Skip to main content
Skip to content
OneBook Plus InvoicingOneBook Plus QuotesOneBook Job ManagementOneBook Plus BookingOneBook Plus CRMOneBook Plus FinanceOneBook Plus MarketingOneBook Plus DashboardOneBook AI CompanionOneBook AI ReceptionistAll Features

Apps & Marketplace

App MarketplaceApp BundlesIntegrations

Popular Apps

Point of SaleRostering & PayrollAI ReceptionistStaff App

Developers

Developer PlatformAPI Reference
Browse all 88 industries

By business size

Sole traderJust you, one phone, no bookkeeperSmall team2 to 10 people, one officeMulti-locationBranches with their own numbersLarger or franchisePast our biggest published planSolutions by business size

Compare

vs Xerovs MYOBvs QuickBooksvs ServiceM8vs Tradifyvs MeMatevs FreshaAI receptionist roundup
View all comparisons
Pricing
Resource libraryFounder guides, calculators & references across 14 industriesFAQPricing, GST, migration and what we do not do yetGuides & researchAU small-business research, guides & tax tipsHelp CentreHow-to articles for every OneBookPlus moduleVideosShort how-to videos, filmed in the appFree ToolsCalculators & generators: free, no signupGlossaryPlain-English business, tax & accounting termsChangelogEvery release, as it shipsAsk Plus (AI)Ask a product question, get an instant answer

Popular Free Tools

Tax Refund CalculatorIncome Tax CalculatorGST CalculatorSalary CalculatorABN LookupSuperannuation CalculatorInvoice GeneratorView all tools
About usOur story & why we built OneBookPlusThe founderWho's behind OneBookPlusCustomersHow Australian businesses run on OneBookPlusReviewsEvery Google, Trustpilot, G2 & App Store review, uneditedRoadmapWhat we're building nextSecurity & TrustHow your business data is protectedSystem StatusService availability & incident logPartnersPartner with OneBookPlusContactTalk to a human
Try a live demo, it's freeBook a DemoSign InStart free

OneBookPlusConstruction Estimating

Build a builder's estimate in minutes, priced from your own costs

Describe or speak the job and a sectioned estimate streams in, priced from your own recent supplier bills, with AI estimating included, not a paid add-on.

Start freeSee the live demo

Replaces Buildxact estimating, Databuild, Cubit, Excel

The tour

Construction Estimating, screen by screen

Describe the job and the estimate streams in.

Type or dictate what you are building and a sectioned estimate arrives line by line. It is a first draft you edit and approve, not a quote anyone sees.

  • Sectioned estimate from a description
  • Every line editable before anything is sent
  • Dictate it on site

Priced from what you actually paid.

Each line is costed from your own catalogue and calibrated to your recent supplier bills, not a national price book. Load rates by CSV once and update them in one place.

  • Cost catalogue with CSV import
  • Rates calibrated to your paid bills
  • Recipes and assemblies, so one quantity explodes into its components

Markup on the line, margin on the whole.

Set a markup on every line, then set the estimate in markup or true margin and flip between the two. Apply a 25% margin and see the sell price that returns it.

  • Markup per line
  • Markup or margin on the whole estimate, one toggle
  • Prime cost and provisional sum allowances, and wastage on materials

A second pair of eyes before it goes out.

The AI reviewer reads the estimate and flags what a good QS would: missing trades or items, pricing outliers and compliance gaps. Add a suggestion with one tap or ignore it.

  • Missing trades and items flagged
  • Pricing outliers flagged
  • One tap to add a suggestion

Estimate to quote to contract, nothing re-keyed.

The finished estimate becomes a branded quote your client accepts online, and the accepted quote becomes a contract job with its schedule of values ready for progress claims.

  • Branded quote from the estimate
  • Accepted online by the client
  • Contract job with a schedule of values
Everything included in Construction Estimating

  • Describe or speak the job

    Type or dictate what you're building: 'single-storey extension, 48m² slab, timber frame, two bathrooms': and a sectioned estimate streams in line by line. It's a first draft you edit and approve, not a fixed quote sent to anyone.

  • Priced from your own costs

    Every line is costed from your cost catalogue and calibrated to what you actually paid suppliers recently, using your own paid bills: not a generic national price book. Your last real Reece or Bunnings invoice is a truer number than a list price, and the estimate uses it.

  • Cost catalogue with CSV import

    Load your materials and labour rates by CSV and keep them as your single source of cost. Import once, price every estimate from it, and update rates in one place.

  • Recipes and assemblies

    Save assemblies like a stud wall per lineal metre or a slab per m²: materials plus labour bundled: so one quantity explodes into every component. Build the recipe once and reuse it on every job.

  • Markup AND margin

    Set a markup percentage on every line, then set the whole estimate in either markup or true margin and flip between the two with one toggle. Buildxact is markup-only and builders regularly complain about it: apply a 25% margin and see the sell price that actually returns it.

  • PC and PS allowances plus wastage

    Add prime-cost and provisional-sum allowances for undecided items, and set wastage percentages on materials, so the estimate reflects how a real build is priced: not a tidy fiction.

  • AI estimate reviewer

    An AI reviewer reads the estimate and flags what a good QS would: missing trades or items, pricing outliers, and AU compliance gaps. Anything it finds, you can add to the estimate with one tap: or ignore. It suggests; you decide.

  • AI assembly assistant

    Ask the AI to build an assembly from a plain-English description and it drafts the component list for you to check and save. A faster way to grow your recipe library without spreadsheet grunt work.

  • Estimate to quote to contract

    Turn the finished estimate into a branded quote your client accepts online, then convert the accepted quote into a contract job with its schedule of values ready for progress claims: no re-keying between steps.

Where this sits in the job

  1. A sent quote, QTE-2024-0011 for Ethan Nguyen: the total with GST, four plumbing lines with quantity, unit price, GST and amount, the details panel, and the Resend, Accept and Create Job actions.

    Quote

    Quote
  2. The dispatch board for OneBookPlus Plumbing, 7 to 11 September: an Unassigned lane, the Office lane with four jobs and the flag Two jobs at once on a 3:00 pm clash, and Sam's lane with two jobs and a 1h 30m gap between them.

    Schedule

    Schedule
  3. A sent invoice raised from a finished job, INV-2025-0019 for Sam Parker: the Get paid online and Add bank details prompts, the amount due of $1,006.50 with subtotal, GST, total and amount paid, the details panel, and the Email, Mark Paid and Email invoice actions.

    Invoice

    Invoice
  4. Payments for OneBookPlus Plumbing: $350 received this month, $6,939.90 outstanding and $5,933.40 overdue, the aged buckets for 0 to 30, 31 to 60 and 60 plus days, and the Needs attention list of four overdue invoices, each with Send pay link, Copy link and AI chase.

    Get paid

    Get paid
  5. The GST and BAS report for FY 2026/2027: 1A GST on sales, 1B GST on purchases and net GST payable, then the quarter's G1, 1A, G11 and 1B lines filled from the invoices and bills already entered.

    Books and BAS

    Books and BAS

Runs alongside every stage.

What's on which plan

Construction Estimating on each plan

  • Free

    $0/mo

    Quotes a month
    5
    Team logins
    1
    Web app and iOS app
    Web app + iOS app

  • Starter

    $29/mo

    Quotes a month
    Unlimited
    Team logins
    3
    Web app and iOS app
    Web app + iOS app

  • Plus

    $49/mo

    Quotes a month
    Unlimited
    Team logins
    5
    Web app and iOS app
    Web app + iOS app

  • Growth

    $69/mo

    Quotes a month
    Unlimited
    Team logins
    10
    Web app and iOS app
    Web app + iOS app
  • Builder Suite is a marketplace app at $99/mo on any plan, with a 14-day free trial.

See the full pricing page

How we compare

OneBookPlus Construction Estimating against the alternatives

The rows are capability checks; the linked comparison page carries every citation.

FeatureOneBookPlusBuildxactDatabuildExcel
AI drafts the estimate from a descriptionYesYesNoNo
AI estimating included, not a paid add-onYesNoNoNo
Priced from your own recent supplier billsYesNoNoNo
Markup AND true margin toggleYesNoYesYes
Recipes / assembliesYesYesYesNo
PC / PS allowances and wastageYesYesYesNo
AI reviewer for missing items & outliersYesYesNoNo
GST-inclusive pricing (AU)YesNoNoYes
Estimate to accepted quote to invoice to online paymentYesNoNoNo
Native mobile app that creates estimates and quotesYesNoNoNo
Flat app price, no per-seat chargeYesYesNoYes
Price$99/mo$199 to $599/mo + Blu add-onsQuote only$0 (spreadsheet)

Getting started

How it works

  1. 1

    Describe or speak the job

    Type or dictate the scope and let the AI draft a sectioned estimate: trade by trade: into your review queue. Nothing is sent; it's yours to shape.

  2. 2

    Price it from your own costs

    Each line is costed from your catalogue and calibrated to your recent supplier bills. Swap in recipes for repeated assemblies so quantities explode into components automatically.

  3. 3

    Tune markup, margin and allowances

    Set a markup percentage line by line, set the whole estimate in markup or true margin, add PC/PS allowances for undecided items, and apply wastage: until the numbers match how you actually build.

  4. 4

    Review, then quote and contract

    Run the AI reviewer to catch missing items and outliers, add anything you agree with in one tap, then send the quote for online acceptance and convert it into a contract job.

Example walkthrough

A day with OneBookPlus Construction Estimating

A worked example, an Adelaide builder pricing a single-storey extension after the site visit

Priya walks the site for a rear extension in the morning and, sitting in the ute afterwards, dictates the scope into the app: 'single-storey extension, 42m² slab on ground, timber frame, Colorbond roof, one bathroom, repaint the adjoining rooms.' A sectioned estimate streams in, sitework, concrete, framing, roofing, wet areas, painting, line by line.

Each line is priced from her own catalogue and calibrated to her recent supplier bills, so the slab and the framing timber reflect what she actually paid last month, not a list price. She drops in a saved stud-wall recipe for the new walls, sets a 22% margin on the whole job, not a markup she'd have to reverse-engineer, and adds a $6,000 PS allowance for the bathroom fit-out the client hasn't chosen yet.

Before she sends anything, she runs the AI reviewer. It flags two things: no allowance for waterproofing to the wet area, and a downpipe count that looks light against the roof area. Both are fair. She taps to add the waterproofing line, fixes the downpipes herself, and ignores a third suggestion she knows is already covered. Fifteen minutes after leaving site she turns the estimate into a quote the owners accept that evening, and it converts to a contract job with a schedule of values ready to claim against.

In depth

Construction Estimating Software for Australian Builders

The best construction estimating software australia builders can run isn't the one with the biggest price book, it's the one priced from your costs. OneBookPlus Construction Estimating lets you describe or speak the job and watch a sectioned estimate stream in, trade by trade, costed from your own catalogue and calibrated to what you actually paid suppliers recently. A generic national rate is a guess; your last real supplier bill is a fact, and this building estimating software prices from the fact. Everything the AI drafts lands in a review queue you edit and approve, it's a first draft, never a quote sent behind your back.

Read the rest

Residential builder estimating lives and dies on the details tools get wrong. OneBookPlus does markup line by line and markup or true margin on the whole estimate, one toggle between the two, where Buildxact is markup-only and builders complain about the mental arithmetic. It handles PC and PS allowances for undecided items, wastage percentages on materials, and recipes that explode a stud wall or a slab into every component from one quantity. Then an AI reviewer reads the estimate like a QS, flags missing items, pricing outliers and AU compliance gaps, and lets you add anything you agree with in a single tap.

Crucially, the AI is included, not a paid add-on. Buildxact meters its Blu AI estimate generator and reviewer as extras on top of a subscription that starts at $199/mo and reaches $599/mo, and it's tax-exclusive only. OneBookPlus bundles AI estimating, GST-inclusive pricing, quotes accepted online, progress-claim invoicing and online payment into a single $99/mo builder-suite for the business, with no per-seat charge for the app and free data export. Your estimate becomes a quote the client accepts online, then a contract job with a schedule of values ready to claim against, one thread, no re-keying.

Estimating sits at the centre of the OneBookPlus builder suite, so you can feed it measured quantities from digital plan takeoff, bill the won job as progress claims, check what your state requires in the contract before you price the job, compare the estimating engine to Buildxact, or explore OneBookPlus for builders.

FAQ

About OneBookPlus Construction Estimating

Is the AI estimating an extra cost?

No. AI estimate generation, the AI reviewer and the assembly assistant are all included in the $99/mo builder-suite. Buildxact charges for its Blu AI, the estimate generator is roughly +$99/mo on the entry tier and the estimate reviewer around +$149/mo, on top of a subscription that starts higher than ours.

How does the pricing stay accurate?

Estimates are priced from your own cost catalogue and calibrated to what you actually paid suppliers recently, drawn from your own paid bills. That means the number reflects your real buying, not a national list price, and you can override any line before it goes out.

Can I use margin, or only markup?

Both. Every line carries its own markup percentage, and the whole estimate can be set in either markup or true margin with a single toggle. This is a common Buildxact frustration, it's markup-only, so builders who think in margin end up doing mental arithmetic. OneBookPlus shows you the sell price that returns the margin you actually want.

Can I import my existing price list?

Yes. Bring your materials and labour rates in by CSV, then save recipes and assemblies on top so a stud wall or a slab prices as one line. Update a rate once and it flows through every estimate that uses it.

What does the AI reviewer actually check?

It reads the estimate the way a careful QS would and flags likely missing items or trades, pricing that looks like an outlier, and AU compliance gaps. Each finding is a suggestion, you can add it to the estimate with one tap or dismiss it. Nothing changes the estimate without your say-so.

How does this compare to Buildxact, Databuild or Excel?

Excel has no recipes, no AI and no live pricing. Databuild is a capable but heavier volume-builder package sold on quote. Buildxact has mature estimating but is markup-only, tax-exclusive, and gates its AI behind paid add-ons and higher tiers. OneBookPlus gives you AI estimating, margin support, GST-inclusive pricing, quoting, invoicing and online payment in one $99/mo app.

Australian Owned

Built in Melbourne, AU

GST Compliant

ATO-ready from day one

Encrypted & Isolated

TLS in transit, AES-256 at rest, tenant isolation at the database layer, read the security page

Free Plan Available

No credit card needed

About the author

Bishal Shrestha, Founder of OneBookPlus

Bishal Shrestha

Founder & CEO, OneBookPlus

Bishal spent a decade running digital projects for Australian small businesses before founding OneBookPlus. He writes and maintains these pages, and publishes what OneBookPlus does not do alongside what it does.

A decade running digital projectsPersonal site: bishal.com.auMelbourne, Australia
Read the founder bio

Start with Construction Estimating on the free plan

The free plan includes unlimited jobs and one-off bookings, 10 GST-compliant invoices and 5 quotes per month, 250 contacts, a booking page and the books with BAS reports, no trial clock, no credit card.

Start freeView pricing

Reviewed by Bishal Shrestha