Sage 100 Contractor is a construction accounting and project management software. It is intended to provide primary accounting and other management capabilities across a construction project lifecycle, including estimating, service management, and reporting.
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SmartBid
Score 8.3 out of 10
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SmartBid is a construction bid management software for general contractors. SmartBid provides a web-based and mobile platform to streamline their bid project data, documents, and subcontractor communications. It also supports user permissions control for data security.
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Pricing
Sage 100 Contractor
SmartBid
Editions & Modules
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No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Sage 100 Contractor
SmartBid
Free Trial
No
No
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
Yes
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
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As a cloud-based solution, our clients can scale their access annually depending on the number of users. Subcontractors invited to bid or prequalify in the system receive access at no cost.
Sage 100 Contractor is well suited for independent contractors (IC's) that want to learn a software that can be an end-to end solution. From estimates all the way to reporting, Sage 100 Contractor will provide the IC's with everything they need. There is however a learning curve and the person operating the software needs to be well versed in how each component operates and connects to the overall financial picture
SmartBid is also very useful for conducting sub-contracting analysis and management simulations in the didactic field. The procedures for sharing documents are helpful, but the graphic can be improved. Many forms can be pre-filled. This helps a lot in saving time and money! SmartBid is great for exporting and/or sending single or mass emails. However, as mentioned, it would be useful to simplify some pre-construction processes and improve the overall communication
Sage integrates very well with our field time tracking software called Exaktime. We import the start/end time card data that includes job costs directly to the PR module which greatly reduces the time it takes to process payroll.
Sage 100 C payroll calculations and WC/GL overhead calculations are easy to use and understand. The WC/GL overhead calculations are posted to project costs in real-time allowing for accurate total cost reporting of the project.
It's very easy to set up a job and manage who receives solicitations. You can also keep detailed notes on who've you contacted and see if they're actually downloading and reviewing the documents.
You can add a confidentiality agreement clause which they must accept before accessing the documents. It then stores this information if it ever needs to be accessed. This is much cleaner and easier then sending out a NDA form and having the subcontractor return it before actually sending drawings/docs.
You can send Invitations to Bid and set it up to continue sending these ITB's until the subcontractor responds. However, this can also be a negative point because once you set up a delayed ITB, it doesn't update as the subcontractors view and respond to the ITB's. So if a sub is "Not Responded" and you set up a delayed ITB to fire off every day for 5 days, and the sub responds after day 2, that sub will continue to receive ITB's for all 5 days.
Uploading drawings is quick and easy. It's especially convenient if you link to one of your cloud services such as Egnyte, Google Drive, etc.
The search tools are quick and easy and often very accessible from any page.
The cost of Sage 100 Contractor software is relatively inexpensive compared to some higher-priced options like Foundation and Microsoft Dynamics GP. But more importantly, the cost of implementing new software is costly. Implementation costs include testing and training. There are also risks involved with switching software such as missing data after conversion. Plus, there are always some unknown downsides to switching that are not apparent until the switch is made such as perceived capabilities that really don't exist. For these reasons, we will likely stay with Sage 100 Contractor for a long time. If we grow (say double) in size, we would consider other options.
When setup correctly, Sage 100 Contractor is a solid solution. Although the dashboards and some of the underlying functions of the software may seen dated, the information that can be derived from the software are a valuable asset for the end user (IC's). The mobile options also allow the IC's to have data access when out in the field.
If we ever have issues with Sage 100, the live chat is an awesome tool. However, most of our live chat inquiries are not because of the issues we have, but more for us to better understand how we are supposed to use the software. Sometimes we ask ourselves "what if we" and if we need guidance, the live chat will provide us with the answers or resources to figure out what we need. They always follow up to ensure the problems we encounter have been fixed. If our issue is an indicator of an upgrade that could be made, Sage 100 C offers a way to submit the idea for review and improvement of the software.
SmartBid has an excellent support team that is always at your service. Any problem I've had (when I've even had them) has been resolved almost immediately, along with tips on how to avoid them in the future. If you're looking for a program with excellent customer service, look no further than SmartBid.
I have use Sage 50, Sage 90, Peachtree Quantum, QuickBooks, Great Plains. They are all good for what they can do. Sage 100 Contractor is the best at what it does. It's a good fit.
SmartBid is used by more of the contractors that we happen to do lots of work with. It has basically the same features. However, SmartBid will let subcontractors view all the jobs a general contractor is bidding, even ones we were never invited to. So it has the potential to bring more opportunities.
