Things You'll Need:
- Microsoft Office (preferably Excel)
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Step 1
I recommend Microsoft Excel as this is the easiest program to create this document in. Open a new document in Excel and it will ask you what kind. Simply search for pre generated quotes or estimates. They already have columns set up with currency so it makes pretty simple to tailor to your needs.
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Step 2
Once you have your document open and ready to revise make sure you have the following cells at the top:
* Date
* RFP #
* Person to whom the RFP is going and their address
This will help you keep track of your RFP's and what they are for. -
Step 3
In the main body of the page you will see probably three columns, Quantity, Description, and Amount. We are going to change this a little. I personally have a column labeled Cost Code as my first column. This is to identify this particular RFP with the correct line item in my estimate. 2nd column is my description, make it short and understandable. 3rd column is my quantity. 4th is the unit of measure such as (LS=Lump Sum), (EA=Each), (HR=Hour), you get the drift. 5th column is the rate or price. 6th is my total cost for that line.
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Step 4
Once you have your columns set up you will need to set your math up to automatically enter you totals. First do the math across by multiplying your quantity column with your rate or price column, to go into your total column. How does that look? In Excel simply click on the first total cell in that column the math will look like this: (total = quantity x rate) Simply type the "=" symbol in the total box and click the quantity box then hold down shift and then press the number 8 (*) should be the symbol you get, and then click on the rate box. When you have done this simple press enter and your total will show up. You can click on the total cell that now has the correct math in it, right click and copy the cell. Select all of the total cells, right click and paste, this will format this column without you having to hand type all of them. The only thing left to do now is enter your information and the final total should tally at the bottom of the total column giving your total RFP amount.
