Sign Estimating

[Modern Ink Signs]

SoftwareEstiMate vs Cyrious vs Other

So what do you think of these programs IF you've used both?

We currently use EstiMate and have only briefly looked at the Cyrious product.

 

[wildside]

you are going to get responses all over the board....

if you are talking you want response from people that have actually used them, well than here is my insight

cyrious is our program, it tracks everything we want it to, has built in marketing and reminders, once it is set-up correctly and working, the price tag is non existant

EstiMate - hated it from the beginning, don't like the userface, don't like the input, don't like the results, and very limited capabilities

GraphixCalc - great for beginners or low budget(sorry chris), it works much better than estimate and gets the job done, however limited in its abilities, although have heard it is being updated with new and improved stuff

Excel spread sheets - excellent cost control, but very time consuming, and really not practical for high volume estimating, but is great to make sure every nickel and dime is accounted for

The biggest thing to look for is features of the software, will it do what you want, what you need, what you forsee in the future for needs, can it expand with your company, never base the buy of it on price, it amazes me the people that will spend thousands on all software, but cheap out on the software that handles your money......

thats just my buck fitty on the question

 

[RJ California]

We switched to Activity last week. I have not made it operational yet but so far I like what I see. It is very adaptable and expandable. I can tell you that the customer service has been fantastic during the setup phase. I am really looking forward to using it.

I've used Estimate for several years and I actually just upgraded to their 2.0 program a few months ago. My main complaint against Estimate is the fact that invoices have to be exported to QuickBooks for tracking.

 

[Rodan68]

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The problem I had with Cyrious was that it has a large learning curve. I’m pretty good at using programs but this one wasn’t as intuitive as I thought it was going to be. The pricing modules are good but you pretty much have to input the formulas that make up the estimate. You have to take in account all the “parts” that make up the job and mark them up as you want them. If you don’t know what to mark the “parts” up or exactly how much of each “part” you are using then the estimating gets confusing. Especially how much to charge for equipment and labor. I ended up just using a price per sq. ft and made sure I was making a profit. In Estimate you input a labor hourly charge and answer a few pricing questions and that’s it. You don’t really know the formula for their prices but the quotes are pretty good. If you think a job is going to take longer or is more difficult you can adjust a slider or input an upcharge.
In Cyrious I also didn’t like having a different pricing module for each material I print on. I needed one for every different type of banner material, vinyl, paper, etc. Although they are basically the same I thought it was cumbersome to search through a long list everytime I needed to make an estimate. Estimate on the other hand has one module for wide format printing with a drop down for different materials. Easier to use.
Lastly, Cyrious support is really expensive. After the initial 6 mos. grace period, support cost over $1000 per year. This is after I paid $2800 for the program. Now that my support has expired I have to pay for every tech call ( I can understand that) but I also can’t upgrade within the same version number and I don’t have access anymore to their website where they keep their tutorials. I think that’s pretty lame.
If you’re a large company, have many users and are willing to put a lot of time and money into your estimating I guess Cyrious is OK. Otherwise I think Estimate is plenty good for most smaller shops. It’s also nicer to look at.