There are three ways you can round Containers on the Materials Tab:

1. You can use the Round all to Nearest Container command to adjust all Materials displayed on the Materials Tab to the closest whole container for each by adjusting the Waste factor. "Rounding to nearest Container" can be helpful in estimating the true cost of materials in a job (it is unlikely that a vendor would ship half a case of nails, for example).
2. You can use the Round all Containers Up to the next whole Container. This adjusts an Item's Waste Factor.
3. You can use the Round all Containers Down to the next whole Container. This adjusts an Item's Waste Factor, however, if an Item's Waste Factor is "0" or would have to be set to less than "0", the Item is left as-is and the Container Quantity is not rounded.

When you Filter the list to specific Areas and round up quantities on each floor and use Rounding, like Materials/Sizes/Styles are all set to the same Waste Factor. There is only one Waste Factor for any given Size or Style for an Item, throughout the Bid.

If your Bid Preferences (on the Cover Sheet) are set to 'Apply Labor to Waste', rounding Materials affects Labor expenses in addition to Material costs. This option can be turned on/off at any time.

Rounding to Nearest Container

When you select "Round to Nearest Container", Units (and Waste Factor) may be rounded up or down. If Quick Bid can adjust a material's Waste Factor to a number greater than zero (0) and round the number of containers needed down, the program will reduce the number of containers and the waste factor accordingly (waste factor can never be set to less than zero, of course). However, if setting a material's waste factor to "0" does not produce a whole number for containers, Quick Bid rounds the number of containers needed and Waste Factor up.

For example, let us say a Bid calls for 6.3 cartons of something with a waste factor of 10%. The number of cartons can be reduced to 6 by adjusting the waste factor to about 4.7%. However, if the Waste Factor was 2%, the program can only round the number of Containers and the Waste Factor up because the only way to round down would produce a negative Waste Factor.

Rounding up or down changes the Bids' selling price because units (the amount of Material you will need to order) and associated costs are being changed. If a Bid is locked into a contract price, the estimator can still round up quantities before they buyout the job, however, the selling price will be affected by the changes. After you've made changes to the selling price, you can return to the Markups Tab and reset the selling price to the contract value, see the Related article for more information on making adjustments to Markups, Labor Production and Indirect Expenses. (Profit percentage will be adjusted to meet the defined Selling price. If the Selling Price cannot be set to the Contract Price by setting Profit to "0", Quick Bid updates the Selling price to the lowest possible, with Profit to "0".)

Reminder: Waste Factor is an Item/Size-Style value. Even if you've filtered the list to a particular Bid Area, when you use Rounding, the Waste Factor for the selected Size or Style is being adjusted - this will affect other Bid Areas where this Item is used.

Refreshing a Bid's Material Pricing from Master Data

Using eQuotes To Request and Manage Material Pricing