How to evaluate estimating software

1. 1. Evidence traceability

   Can every line item in an estimate be traced back to the specific photo or measurement that supports it — not just asserted in a narrative?

2. 2. Pricing provenance

   Does every unit price carry a source (catalog, your own data, manual entry) and a way to tell how confident that figure is?

3. 3. Human review

   Is there an explicit, enforced approval step before a scope becomes a priced, reportable estimate — not just a policy that can be skipped?

4. 4. Commercial calculations

   Does the platform handle commercial-specific calculations (co-insurance, business income) with documented accept/override steps?

5. 5. Export & defensibility

   Does the final output carry evidence, scope, and pricing together, or are they three separate documents assembled after the fact?

6. 6. Data isolation

   Is your organization's data isolated such that another customer's request can't even confirm it exists?

7. 7. API access

   Can your own systems read and write estimates programmatically, with scoped credentials and a versioned contract?

See the full capability matrix for every feature, status, and evidence note.