The priced estimate, and the spine of everything after it
The Bill of Quantities is where the job gets priced. It is also what your purchase orders, progress claims, variations and expenses all read from — which is why almost every question later in a job turns out to be a question about a BOQ item.
Available on the Estimator plan and above
Every item answers three questions
What is it, how much of it, and what does it cost? Quantity × price gives the item. Sum a cost centre and you have the trade. Sum the trades and you have the job.
| Part | Fields | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| What | Item Name, Description, Item Size | What you are buying or doing |
| Where | Cost centre | Which trade it belongs to |
| How much | Quantity, Unit, Wastage % | Typed, measured, or derived by formula |
| What it costs | Price, Markup, GST | From a price list, a quote, or entered directly |
A bill that responds to a change, instead of a list of numbers
Measure the slab once. Let the mesh, the membrane, the sand bed and the concrete all derive from it. Change the slab and all four follow — no hunting through the bill for what else was affected.
| Item | Formula | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Slab mesh | SlabArea * 1.05 | Slab area plus 5% laps |
| Vapour barrier | SlabArea * 1.1 | Slab area plus laps and turn-ups |
| Slab concrete | SlabArea * SlabDepth | Area × depth |
| Edge formwork | SlabPerimeter | Straight from the perimeter |
| Wall paint | WallLength * WallHeight * 2 | Both faces |
| Skirting | WallLength - DoorOpenings | Wall run less the doors |
Variables can come from a take-off field, so a measured quantity is available to every formula in the costing. Trace one corner differently and the whole slab package recalculates.
Price both, switch on the one they choose
Items can be switched on or off. A switched-off item stays in the bill — keeping its quantity, its rate, its supplier and its history — but does not count toward the total.
Carry the tiled roof and the Colorbond roof as separate items, switch on whichever the client wants, and the total follows. When they change their mind, switch it back.
A deleted item takes its rate, its supplier and its history with it. A switched-off item costs nothing and is one click from coming back.
Every view the job actually needs
The bill is one document but it has several audiences — the client, the site supervisor, the subcontractor and you. Each gets the version that makes sense to them.
- Bill of quantities, with prices or without, for one cost centre or the whole costing
- Customisable project specification for the client to review
- Provisional sums and prime cost allowances for the contract
- Supplier report per costing, for the site supervisor to call up from
- Profit and loss at item level or cost centre level
- The entire costing exported to Excel
Where a quantity comes from
There are three honest answers, and the BOQ supports all of them:
- Typed — you know the number.
- Measured — it comes from a take-off field on the drawing.
- Derived — a formula works it out from other quantities.
The second and third are what stop an estimate going stale the moment a drawing is revised.
A closer look at the BOQ
The same bill, from the angles that matter during a job.
What it connects to
Nothing in SmarteBuild is an island — that is the point of it. Bill of Quantities reads from and feeds into these.
Take-Off
Measure straight off the PDF and send quantities to the BOQ
Cost Centres & WBS
Structure a job once and reuse it on every job after it
Price Lists & Products
Your own rates, kept current, ready to drop into any estimate
Purchase Orders
Raise orders straight from the BOQ and send them without re-keying
Want the detail?
The help centre documents Bill of Quantities step by step, with worked examples — written for people using it, not for a brochure.
Start with one job and see
Try the whole thing free for 30 days. No credit card to start, and no lock-in contract.