Using Landscape Estimating Software To Help Build Accurate Production Rates
Accurate production rates are the core of every reliable estimate. However, too many contractors still choose to build those rates based on inaccurate or outdated methods. Manual estimating using rough averages and spreadsheets with no real benchmarking, for instance, can lead to inconsistent or inaccurate bids, lost time, and reduced profitability. Because of this, many businesses have turned to landscape estimating software as a smarter, more cost-effective alternative.
Instead of relying on memory or old rules of thumb, landscape estimating software uses real data to standardize and streamline production rate creation. In this article, SynkedUP will break down how landscape estimating software empowers businesses to build, test, and refine production rates, and what that can mean for your business.
Why Accurate Production Rates Matter in Landscaping
A production rate is essentially a formula for how long it takes to complete a task. Let’s say as an example that a landscaping company does a job installing pavers over an area that covers 1,020 square feet, and that project takes 179.5 man-hours to install. In this case, the production rate of the job would be 5.7 square feet installed per 1 man-hour.
Sounds simple enough, right? But when companies don’t take the time or use adequate data to find accurate rates, problems can build up quickly. What if the company from the above example were to underestimate the time required to install pavers by just half an hour per crew per day? It may just be a 30 minute discrepancy, but make no mistake, that gap between the projected rate and the actual rate of production compounds quickly over the course of a job.
Inaccurate production rates lead to inconsistent estimates. Inconsistent estimates mean inaccurately estimated resources, such as labor hours or material. Without accurate numbers, it’s impossible to price jobs correctly, leading directly to lost profits. If you can’t be sure the figures you’re using for job costing are based on actual data, how can you trust that the labor hours and material quantities in your estimate are correct?
Incorrectly priced jobs can have a very real and immediate impact on your bottom line. When your production rates are off, the units of labor and materials in your estimate will be off, too. For example, a job estimated at 100 hours that really takes 250 hours to complete doesn’t just derail project timelines and disrupt crew schedules, it costs you money. Over time, even small losses from inaccurate production rates will compound, eating into profits and giving customers a worse experience with your company.
Building Rates From Scratch (The Right Way)
Obviously, using inaccurate, inconsistent production rates isn’t the right move for your business (if you want that business to be around for a while). Let’s take a look at how you can use landscape estimating software to build rates from scratch.
First, analyze the scope of the job. Break down common services into specific tasks, like sod installation, bed prep, irrigation trenching, etc. Avoid categorizing tasks using overly broad categories that hide labor variability. Next, estimate the labor hours, quantity of materials, and equipment usage required for each task. Use your best guesses from experience to start, but be sure to refine your figures with actual job data.
Then, enter the data into your landscape estimating software to create your initial rate set. Platforms like SynkedUP let users input these rates directly into services or templates, making calculations more straightforward. Once you establish production rates, you’ll be able to just plug in dimensions and measurements for the job you’re estimating. Then you can sit back and let your production rate do the hard work of calculating the correct amount of labor hours and materials.
Mistakes to Avoid
Cribbing Rates Instead of Calculating Them
It’s been said that great artists steal. Great contractors, however, don’t. Avoid the urge to copy rates from competitors or from online forums. Every company has different crews, workflows, and equipment; someone else’s rate doesn’t reflect your business. Borrowing numbers will just lead to misquotes and missed margins.
Skipping Job Tracking
Don’t neglect the step of tracking job man-hours. If you don’t measure how long jobs actually take, you won’t be able to validate your current production rates, or have visibility into your actual production rates. The hours and materials you track turn into your own valuable data that inform you when your estimating production rates need to be updated to reflect reality. Software only delivers accurate output if the inputs reflect real-world numbers.
Overcomplicating Your Rate Setup
You don’t need to start with dozens of hyper-specific rates. Start with your most common services, instead, then track, refine, and repeat. Always remember to KISS: Keep it Simple, Stupid! Introducing too many variables at once can bog down adoption, and make the process way harder than it needs to be.
What Can Landscape Estimating Software Do For You?
Refining Rates with Real Job Data
Landscape estimating software offers job costing tools and mobile tracking, so contractors can capture exactly how long each task took. This helps users build accurate rates, and also allows them to compare actual data to estimates so you can see where your existing rates may have missed the mark.
Having access to these insights will help make estimates more accurate over time – and keep them that way! For example, if you bid 8 hours for mulching 10 yards but use tracking tools to determine that it actually takes 12 hours every time, you know your existing rate is too aggressive, and should be updated for better accuracy.
Not only does landscaping software help enforce accuracy by tracking real job data, it uses that data to introduce scalability and long-term consistency into rate measurements. Tools like SynkedUP allow users to view historic averages, track overruns, visualize production trends, and flag inconsistencies for further review. By tracking, organizing, and displaying data, landscape estimating software becomes the system of record for production performance.
Leveraging Templates and Rate Libraries
Another huge boon offered by landscape estimating software? Granting users access to templates that help standardize services across job estimates. Instead of rebuilding estimates from scratch from job to job, software templates let you pull in a saved patio or planting template with built-in rates.
By spotlighting standardization, templates improve consistency and can save you and your sales team hours of setup time. They also have the added benefit of reducing mathematical errors and quoting consistencies. With built-in crew sizes, material conversions, and labor assumptions, landscape estimating software is built to handle the actual calculations, guaranteeing fewer missed items and more reliable pricing.
The efficiency and streamlining offered by templates extend to rate libraries, which create a master list of performance metrics. Instead of typing a mulch rate into 12 different services, your landscape estimating software connects all those services to the same rate in the library.
Long-Term Benefits of Using Estimating Software for Rate Management
When you set and manage production rates using landscape estimating software, you won’t just see the instant benefits of having an automatic, data-driven method for setting rates. Having the ability to consistently build quotes in minutes instead of hours saves time and reduces administrative workload, making businesses more consistent and more competitive. If you can estimate faster and more confidently, you can bid more jobs, and win more work.
Landscape management software also sets contractors up for long-term success by building a repeatable, scalable system for setting rates and estimates. When using landscape management software solutions like SynkedUP, rates become part of your company’s operating system, not just a figure in a spreadsheet or in someone’s head. As your company grows, new estimators can step in and use that system to seamlessly pick up where you left off.
Using landscape estimating software also enables smarter, data-backed business decisions. Instead of hoping your jobs are profitable, you’ll know they are, before the work even starts. Reliable, accurate rates will give you greater confidence in pricing, scheduling, and even hiring needs, setting the stage for healthier margins and better long-term planning.
SynkedUP Makes Building Production Rates Easy
Production rates aren’t just random numbers. They’re the engine behind accurate bids, efficient crews, and profitable jobs. Building these rates manually invites risk, but the right landscape estimating software allows contracts to create accurate repeatable systems grounded in real data.
That’s where SynkedUP comes in! Our landscape estimating software is tailor-made to leverage the power of data and automation to deliver accurate production rates, track time, and job cost for each job. SynkedUP’s system calculates rates instantly, allowing you to turn estimates into a speedy, painless process. And with real-time tracking and progress reports, you’ll know exactly where ongoing jobs stand at all times, helping operations stay on-task and on-budget.
At SynkedUP we’re about saving time, money and resources without sacrificing quality or accuracy. That’s why we offer new clients an easy, painless onboarding process with on-demand videos in the system that explain everything you need to know, as well as a live chat to answer any questions you might have. To learn more, schedule a demo with us today!