change the difficulty by percentage, and you do it on that assembly alone. That gives you control over the job at a fine level.

In class, we pair those two ideas. Price tells you what the material costs today. Labor difficulty tells you what this particular job asks of your crew.

What if the job changes after I’ve priced it?

Plan on it. Value engineering is common, and a good estimate can absorb change without starting over.

In Best Bid you can substitute items at any time. If you entered ½” EMT and the specifications call for ¾” minimum raceway size, you swap it with one click. You can change copper conductors to aluminum, or EMT to MC.

We also teach Custom Assemblies. You open the database, check the items you need, enter them into the estimate, and save the group for future jobs. The database is unlimited, so you can build assemblies for things like:

• Grounding and grounding loops
• Stands for hanging transformers
• Controls cabinets
• Elevators
• Swimming pools
• Seismic material

An estimate built from saved, adjustable assemblies can be revised in minutes, so a spec change doesn’t mean starting the bid over.

Is learning online better than learning on the job?

Learning on the job teaches you the jobs you happen to get. Learning in a school teaches a method you can carry to any job. They work best together, and here are the questions I’d ask yourself before enrolling:

That fourth row is worth a closer look. Many electrical bidding programs were produced by computer programmers with no hands-on electrical experience. Most had never estimated an electrical project in their lives.

Our team did, and does. That’s who builds the software and who teaches the school.

Can I try Best Bid before I commit?

Yes. Two options require no commitment:

• A free electrical estimating consultation
• A walkthrough through a quick screen share

It’s hard to understand what Best Bid does without seeing it, so we do a screen share. There’s no high-pressure sales pitch. The goal is to answer your questions and show you what sets us apart.

You can also browse the help library, watch tutorials on our videos page or YouTube channel, and read the free electrical estimating help page. For questions, call 800-941-7028 or use the contact page.

What if I don’t have time to estimate at all?

Then hand it off. When you run out of time, don’t pass up the next project. We do freelance estimating and drafting for other companies. Many students and customers use both: the school to build their own skills, and freelance help when the bid deadline is tighter than the workload.

We also offer Accura CADD PDF Draw, a tool for creating and modifying PDF drawings with precision, and Panel Scheduler, simple software for making a professional panel schedule. Both come up alongside estimating once you start producing complete bid packages.

How do I get started this week?

Here’s a plain, step-by-step way to begin.

1. Decide who is learning. One person, or a team? That points you to the Basic Plan or the Company Plan.
2. Visit the plan pages. Read the Basic, Company, and Master Estimating Certificate pages.
3. Book a consultation. Use the free consultation to tell us what you want to improve.
4. See the software. Schedule a screen-share walkthrough of Best Bid.
5. Enroll. Enrollment is always open, so you don’t have to wait for a start date.
6. Estimate a real bid. Apply the method to a live project as soon as you can.

Key Takeaways

• The Best Bid Online School for Electrical Estimating teaches how to structure estimates and price projects accurately.
• Enrollment is always open, and courses are built around each student’s needs.
• The Company Plan lets estimators and project managers attend together.
• Entering takeoff quantities once, on screen, removes the retyping step where mistakes slip in.
• Indirect costs such as permits, lifts, per diem, and supervision belong in every bid.
• Best Bid Electrical Estimating Software began as a teaching tool, so the school is part of the company’s original purpose.

FAQ

• Who is the Best Bid Online School for Electrical Estimating for?
  It’s for anyone who needs to estimate electrical work, from beginners to seasoned electrical estimators. Courses are designed around the student’s needs.
  

• Can a whole team take the course?
  Yes. The Company Plan lets project managers and estimators attend school together
  

• Is there a way to see the software before I enroll?
  Yes. You can book a free consultation or a quick screen-share walkthrough, with no high-pressure sales pitch.
  

• What does the Best Bid software include?
  Every Best Bid product comes with an unlimited license, free technical support, lifetime software updates, and a one-time fee, so you own the software.
  

• What sizes of jobs is Best Bid built for?
  Best Bid Hybrid Pro and Best Bid Next Generation are built to estimate electrical projects of all sizes, whether your jobs are $10,000 or $10,000,000.

About the Author

Steve Griffin is the designer and trainer at Best Bid Electrical Estimating Software, based in Marathon, Florida. The company began around 1989 as 1st Choice Electrical Estimating Software (1CEES) and now sells the Best Bid product line, including Best Bid Next Generation, Accura CADD PDF Draw, and Panel Scheduler. It also runs the Best Bid Online School for Electrical Estimating and offers freelance estimating and drafting.

Find Steve on LinkedIn, watch on YouTube, or follow on Facebook. The website is bestbidestimating.com. Call 800-941-7028.