An estimate in Synergist is your internal budget for a job or phase. It captures the time, materials and purchases you expect to need, calculates your estimated costs and recommended charge, and forecasts your profit.
Estimates are not designed to be shared with clients. They should be true, honest and accurate — your real view of how long the work will take and what you should charge.
This data feeds into your capacity, costs and profit forecasts.
How to create an estimate
You can create time and material estimates at either job or phase level using the Quick estimate feature. You can also add purchase and expense estimates at phase level. This lets you estimate external costs one line at a time and nominate a preferred supplier.
How to create a job-level estimate
At the job level, the quick estimate interface lets you estimate time and materials for every phase on the job. Use this when you want to estimate across the whole job in one go.
- Find and select the job
- Click the Estimate tab
- Click Quick estimate. Enter the hours required for each charge code. The recommended charge updates automatically using either your standard rate card or client-specific rate card
- Click the Materials tab and set the number of units for each item from the predefined list. The recommended charge updates automatically
- Click Save & Close
Tip: You can use the filter options at the top if you have a large number of resources, charge codes or material types to choose from.
How to create a phase-level estimate
Use this when you want to estimate for a specific phase, or when you need to add purchase and expense estimates.
- Find and select the phase
- Click the Estimate tab
- Click Quick estimate. Enter the hours required for each charge code. The recommended charge updates automatically using either your standard rate card or client-specific rate card
- Click the Materials tab and set the number of units for each item from the predefined list. The recommended charge updates automatically
- Click Save & Close
How to estimate purchases and expenses
Available at the phase level only. This lets you estimate external costs one line at a time and nominate a preferred supplier.
- From the phase, click the Estimate tab
- Click the New button and choose either Purchase estimate or Expense estimate
- Select a supplier or expense user from the list
- Enter the estimated cost and the required mark-up (as an amount or percentage)
- If the purchase has multiple items, use the Lines tab to add individual details
- Click Save & Close
Understanding estimate totals
Once your estimates are in place, the totals section shows a summary of all estimated costs across time, materials and purchases.
- Units: total estimated hours
- Cost: total predicted cost to the company, including time, materials and purchases.
- Charge: total recommended selling price.
- Net estimated profit: charge minus all costs (time, materials and purchases)
- Gross estimated profit: charge minus purchase costs only
Tip: You can view the combined totals for all phases from the Estimate tab at the job level, and see subtotals for phases (at the job level) and stages (at the job or phase level).
Customising the estimate view
The Estimate tab displays your estimates alongside any actual costs recorded so far. You can adjust the view using the Filter button to show or hide specific detail, including:
- Phase descriptions
- Task descriptions (for two-tier jobs)
- Specific cost types
Save your preferred display as a View using the Views button, and set a default view so it applies automatically to new estimates.
Tips
- Estimate at the phase level when you need a purchase or expenses. Time and material estimates can be created at either job or phase level.
- You can switch between resources in the quick estimate interface and add estimates for each person in turn.
- If your system is configured for it, you may also see a Revisions button, which lets you save and restore previous versions of an estimate.
- Use the Time and bookings view to see time remaining and create resource bookings directly from your estimates.
- Review your estimate totals at job level to see the full picture across all phases.