Todd Kaberline is a seasoned commercial estimator with over 40 years of experience managing large-scale projects in landscape, site development, golf course construction, and public works. He’s developed estimating software systems, trained teams across North America, and built a YouTube channel helping thousands of estimators. A former PlanSwift user and critic of legacy tools, Todd now champions STACK Takeoff & Estimating as the modern, cloud-based solution contractors need.
“STACK is a superior choice for any construction trade estimating. The training staff are the best in the industry. This software integrates with several accounting systems and API connections.”
Behold, Todd’s Top 5 Reasons for Switching to STACK Takeoff & Estimating:
1. Stability of Software
For 15 years, I have struggled with bidding using PlanSwift. Constantly running out of memory, hour-long loading of zipped PS files, and loss of data. I cannot express the stress this has caused me throughout my years of bidding using PlanSwift as an estimating software, and not just for takeoffs. STACK Takeoff & Estimating offers a cloud-based solution that has yet to stall, lose data, or cause delays in loading projects. I can quickly access and switch between my projects in STACK.
For this reason, I would not trust my construction business using PlanSwift as an estimating platform and I would definitely not use any of PlanSwift’s “Prebuilt” assemblies for estimating. Can you imagine how much money you can lose with data missing in your PS job?
2. Formulas and Variables
While I was learning STACK Takeoff & Estimating as a first-time user, I fell in love with how the formulas work within the platform. With 15 years of PlanSwift experience under my belt, I thought I had the process down. STACK has made it simple and fast to create new formulas, test them, and replicate them. Yes, you will have to learn the process, but when you get it down, building assemblies is very intuitive and powerful. I am a formula nerd, and I think STACK hit this out of the ballpark.
3. Quality of Trainers, Speed of Online Help, and Volume of Training Videos
In the process of learning STACK Takeoff & Estimating, I found that not only are the trainers TOP NOTCH, but the video library is extremely organized and useful. When compared to the chaos of trying to get help from PlanSwift, you realize that you have been robbed and left bleeding at the curb.
The chat function in STACK is amazing, and your assigned trainer/guru is quick to respond if you can’t get answers from the chat. I found this almost surreal, so I have to say this out loud! CUSTOMER SERVICE AT STACK IS AMAZING! STACK is consistently rated at the top for how they treat their employees, and I believe that reflects how the employees treat their customers.
4. STACK Takeoff & Estimating’s Item Organization and the Ease of Importing Thousands of Items
This may be my favorite part of STACK Takeoff & Estimating. Importing your bid items is fast and simple. You download a .csv file, paste your parts or items into the file (it needs to be organized properly), then submit it to STACK. In most cases, it is loaded and ready to use in your Assemblies. Your list can be 10 items or 10,000 items. I especially liked how the .csv file format will help you organize all your parts into folders in STACK. PlanSwift did not do this. The only way you could make this happen was to use a Database, but there is no dynamic connection in PlanSwift. When you changed your prices in Access, it would not change in PlanSwift. This leads me to my next reason why you should choose STACK.
5. Updating Pricing
Oh my goodness… this is amazing. For years I have had to deal with the struggle of updating pricing in PlanSwift. In PlanSwift, I had to upload the new database, then reselect the part in the PS assembly on every one of the 400-plus assemblies that I had built. This took days, and I finally gave up and started shopping every project and manually changing the price in each item in the bid.
In STACK Takeoff & Estimating, this is done with a simple download from your parts Library – change your pricing and then get it loaded back into STACK. By doing this, all your new pricing is changed in your Items and Assemblies. I would ask for a demo for your first time, because each Item in your .csv file has a unique identifier, and you do not want to delete or change that. (I made that mistake, but STACK fixed it and walked me through the process).
Ready for a Change?
If you have any questions regarding STACK Takeoff & Estimating and why I chose it, please feel free to contact me.
By Todd Kaberline, Estimating Software Consultant & STACK Referral Partner
