conquest estimating software uk
Conquest Estimating Software: A Simpler UK Alternative for Small Builders
Searching for Conquest estimating software? Quick, honest answer: Conquest is a serious, feature-heavy estimating package built mainly for bigger contractors and QS teams. If you're a sole trader or small builder, you'll usually get more done with something simpler, cheaper and mobile - a tool you'll actually use on site.
There's nothing wrong with Conquest. It's just a lot of software for a one- or two-van outfit. Here's how to tell what you actually need.
What Conquest is (and who it's really for)
Conquest (by Eque2) is an established UK construction estimating product - take-offs, detailed estimating, tendering and reporting, the works. It's powerful, desktop-based, and aimed at firms running larger, more complex projects with dedicated estimators or quantity surveyors.
That power comes with a trade-off: a learning curve, setup time, and a price to match. If you're pricing extensions, bathrooms and rewires from your phone, most of it will go unused.
What a small builder actually needs
For a sole trader or small firm, the job isn't enterprise take-offs - it's getting a tidy, professional quote out fast, before the customer rings someone else. The must-haves are short:
- Quote on a phone, on site - not chained to a desktop
- Itemised labour + materials the customer understands
- UK VAT and CIS handled for you (and the reverse charge)
- Looks professional - branded, with accept-online
- Cheap and simple enough that you'll use it every day
When Conquest does make sense
If you run big tenders, take dimensioned take-offs straight off drawings, and have a QS or estimating team, a heavy package like Conquest earns its keep. Be honest about whether that's you - today, not in five years.
How to choose estimating software as a small builder
- ✓ Can I raise a quote on my phone, on site, in under 5 minutes?
- ✓ Does it do UK VAT, CIS and the reverse charge automatically?
- ✓ Will the customer get a clear, branded quote they can accept online?
- ✓ Is the monthly cost less than one won job?
- ✓ Could I be up and running today, with no training?
- ✓ Am I paying for take-off/tender features I'll genuinely use?
Where small builders get this wrong
The classic mistakes when picking estimating software:
- Buying enterprise software you'll use 10% of - paying for power you don't need.
- Choosing on the feature list, not on fit for how you actually work.
- Picking a desktop-only tool you can't touch on site.
- Forgetting VAT and CIS - then doing it by hand anyway.
The simpler UK alternative
Quotato is built for exactly this gap - sole traders and small builders who want a proper quote without the enterprise overhead. Describe the job by voice, photo or text and it drafts an itemised, VAT- and CIS-aware quote in seconds. You tweak it, brand it, and send a link the customer accepts in one tap. It's free to start, no card, no training.
Conquest for the big contractors; Quotato for getting your evenings back. Pick the tool that fits the work in front of you.
Pricing jobs on your phone, not a desktop?
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