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Costing Items

Build the detailed cost breakdown for a job, line by line, until you have a total you can put into a proposal.

Costing Items

Build the detailed cost breakdown for a job, line by line, until you have a total you can put into a proposal.

Who this is for: Builders, estimators, and subbies pricing a job. This is where the actual numbers get put together.

What Costing Items is for

Costing Items is the heart of an estimate. Every category on the job (site works, demo, frames, joinery, fit-off, the lot) lives here as its own row group. Every line item shows quantity, unit, rate, waste allowance, and total cost. Roll them up and you have the number that becomes your Total Cost Summary and your proposal.

Before you start

Costing Items lives inside an estimate. You need a project created under Projects and an estimate inside that project.

Optional but useful: Cost Codes (Setup > Cost Codes), Price Lists, and Grouped Prices. None are mandatory — you can type every line from scratch — but a library of standard codes and rates makes job two and beyond much faster.

Things worth knowing upfront

  • Costing Items is an ag-Grid table. Cells edit inline — double-click, type, Enter or Tab to commit.

  • Individual item rows don't have a trash icon. To delete a line, tick its checkbox and use the bulk Delete button.

  • Categories do have a trash icon — the orange bin at the far right of the category row.

  • Column layout, sort, filters, and pagination are remembered per estimate.

  • The document icon on a row opens Internal Item Notes — stays inside the estimate, not on the client proposal.

  • Versions let you price alternative scopes side by side (e.g. timber vs steel frame). Each version gets its own column.

How to get there

  1. Click Projects in the top header.

  2. Click Estimates in the left menu.

  3. Click the estimate row.

  4. Click Costing Items in the estimate's sub-navigation.

What you'll see

The Costing Items grid with a toolbar across the top: Add Category, Add Version, and Add Items from Template. Below that, the grid is grouped by category. Each category row has its own + Add Item button.

Default columns: Checkbox, Item Name, Cost Code, Quantity, UOM, Cost, Waste %, Cost Type, Trade Type, Rooms, and an icon row (Eye, PC, PS, E, T, document icon).

Step-by-step: building out the cost breakdown

1. Add a category

  1. Click Add Category. A panel opens on the right.

  2. Enter a Name (e.g. Demolition).

  3. Click Save.

The category appears as a row group with its own + Add Item button.

2. Add a line item

  1. Click + Add Item in the category row.

  2. Type the item name, press Tab.

  3. Move across the row editing each cell (Cost Code, Quantity, UOM, Cost, Waste %, Cost Type, Trade Type, Rooms).

  4. Press Enter or click off to commit.

Line total calculates from Quantity, Cost, and Waste %.

Tip: Double-click opens the editor, or just start typing on a selected cell. Tab right, Shift+Tab left, Enter commits.

3. Use the row icons to flag the line

Icon

What it does

Eye

Hide from the client-facing proposal. Useful for internal-only lines.

PC

Prime Cost — nominated allowance for owner-selected items (tapware, appliances).

PS

Provisional Sum — allowance for work not fully scoped yet.

E

Exclusion — lists the line as excluded.

T

Tentative — flags as not yet confirmed.

Document

Opens Internal Item Notes (private).

Reusing costing items from other projects

Save time on repeat work by pulling line items or categories in from an existing estimate:

Linking takeoffs to costing items

Measurements from Plans & Takeoffs can be linked directly to Costing Items lines, so quantities stay live:

Worked example: Brennan Street kitchen demolition

Pricing the Brennan Street Kitchen & Bathroom Renovation. Kitchen scope starts with strip-out.

  1. Click Add Category, name it Demolition, Save.

  2. Click + Add Item. Item Name: Strip out existing kitchen. Cost Code: DEMO-01. Quantity: 1. UOM: Item. Cost: $1,850. Cost Type: Labour. Trade: Demolition. Rooms: Kitchen. Line total: $1,850.

  3. Second line: Remove existing floor tiles. DEMO-02. 14.5 m². $45/m². Waste 5%. Line total: 14.5 × $45 × 1.05 = $685.13.

  4. Third line: Make good wall surfaces after cabinet removal. $950. Click the PS icon — damage behind cabinets is unknown until they're out, so flag it as a Provisional Sum.

Demolition category rolls up to $3,485.13 ex GST. Feeds through to Total Cost Summary.

Step-by-step: using it in the estimating workflow

  1. Plans & Takeoffs — quantities can be linked back to Costing Items lines (live-linked).

  2. Total Cost Summary — every category total appears here; apply markup to get sell price.

  3. Quote Descriptions — written scope sections that pair with Costing Items categories on the proposal.

  4. Produce Proposal — pulls line items (minus Eye-hidden ones), groups by category, presents to client.

Step-by-step: adding a version for an alternative scope

  1. Click Add Version. A panel opens.

  2. Fill in Version Name (e.g. "v2 - Timber frame"), Description, Version Color.

  3. Click Save.

A new version column appears. Enter different Cost and Waste figures in each version column to compare.

Tip: Use versions for genuine either/or pricing, not for general revisions. Reworked scope = new estimate.

Step-by-step: bulk actions on line items

Tick one or more row checkboxes. A bulk action toolbar appears:

Button

What it does

Copy

Copy selected lines to another estimate or category. Keeps originals.

Move

Move lines to another estimate. Unlinks takeoffs.

Delete

Delete selected lines (confirm in popup). This is how you delete a single item — no trash icon on rows.

Create Takeoffs

Generate a linked takeoff shape for each selected item.

Heads up: Move unlinks any takeoffs tied to those lines. Delete can't be undone.

Step-by-step: importing items from a template

  1. Click Add Items from Template.

  2. Choose the source: Templates tab or All Projects tab.

  3. Pick the template or estimate; select the categories and items.

  4. Click import.

Note: Imported items land as new records, not linked back to source. Edit freely.

Step-by-step: deleting a category

  1. Click the orange bin icon at the far right of the category row.

  2. Confirm in the inline popover.

Warning: Deletes every line item in the category too. No undo. To remove only selected lines, use bulk Delete.

Tips

  • Build your categories first. Sketch the list before adding lines.

  • Use Cost Codes from day one. Pays off when comparing jobs.

  • Waste % beats padding the rate. Keep rates clean.

  • Keep internal notes internal. Use the document icon, not the item name.

  • Use Eye for internal-only lines. Contingencies, markup buffers — hide from the client.

Troubleshooting

Symptom

Cause

Fix

No trash icon on a single item row.

Item rows don't have individual trash icons.

Tick the checkbox, use bulk Delete.

Cost Code / UOM / Cost Type not in dropdown.

Not added to Setup.

Setup > Cost Codes or Setup > Lists, add the entry.

Double-clicked a cell, nothing happened.

Ag-Grid occasionally drops focus.

Click somewhere neutral, then double-click again.

Column layout reset.

Grid state is per estimate; you're on a different estimate.

Rearrange once per estimate.

Line isn't showing on the proposal.

Eye icon is toggled on (hidden).

Click Eye to unhide, re-produce.

Related articles

  • Estimates — create the estimate that Costing Items lives inside.

  • Plans & Takeoffs — measure quantities off plans and feed them into Costing Items.

  • Total Cost Summary — view rolled-up totals and apply markup.

  • Setup — Cost Codes — set up the codes every line can be tagged with.

Still stuck?

Reach out through the chat bubble in the bottom right of Core Estimator and we'll give you a hand.

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