Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com Introduction to Version 7.6 for existing users Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/20152 Version 7.6  Over 40 new features and improvements  Most features and improvements driven completely by client requests  Due for release early 2014  Free to all customers who have current maintenance and support agreements Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/20153 This presentation covers the following 10 features & improvements 1.MY BENCHMARK Dashboard 2.Copy/paste Resources feature 3.Resource Custom Fields feature 4.Inactive Items & Resources feature 5.Improvements to the Calculator 6.Improvements to Routines 7.Improvement to Composite Items 8.Improved Project Audit feature 9.Read-only feature, and 10.Active users utility. Something for everyone in Version 7.6 Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ MY BENCHMARK Dashboard Double click on any graph segment to drill down and see the relevant Projects Configurable to each user Configure settings for each graph Expand a graph to full screen Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Copy/paste Resources slide 1 of 2 In Version 7.6, users will have more copy/paste functionality at the Resource level consisting of: 1.Copy Resources/Sub-Items within an Item in the Item Library: i.Paste them within the same Library Item ii.Paste them into a different Library Item. 2.Copy Resources/Sub-Items within an Item in a Project: i.Paste them into a different Item in the same Project ii.Paste them into an Item in a different Project. 3.Copy Resources within a Sub-Item in a Project: i.Paste them into a different Item or Sub Item in the same Project ii.Paste them into an Item or Sub Item in a different Project. Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Copy/paste Resources slide 2 of 2 Within a Project, you also have two new Paste features being: 1.Paste Special 2.Paste with Zero Quantities Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Resource Custom Fields slide 1 of 2 Resource Custom Fields allow you to create your own custom fields for Resources and populate these fields with data in your Resource Library and in your Projects. This data can be used for many purposes; for example: Advanced reporting Integration with other systems Resource Quantity calculations. Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Resource Custom Fields slide 2 of 2 2. You can decide to associate a Unit with each Custom Field. 3. You can also set up some business rules for each Custom Field you create. The icons next to each Custom Field reflect these rules. 1. When Resource Custom Fields are set up in Admin, they will appear in a new tab in the Resource Library and Project Resources window This means the Resource Custom Field is “linked” to the Resource Library In the Corporate edition this means this Custom field can be Regionalised This means the Resource Custom Field can be used in Resource Quantity calculations Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Inactive Items & Resources slide 1 of 3 Inactive Items and Resources are one of the biggest new features in V7.6.  This feature allows you to make Items or Resources inactive.  The costs of inactive Items and Resources are not included in your overall Direct Costs, however, they are retained complete with all their workings so that they can be reactivated at any time.  You may use this feature for various reasons, such as modelling different construction methodologies and then being able to choose which method you use. Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Inactive Items & Resources slide 2 of 3 Inactive Items step 1 of 2 In this example you will see how the new Inactive Items feature, used in conjunction with Composite Items, offers estimators a powerful combination. To the left there are 3 Items beneath a Composite Item. Items C.2.A and C.2.C will be made inactive. Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Inactive Items & Resources slide 2 of 3 Inactive Items step 2 of 2 The two Items are now Inactive and appear “greyed out”. The parent Composite Item is now representing the Amount/Rate of the active Item that remains. Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Inactive Items & Resources slide 3 of 3 Inactive Resources You can mark Resources as Inactive as well, offering you great flexibility regardless of how you use Benchmark Estimating Software. Reactivating Items or Resources Reactivating an inactive Resource(s) or Item(s) is easy, simply select one or more inactive Items or Resources and select: Make Item(s) Active, or Make Resource(s) Active. Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Calculation improvements New feature – this will accept the calculation and save the Resource or Item you are in, in one step. This eliminates a further mouse click and saves you time. New functions Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Improvements in Routines In V7.6 you can set up drop down fields in your Routines. This makes Routines easier to write and easier to use, and minimises the risk of data input errors meaning more accurate estimates. You can even set up a default response for each question. Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Improvements to Composite Items Composite Items (and Composite Totals) are one of the most powerful new features we have implemented in the last year. In Version 7.6 you will now be able to: Edit the quantity of a Composite Item/Total and automatically re- factor all of its member Items (& Resources) Add a Composite Item/Total from another Project and, based on the Quantity you enter, the member Items (& Resources) will be refactored. Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Improved Project Audit feature More data will be captured in the Project Audit feature in Version 7.6. The additional events that will now be logged are: 1.Project Completed 2.Project Un-Completed 3.Project Authorised 4.Project Marked as WON 5.Project marked as LOST, and 6.Changes to Resource Rates. A new Project Audit report has also been introduced. Example of Project Audit log Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Read Only feature 1.You can nominate a user to be “read-only” by default so they always log in in this mode. 2.If you are a customer with the concurrent licence system, and when your concurrent licence limit is reached, additional users that log in will also be offered an option to log in in read only mode. 3.When logged in, in read only mode, a user can: a.Navigate throughout the program in accordance with their normal permissions b.Authorise Projects if they have access to the Project and have Authorisation permissions c.Run reports and exports, however d.They will not be able to add/edit/delete any data. Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Active users utility If you ever need to see who is logged in to your Benchmark database, you will have this ability in Version 7.6. This can help when you need to perform upgrades, and is also useful in cases where a user leaves their Benchmark session open and you need to find out who it is. Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ And much more including…  New Advanced Quote Numbering system  Templates when loading spreadsheets so you can save and re-use commonly used mappings  Ability to flag Clients and Subcontractors/Suppliers as “inactive”  Export to Viewpoint V6 software  Integration with EvolutionM software  More shortcuts  More reports  More Microsoft Word merge markers  Resources not used in Routines or in the Item Library, but used in a Project, can now be deleted from the Resource Library to help you maintain your Resource Library  Improvements to many features including:  Load Spreadsheet which caters for Items with zero quantities better  Auto Allocate, Allocate and adding Items from another Project  Project Comparator, and  Cartage. Note not all features will be in all editions (Lite, Professional, Corporate). The final release notes will indicate which feature is in each edition. Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013

Benchmark Estimating – Company History benchmarkestimating.com 9/05/ Thank you… Thank you for your continued support of Benchmark Estimating Software We look forward to bringing you Version 7.6 of Benchmark Estimating Software in early Copyright Benchmark Estimating 2013