Countfire: A year in review

2023 has proved to be a busy time for estimators and as the year draws to a close, we wanted to reflect on some of the key milestones we’ve achieved together.

Firstly, we’d like to say a big thank you to all our customers, longstanding and new, for trusting in Countfire to turn automated counts into accurate proposals in record time 💪. 

It’s amazing to see how much estimators have achieved this year using Countfire. With these numbers, just imagine how much time has been saved compared to manual counting.

At Countfire we really value the insights and feedback our customers provide. In fact, your feedback actively shapes how we evolve Countfire, allowing us to concentrate on what truly matters to you. This has been instrumental in the development of significant features and upgrades. 

Now, let’s rewind and take a look back at some key milestone feature releases in Countfire over the past year:

Adding notes to your takeoff

At the beginning of 2023, we unveiled the much-requested “Note” tab, a feature designed to improve clarity and help communicate important information in your projects. You can now seamlessly create, edit and add multiple notes to your drawings directly in Takeoff – finally bidding farewell to those scattered scribbles! 

We also added the ability to add multiple arrows and clouds to each note, which gives you even more freedom to customise your takeoffs. 

Any notes added in the app will automatically appear on the output drawings (the visual representation of all the work you’ve done on Countfire). They will also appear in a separate “Notes” tab in the downloadable Excel spreadsheet along with all your final counts, so you won’t miss anything. It makes sharing annotations or comments with clients much easier and helps to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Prelim catalogue

Next up, we added the new “Prelim catalogue” on the Dashboard, enabling you to easily handle any additional costs associated with your project. 

Not only can you organise your prelim costs by category, you can also set your markups and specify if they’re related to “Labour” or “Materials”. Countfire will also automatically apply a default markup if you don’t set one yourself. 

These prelims will be automatically included in any new estimates you create and, by default, all prelims will have a quantity of 0. To add the costs into your estimate, all you need to do is simply assign a quantity to the required prelims. 

Revamped reports page

Finally, we improved the “Reports” page, granting you unparalleled control to tailor your reports precisely to your preferences.

Now, you wield the power to customise reports by selecting specific details through filters, such as Lighting or Power. Choose and display columns based on your needs (as shown below) – it’s all about easily crafting reports that align with your requirements. 

You can also see more detailed information about your items. By default, templates in Countfire will show your information based on the item name from your takeoff with each item on one row. 

However, you also have the option to expand the products view, which will show you even more information and break down your products into individual rows for each item, making it much easier to view and manage. 

What’s next in the world of Countfire? 

The future of automated estimating is bright and we’re excited to start working on new feature releases in 2024. Our goal is to continue setting the stage for a future where using automation is the industry standard, helping estimators worldwide to work smarter, not harder. 

Check back soon to find out what we’ll be working on in Countfire in the coming months, but in the meantime, here’s to a new year filled with more counts, more estimates and ultimately; winning more work 🔥.

You can try out Countfire free for 14 days with full access to all the app’s features. See how it can help you stay ahead of the game.