Importing an estimate from a spreadsheet

If you have an existing cost estimate in a spreadsheet, you can import it into FullClarity rather than re-entering every line manually. The import process reads your spreadsheet, matches your data against the project's categories, items, and cost types, and creates estimate lines in the selected estimate worksheet.

When to use this

Use this when your estimating team has already prepared a cost breakdown in Excel or a similar tool and you need to bring it into FullClarity. This is faster than manual entry for large estimates and reduces transcription errors.

Prerequisites

• A project in FullClarity with a cost centre assigned. The cost centre determines which categories are available for the import.
• An estimate worksheet to import into (or the import can create a new one). The estimate must be unlocked.
• Your spreadsheet in Excel format (.xlsx or .xls). CSV files also work.

Your spreadsheet does not need to follow a specific template — the import process will interpret your column layout and ask you to confirm the mapping before anything is created.

Walkthrough

What the import looks for

The import process identifies columns in your spreadsheet that correspond to FullClarity estimate fields:

• Category — your trade or cost code (e.g., Concrete, Electrical, Framing). These are matched against the categories in your project's cost centre.
• Description — line-level detail describing the work or materials.
• Quantity and Rate — used to calculate the line amount. If your spreadsheet has a total amount but no quantity, the line is imported as a lump sum (quantity of 1).
• Cost Type — the nature of the cost (Labour, Materials, Equipment, Subcontractor, etc.). If your spreadsheet doesn't include this, you can choose a default or assign them after import.
• Stage — relevant for stage billing projects. If your project uses progress billing, this is optional.
• Margin or Markup — if your spreadsheet includes a profit margin. FullClarity uses margin (as a percentage of the selling price), so if your spreadsheet uses markup (percentage of cost), the values are converted automatically during import.
• Contingency — a risk buffer percentage, if included.

Rows that look like section headers, subtotals, grand totals, blank spacers, or notes are automatically skipped — only actual cost lines are imported.

How it works

1. Upload your spreadsheet and tell FullClarity which project it's for.
2. Review the column mapping — FullClarity shows you which spreadsheet columns it has matched to which estimate fields, and asks you to confirm or adjust.
3. Review the data matching — category names, cost types, and items from your spreadsheet are matched against your FullClarity standing data. You'll see which values matched exactly, which are close matches needing confirmation, and which couldn't be matched.
4. Confirm the import — a summary shows the total number of lines, the estimated total cost, and the estimated selling price. Nothing is created until you approve.
5. Lines are created in the estimate worksheet. Open the worksheet in your browser to see the imported lines in the grid.

What success looks like

After confirming the import, the lines appear in the Estimate Worksheet organised by category. The summary rows at the bottom show the total cost and selling price derived from the imported data. Any lines with unmatched categories are flagged for your attention.

Gotchas

• Category names don't need to be exact. The import uses fuzzy matching — "Concreting" will match to "Concrete", and "Electrical Works" will match to "Electrician". You'll always be asked to confirm fuzzy matches before they're applied.
• Check your margin convention. The most common issue is spreadsheets that express profit as markup (percentage of cost) rather than margin (percentage of selling price). A 33% markup is equivalent to a 25% margin — the import handles the conversion, but you need to confirm which convention your spreadsheet uses.
• Lump sum lines are fine. If a line has a total dollar amount but no quantity or rate breakdown, it's imported with a quantity of 1 and the total as the rate.
• You can import into an existing estimate. If the project already has an estimate with lines, the import adds new lines alongside the existing ones. Existing lines are not modified.
• Your spreadsheet format doesn't matter. Currency symbols, thousand separators, percentage signs, and different number formats are all handled automatically.