Converting Measurement Units of Service
Last updated: October 15, 2025
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Overview
Flexibility in presenting estimates is key to meeting diverse client needs. Sometimes, you might need to bid a project in square yards, even if your initial takeoff was in square feet, or vice-versa. This tutorial will guide you through converting measurement units for services within an estimate, ensuring your pricing and quantities automatically adjust, saving you time and preventing manual calculation errors. This feature is particularly useful when you need to align with specific bidding requirements or client preferences without re-doing your entire estimate.
Insight: Converting measurement units on the fly allows you to cater to specific client requests or industry standards for unit pricing (e.g., square feet vs. square yards) without altering the underlying costs or quantities of materials and labor. This maintains estimate accuracy while offering presentation flexibility.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Let's say you've added a service to your estimate, like "Asphalt - Full Depth Repair," and initially measured it in square feet, but now need to present it in square yards.
Add Your Service with Initial Units: Begin by adding the service to your estimate. For example, select "Asphalt - Full Depth Repair" and enter the Measurement (e.g., 9,000) and its current unit (e.g., sf for square feet). Click Add. Outcome: The service is added to your estimate with the specified quantity and unit, and all associated costs and pricing are calculated.
Access Conversion Options: Locate the service line item you wish to modify. To the left of the service name (e.g., "Asphalt - Full Depth Repair"), click the three-dot menu icon (⋮).
Select Convert Measurement Units: From the dropdown menu that appears, choose Convert measurement units. Outcome: A "Convert Measurement Units" dialog box will appear.
Choose Your New Unit: In the "Convert Measurement Units" dialog, you'll see a Measurement type dropdown. It will show the current unit (e.g., Sq Ft). Click this dropdown. Select your desired new unit from the list (e.g., Sq Yd for square yards).
Apply the Conversion: Click the Update button. Outcome: The system will automatically convert the quantity to the new unit (e.g., 9,000 sf becomes 1,000 sy) and adjust the rate (e.g., price per square yard). All underlying calculations for materials, labor, and equipment associated with this service will also reflect this new unit of measure accurately without changing the total cost or price of the service.
Verify the Changes: Review the service line item. You'll see the updated Measurement quantity and the new unit symbol (e.g., "1,000 sy"). The price per unit will also be updated (e.g., "$27.96 / sy").
Pro Tip: If you need to revert to the original unit or change to another compatible unit, simply repeat steps 2-5. The system supports conversions between compatible area units (like square feet and square yards) and compatible length units as configured.
Troubleshooting
"Convert measurement units" option is unavailable or greyed out:
This may occur if the service item's base unit of measure isn't one that supports conversion (e.g., "each" for items that aren't area or length-based).
Ensure the service has a measurement and unit already defined. Conversions can only happen if there's an existing unit to convert from.
Desired unit not listed in the dropdown:
The system allows conversions between pre-defined compatible units (e.g., square feet to square yards, or linear feet to linear yards). If a specific unit you need isn't an option, it might not be configured as a compatible conversion for the current unit type. You may need to check your system's unit settings or consult your administrator.
Calculations seem off after conversion:
The system is designed to perform accurate conversions. Double-check that the initial quantity and unit entered for the service were correct before initiating the conversion. Any errors in the initial input will carry through the conversion.
Check out this related article to find out how to set calculated units.