Hi,
I am a contractor and looking to create an estimating database and am looking into Access. I"ve attached some screenshots and an excel file of what I'm trying to accomplish. My goals are:

  • Have a form that is broken into 8 categories (general conditions, excavation, concrete, framing, etc.) Within each category, I populate a description and unit cost which is from a table I can create storing these items.
  • Once I have all my line items, then go back in and enter the actual units
  • I then can print a detail report showing all the descriptions with units, which would be my Scope of Work
  • Then a second report that shows the summary costs by just the main categories


Sample Estimate.zipSample Estimate.zipSample Estimate.zipScope of Work (1).jpg

Before I start diving into the learning process, what would be the best software to create this with? Access? LibreBase? I would like a desktop application and not web-based.

Currently, I do this in Excel; however, I have issues with a tieing in a general database, links breaking, I can't lock the worksheet but also expand and contract, etc.

Thanks