A shared license pool allows one set of licenses to be shared among all users tying into a particular server, even if they are using different Resources/Estimate databases.

Permissions assignable to user groups allows control over creation, modification and deletion of estimates.

The audit trail capabilities within BID2WIN allow you to review a detailed history of changes made within each estimate. BID2WIN tracks the date and time when components are added to or deleted from an estimate, and records the name of the user who made the changes. When values such as unit costs or production rates are modified—either at the component level or via global edits— BID2WIN records the previous values, creating a detailed event log for each portion of your estimate.

Permissions assignable to user groups allows control over creation, modification and deletion of information throughout resources. This gives the administrator fine-grained control over which users may modify information.

Attaching files directly to your estimate means that important documents – such as project specifications, blueprints, or jobsite photos – are always at your fingertips.

You have the ability to restore recently deleted data such as estimate items, tasks or even entire estimates.

BID2WIN allows you to create one or more rules which alter the appearance of specific rows on the Item Listing or Item Pricing tabs based on criteria that you specify on a per-rule basis. For example, you might want BID2WIN to do one or more of the following:

• Use a special background color for items with a specific work type.
• Use bold font for items without an assigned subcontractor.
• Use red font for items having a markup percent of less than 3%

Each user account may be tagged with a Windows domain account, allowing automatic user authentication without users seeing a login screen at program startup. This prevents users from having to remember yet another user name and password, while preventing unauthorized users from accessing the estimating system.

Microsoft SQL Server’s online back up functionality allows a system administrator to backup the BID2WIN databases even when estimators are using the application.

The installation program automatically installs and configures Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition if configuring a server for five users or less, preventing you from having to purchase Microsoft SQL Server for smaller installations.

BID2WIN displays the last eight estimates you’ve opened on the Home Page, as well as the File menu. This allows you quick access to the recent estimates you’ve opened in a way that’s familiar to all Microsoft Office users.

User interface settings—such as dialog size and location, decimal place settings, etc.—are stored with each user account on the BID2WIN server. This allows these settings to "roam" with the user, regardless of which computer they use to log on.

BID2WIN was designed from the ground up to take advantage of the very latest development tools from Microsoft—.NET and SQL Server. This gives you the very best in performance, functionality and scalability.

The Open Estimate Dialog lists all estimates in your BID2WIN database. Filter by Estimator, Estimate Status, Primary Customer and Estimate Type.

Unlimited private and public Item Databases support building cost structures right in each item, termed an "item template." When you pull the item into an estimate, the entire cost structure is pulled in with it.

Save estimate items, tasks, or crews back to the Resources area for use in future estimates. Or, if you prefer, you may even choose to save your estimate items as task templates in Resources.

Labor and equipment rate classes allow you to store unlimited rate tables for your labor types and equipment types.

Customer, subcontractor, vendor and engineer/architect lists allow you to manage addresses for the companies you deal with.

BID2WIN provides over 90 pre-packaged lists of DOT items that seamlessly integrate with the program, at no additional charge.

Cost group functionality allows users to group like items and tasks, and then utilize a similar cost structure for all of them. This functionality adds even more flexibility and works with the way estimators really think about job costing; in the end saving time and money.

The Work Rules feature allows you to configure, name and store multiple combinations of production hours, equipment hours and labor hours per day. Labor hours per day is broken down into regular, overtime and double time. These work rules may be assigned to the crew template, and overridden for individual labor and equipment in the crew template.

A "Calculated" cost method allows you to calculate the cost of an indirect item based upon direct cost categories. You can then classify the result as a specific category, such as Equipment Owned, Labor Base, etc.

Perform powerful analysis on subcontractor and vendor quotes with BID2WIN’s integrated RFQ Management system. Automatically fax or e-mail RFQs to subcontractors and vendors, then perform powerful analysis on submitted quotes. Select the lowest bidder—or split RFQ groups among multiple bidders—to get to the lowest possible package price.

The Add Components dialog allows you to preview the structure of a crew template or task template before it is added to an estimate.

Drag and drop items and cost components within the tree view to move, reorder and copy.

BID2WIN allows you to enter unlimited notes on any part of your estimate—item, task, crew, material, etc. Each note is tagged with the initials of who entered it, along with the time and date.

Enter an unlimited number of minority participation requirements. BID2WIN tracks all subcontractor participation to allow you to track actual minority costs against goals.

Establish an indirect cost total for the estimate, using either individual indirect items or percentages. Distribute the indirect cost into pay items in a manner specified by you.

Group items by work type, alternate, or phase on both the spreadsheet view and detail view of the estimate. Each group shows rolled-up totals for the items it contains.

Filter items within estimates by alternate, cost method, flagged, lock type, phase, suppressed, with notes, work type, zero quantity, zero unit cost and zero unit bid price.

Globally edit equipment, labor, crews, and materials at estimate, item group, item and task level.

Load Microsoft Excel workbooks directly into BID2WIN and link values from the Excel workbooks into your estimate. This allows the use of customized calculations specific to your company.

Combine labor and equipment to create reusable templates for use when building estimates. Select from many different production methods, including units per hour, hours per unit, etc.

Flexible overtime and double time configuration options allow BID2WIN to calculate labor costs for you the way that you need.

Enter both bid quantities and takeoff quantities and track over/under amounts using the Bid Versus Takeoff summary.

Equipment may be classified as owned or rented. Cost summaries reflect separate totals for each.

BID2WIN supports multiple cost methods for items and tasks, to allow you to use the right level of detail. Plug allows you to plug a unit or total cost. Subcontracted allows plugging a unit or total cost, or soliciting quotes from subcontractors. Quick allows entry of unit or total costs for individual cost categories. Detail allows addition of cost components, including crews, materials, labor, equipment, trucking, or even other tasks, to break down the cost detail.

Enter percentages to calculate indirect cost, overhead, or profit based on direct cost on a per-phase, per-alternate, or per-work type basis. This allows you to use a different set of percentages for the direct cost in pay items classified with a specific phase, alternate, or work type.

Define an overall distribution strategy for indirect cost, but then override the default distribution settings on a per-indirect item basis. This allows you to customize the distribution of specific indirect items.

BID2WIN supports creation and management of multiple bond tables, including a default bond table for new estimates.

A special type of price lock allows you to have BID2WIN calculate the price of a pay item as a percentage of the total bid price. This is helpful for allowance items that may not exceed a certain percentage of the price.

The Bid Pricing Strategy tab allows you to model the bid. A real-time pricing summary is displayed, allowing you to make modifications to markup percentages, bond table configuration and bid-level taxes, and instantly see the impact of the change.

Link Total Indirect Cost, Total Overhead, or Total Profit to an Excel workbook cell. This allows you to create customized or proprietary calculation schemes for these bid-level values.

More than 130 columns are available in the item pricing spreadsheet view. This view is completely customizable by you, allowing you to show, hide, resize and reorder the columns.

BID2WIN allows you to enter comments for each item during the bid closing process. The comments dialog includes a full history, including the estimator’s initials, date and time each comment was entered.

BID2WIN now allows you to utilize many common varieties of advanced text formatting—including bullets, underlines, boldface, and italics—on your bid forms and requests for quotes. This gives you a great deal more flexibility in creating payment terms, bid form notes, subcontractor RFQ notes and vendor RFQ notes with a professional appearance.

Reports can be printed for the entire estimate, an item group, specific item, or a single task.

The Print dialog supports sending a report directly to the printer without previewing it first.

Import a graphic for use as the header for reports from any of the following formats: BMP, EMF, GIF, JPG, PNG, TIF, or WMF. This allows you to create a custom graphic, including your company logo, and information for printing on all reports.

BID2WIN creates new standard reports based on customer demand. Download new standard reports directly from the BID2WIN support site and add them to your system.

Import and export pay items from and to Microsoft Excel.

BID2WIN supports exporting detailed cost estimate information to project management and accounting systems such as Microsoft Project, Primavera, Viewpoint, Cheetah, Timberline, Dexter & Chaney and many more.

The MPX export format, used for exporting an estimate to scheduling software such as Microsoft Project and Primavera, includes base calendars that represent BID2WIN work rules. These calendars are assigned to each labor component and equipment component that is exported.

1. Where supported.