Millwork estimating without an ERP implementation.
Architectural millwork is estimated by the shops that build it, usually in a spreadsheet, usually by the owner. This does that job properly — costs, labour, overhead and margin — without asking you to run a manufacturing system.
Millwork estimating software, in the trade’s usual sense, means one of the engineering suites: a configured library, CNC output, purchasing and scheduling in one system. Those exist for shops with the volume and the staff to run them.
Most millwork is not quoted by those shops. It is quoted by a joiner with a set of drawings, a supplier price list and an evening, and the tool is a spreadsheet that nobody else can read and that silently rounds a margin into a markup.
This is for that estimate. Materials, sheet goods, hardware, labour by phase, waste, overhead and a true gross margin, ending in a quote you can put in front of a main contractor.
Estimating suites: a system you implement
Installed software organised around a parts library you configure to match how your shop builds. Once set up it estimates, engineers and drives machines from one model. Setup is a project, and the payback is measured in years rather than weeks.
PlankCAD: an estimate you can send this afternoon
Open a browser, enter what the job costs you, apply waste, overhead and the margin you need, and export a customer-ready PDF. Cut lists and sheet optimisation are there when the job is won, and you record what it actually cost so the next estimate is grounded in what really happened.
Where the two differ.
| Dimension | millwork estimating | PlankCAD |
|---|---|---|
| Setup before the first estimate | Library configuration, measured in weeks | None |
| Who it expects to use it | An estimator or engineer | The person who owns the shop |
| Machining output | Yes — its core strength | None. It does not drive machines |
| Margin | Part of the cost roll-up | True gross margin — profit over selling price, not markup over cost |
| For the contractor | Reports from the model | A PDF quote with scope, line items, tax, total and terms |
| After the job | Varies by module | Actual cost against the estimate, per job |
When a full millwork suite is the right tool
- You are producing engineered shop drawings and submittals as a matter of course.
- Your machines expect data from the same model that produced the price.
- You have someone whose job is to own the library.
- Purchasing and scheduling need to live in the same system as the estimate.
Using both
Estimating and engineering happen at different moments. Price the enquiry here; engineer the work you win wherever you already do it.
PlankCAD and millwork estimating.
No. That is the trade-off the engineering suites make: a configured library makes them accurate and makes setup a project measured in weeks. This starts from your costs, so the first estimate happens in the first session. What you give up is machining output and engineered drawings, which it does not attempt.
For pricing and quoting, yes — the cost model does not care whether the job is domestic or commercial. For engineered shop drawings, submittals and CNC data at volume, a millwork suite is doing something this does not.
The cut list nests parts onto real sheet sizes with kerf and grain respected, and exports as CSV and PDF. It does not generate toolpaths.
Build your first estimate free.
No credit card required. Price the job, save the draft, and export the customer quote.
Deterministic Estimate Math · Your Quotes On Your Account · No Hidden Fees