Is Per Square Bidding Costing You Money? - RoofSnap

Using RoofSnap MAX technology can save time, money and improve accuracy.

“Per Square bidding is costing you money,” says Jesse Whittington, CEO of RoofSnap. “Low bids lead to many jobs but with low profits and high bids lead to lost opportunities. Creating the most accurate bid possible on every project creates the win-win; lots of jobs sold at good margins.”

Every item that has a cost should have a price associated with it says Whittington. Roofing contractors tell RoofSnap that they just want to keep the estimating process simple but want to make more money per job too. Using RoofSnap for estimating can give contractors the best of both worlds.

The estimating functionality of RoofSnap is simple but allows the salesman to price the job based on all of the parts and pieces that go into installing a new roof, ensuring the most accurate bid.

According to Whittington, estimating software like RoofSnap makes it difficult to overlook commonly missed items. Behind the scenes, RoofSnap is calculating roof measurements and using those measurements to calculate quantities for each material item required to build the roof system while taking into account your specifications and your labor and material costs.

Hip & Ridge Cap – on steep roofs, hip/ridge cap is the biggest and costliest variable that is often overlooked. Whittington provided the following example of how underestimating hip and ridge cap can adversely affect the bottom line.

Roof #1: 25 squares of shingles @ $150/sq cost = $3,750 50ft of standard hip/ridge @ $2/ft cost = $100 Total Cost: $3,850 Bid at $225/sq = $5,625 Gross Profit Margin: 31.6%

Roof #2: 25 squares of shingles @ $150/sq cost = $3,750 300ft of standard hip/ridge @ $2/ft cost = $600 Total Cost: $4,350 Bid at $225/sq = $5,625 Gross Profit Margin: 22.7%

Starter – while this is typically such a low cost for asphalt roofs, it can still shift your bottom line in the wrong direction, especially on other roof types such as cedar shake or specialty asphalt. It is always best to use purpose-built starter as opposed to a 3-tab field shingle because they typically cover more area per bundle and end up being cheaper in the long run.

Ice & Water Shield – Whittington says this is one that often sneaks up on contractors. If Ice & Water Shield is a code requirement at the eaves, then a hip roof is going to require much more Ice & Water Shield than a gable roof. Price per square does not account for it.

Whittington urges contractors to consider removing price per square from their company culture altogether. Contractors should encourage their sales team to focus on profit margins instead of focusing on price per square.

To learn more about RoofSnap MAX and how technology can help your bottom line, visit www.roofsnap.com.