3 - Estimating
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      3. 3 - Estimating

      3.7 - Importing third party (client) bills

      In this article

      Preparing client bills for import into Chalkstring

      You can import client bill information into Chalkstring but because client bills come in lots of different formats there is some preparation that you need to do first.

      To import data into Chalkstring it needs to be in a format that Chalkstring can understand. This means that the data from your client bill needs to be transferred to the client bill import template that you can download from the assessment actions button on the assessment overview page on your assessment.

      Depending on the size of your project we have two workflows that we recommend which are covered in the sections below. The first is for projects with more than 50 zones. The second is for projects with 50 zones or less.

      Projects with more than 50 zones 

      If your project has more than 50 zones then we recommend following these steps:

      • Download the client bill import template from the Assessment actions on your Assessment Overview
      • Copy the bill reference, product names and descriptions and units of measure from your client bill into the relevant columns in the template
      • Import the client bill template to your assessment. This will create product shells for each item in the rate build-up
      • Replace these product shells with product templates from your library
      • Set up your zone structure in the bill of quantities
      • Export from the bill of quantities and add in the relevant quantities from your client bill
      • Import the populated bill of quantities

      The following video covers how to complete each of these steps.


      Importing client bill data (more than 50 zones)

      The following video (27 mins) covers the following:

      • The workflow to prepare and import the client bill and the bill of quantities (1.27)
      • How to download the client bill template (2.45)
      • How to reformat your original client bill (4.35)
      • How to populate the client bill template including top tips (8.27)
      • How to import the client bill template (9.45)
      • Understanding and updating the imported rate build-up (11.05)
      • Replacing and updating empty products (12.26)
      • Structuring your bill of quantities (14.34)
      • Adding a single zone (15.12)
      • Adding multiple zones (15.48)
      • Adding subzones (16.45)
      • Moving, cloning, editing and deleting zones (17.28)
      • Worked examples of zone structures (18.02)
      • How to add quantities to the bill of quantities (22.40)
      • Colour coding in the bill of quantities (24.32)
      • Assessment actions functions (26.23)

      Projects with 50 zones or less 

      If your project has 50 zones or less and no subzones you can import the scope, zone structure and quantities in one go. 

      This requires you to copy and paste your data into the client bill import template, entering zone names and quantities for each item in each zone. The steps involved are as follows:

      • Download the client bill import template from the Assessment actions on your Assessment Overview
      • Copy the bill reference, product names, descriptions, units of measure, zone names and quantities from your client bill into the relevant columns in the template
      • Import the client bill template to your assessment. This will create product shells for each item in the rate build-up. It will also create the zones and add the relevant quantities.
      • Replace these product shells with product templates from your library

      All of these steps are covered in the following video.

      Importing client bill data (up to 50 zones)

      The following video (20 mins) covers the following:

      • The workflow to prepare and import the client bill and the bill of quantities (1.26)
      • How to download the client bill template (2.12)
      • How to reformat your original client bill (3.51)
      • How to populate the client bill template including top tips (7.44)
      • How to import the client bill template (10.37)
      • Understanding and updating the imported rate build-up (12.03)
      • Replacing and updating empty products (13.36)
      • Colour coding in the bill of quantities (16.34)

      Test your learning

      Now that you have learned more about importing client bills, try it out for yourself. The following activity documents contain practice examples to apply what you've learned.

      Want to know more?