How to Import Bid Items into an Estimate from a CSV

Last updated: September 16, 2025

Overview

Manually creating estimates from long lists of bid items can be time-consuming. This tutorial provides a step-by-step guide on how to quickly populate an estimate by importing a list of services directly from a CSV file. This process is perfect for public projects or bids where you need to match specific line item names while using your pre-built service templates for costing.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Follow these steps to prepare your file and import your services.

1. Prepare Your CSV File

Before importing, ensure your list of services or bid items is correctly formatted.

  1. Open your spreadsheet (e.g., in Google Sheets or Excel).

  2. Place all service names into a single column. The import tool will only read data from the first column of your file.

  3. Save or download the file in CSV (Comma-Separated Values) format. In Google Sheets, you can do this by going to File > Download > Comma Separated Values (.csv).

Important: The import process only reads the first column. Any data in other columns will be ignored.

2. Start the Import Process

  1. Navigate to the project you want to create an estimate for and click + New Estimate.

  2. Next to the Add Service button, click the dropdown arrow.

  3. Select Import from CSV from the menu.

3. Upload Your File

An Import Services from CSV window will appear. You can either click to browse your computer for the file or simply drag and drop your prepared CSV file into the window. Once the file is uploaded, click Continue.

4. Map Your Services

This is the most critical step. You will see a list of all the items from your CSV file.

  • Service Name (CSV): This column shows the item names exactly as they appeared in your file.

  • Map to Service: For each item, you can click this field to select a corresponding service that already exists in your account.

  • Measurement Type: This will auto-populate if you map to an existing service. For unmapped items, you can select a measurement type here.

If you leave an item's Map to Service field blank, the system will create a new, blank service using the name from your CSV. Mapped items will use the name from your CSV on the estimate but will pull in all the pre-configured cost data (labor, materials, equipment) from the service you selected.

Insight: This mapping feature gives you the best of both worlds. You can use customer-facing bid item names from your CSV on the final proposal while leveraging your internal, pre-costed service templates for fast and accurate estimating.

5. Finalize and Review

After mapping your services, click the Import button. The services will be added to your estimate. You can expand each service to see the detailed cost breakdown pulled from your mapped templates and begin adding measurements.

Troubleshooting

  • My file won’t upload or appears empty.

    • Double-check that your file is saved in .csv format. Ensure that all the bid items you want to import are listed exclusively in the first column (Column A) of the spreadsheet.

  • Some services were created as new blank services by mistake.

    • This occurs when an item from the CSV is not mapped to an existing service during the mapping step. If this was unintentional, you can delete the blank service from the estimate and re-import the CSV, making sure to map all items correctly.