BidFlow preserves the cost code hierarchy you upload. Your divisions, subcontractor sections, custom assemblies, and accounting-driven codes are kept exactly as you defined them. No CSI remapping, no MasterFormat normalization, no template-driven imports.
Any format. No cleanup required.
| A | B | C | D | E | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Site Work | |||||
| Clear & Grub | 1.0 | ls | $2.40 | ||
| Mobilization | 1 | ls | $8.5k | start | |
| Concrete | |||||
| Footings | 120 | cy | $485 | 3000 PSI | |
| Slab on Grade | 8,400 | sf | $8.20 | ||
| Vendor Items | |||||
| Elevator | 1 | ea | $42k | sub bid | |
| Plumbing Fixtures | 28 | ea | $185 | ||
| Crew Costs | |||||
| Concrete Crew | 320 | hr | $85 | ||
| Masonry Crew | 180 | hr | $92 | union |
Keeps your structure intact
Mapped to your structure, exactly as you work.
Any format. No cleanup required.
| A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site Work | |||
| Clear & Grub | 1.0 | $2.40 | |
| Mobilization | 1 | $8.5k | |
| Concrete | |||
| Footings | 120 | $485 | |
| Slab on Grade | 8400 | $8.20 | |
| Vendor Items | |||
| Elevator | 1 | $42k | |
Keeps your structure intact
Mapped to your structure, exactly as you work.
Most estimating platforms treat their version of CSI MasterFormat as the source of truth. During import, they normalize or remap your library into their hierarchy. That works for an estimator starting fresh. It breaks every estimator who has spent ten or twenty-five years evolving custom divisions, self-perform structures, or accounting-driven cost codes mirroring a QuickBooks chart of accounts.
The pattern is consistent across our interviews with practicing commercial estimators and across the larger custom-WBS community: when the software reorganizes the cost library, estimators quietly stop using it and return to Excel. Adoption does not fail because the tool lacks features. It fails because the tool refuses to respect the operational structure the firm has already built — divisions evolved over decades, self-perform routings, vendor and crew separations, and user-defined cost codes that mirror a real chart of accounts.
BidFlow's import inverts that assumption. Your cost code structure becomes the master schema. The parser extracts both line items and section headers, preserves parent-child relationships, and displays the hierarchy as you defined it. CSI is recognized when present, never imposed when absent. See how this approach compares to STACK, PlanSwift, and ProEst on cost library handling.
No template, no remapping, no schema migration. Your structure stays yours from upload through every future estimate.
Drop your Excel cost library, three to five past estimates, or both. PDFs, Excel takeoffs, exports from Sage / ProEst / WinEst, hand-built schedules of values. The parser handles common formats without requiring a template.
BidFlow extracts your divisions, subcontractor sections, line items, unit costs, and markups. Hybrid CSI 16-division layouts, MasterFormat 50-division, UniFormat assemblies, fully custom structures — all detected, none normalized. Multi-level nesting (Division → Subcontractor section → line items) is preserved at whatever depth your file uses.
BidFlow shows you the extracted hierarchy with confidence labels on each detection. Anything below the threshold gets a clarifying question. You approve the structure once and the cost library is the source of truth for every future estimate.
| BidFlow | STACK | ConstructionOnline OnCost | ProEst / Sage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preserves source CSI/UniFormat hierarchy | Yes | Partial (re-mapped) | Partial (template-required) | Normalized to vendor schema |
| Imports without a template | Yes | Template recommended | Template required | Template required |
| Multi-level nesting detected automatically | Yes | Manual | Manual | Manual |
| Setup time before first estimate | 3-10 min | Days | Days-weeks | Weeks-months |
| Learns from past estimates (calibration) | Yes | No | No | Manual database build |
A cost library that mirrors your QuickBooks chart of accounts, your subcontractor relationships, and your firm's self-perform structure is an asset. The wrong estimating tool treats it as input to be normalized. BidFlow treats it as the source of truth.
Our parser methodology is published openly on how we calculate. Detection uses confidence thresholds; below 75% the system asks a clarifying question instead of guessing. Your structure is reviewable, editable, and yours.
Then BidFlow uses your codes. The system does not require CSI compliance. Custom codes, accounting-driven codes, and fully proprietary structures are all supported. CSI is recognized when present (because it speeds parsing) but is never imposed when absent.
Yes. Add divisions, rename sections, restructure assemblies, merge line items. Any change you make becomes part of your cost library going forward. The system learns from edits and applies them on future imports.
Yes. Once approved, your cost library is the master schema. Every new estimate generates against your divisions, your line items, your markups. New work that does not match an existing line item gets flagged for you to add or merge.
Procore is project management with estimating bolted on. Sage Estimating and ProEst are full estimating systems that require a unit-cost database, often built over weeks with a vendor consultant who maps your operational structure into their schema. BidFlow inverts the flow: your structure is the master, the parser does the mapping work, and you have a calibrated estimator in minutes instead of months.
Free to start. 14-day trial. Upload your Excel cost library and see your structure preserved (not reorganized) in three minutes.
