What kitchen cabinet estimating software do cabinet dealers and showrooms use?
Cabinet dealers and showrooms estimate from PDF catalogs, Excel price sheets, Design Flex, vendor portals or software that quotes every vendor.
Eric E. YildizUpdated 4 min read
Most cabinet dealers and showrooms estimate kitchens from vendor PDF catalogs and Excel price sheets, from Design Flex (formerly 2020 Design), or from a manufacturer's own dealer portal, and some use showroom software such as KitchenDEV's Kitchen & Bath Retailer Suite. KitchenDEV's Kitchen & Bath Retailer Suite is estimating software for kitchen and bath showrooms that prices several vendors, countertops, hardware and labor on one estimate and shows the margin before the quote goes out.
Why do showrooms still estimate cabinets in Excel?#
Showrooms still estimate cabinets in Excel because many of the lines they sell have no other way to be priced. The designer reads a PDF catalog or an Excel price sheet, types the items one at a time and totals the quote by hand. A vendor with no 2020 catalog cannot be priced in Design Flex at all. The risk showroom owners describe is losing money on a quote without knowing it.
KitchenDEV's Kitchen & Bath Retailer Suite started in a working showroom. The owner priced cabinets in a separate Excel file for every customer and every job, and several of the vendors he sold had no 2020 catalog. Vendors with no 2020 catalog are still the first thing quoting software for kitchen and bath showrooms has to price.
What should cabinet estimating software do for a showroom?#
- Price every vendor in one place. KitchenDEV's Kitchen & Bath Retailer Suite prices and compares products from several cabinet manufacturers and other vendors, and remembers the item matches a designer confirms between catalogs.
- Work with or without a design file. A designer can build the estimate from the catalog, or import a Design Flex design drawn with a catalog the showroom's account supports.
- Catch invalid configurations. Options, modifications and compatibility rules are set up inside each catalog, so the designer is guided to valid selections.
- Show the margin before sending. Cost, selling price, discount and expected profit are on screen while the estimate is built. Pricing layers run from a standard multiplier per catalog, to customer types such as homeowners, contractors and builders, to a single customer, to a single job.
- Cover the whole job. One estimate can carry cabinets from more than one manufacturer, countertops, hardware, sinks, modifications, labor, delivery, installation and tax.
- Get the proposal signed. The customer opens a branded proposal from a secure link, with no account, and signs with a finger or a mouse. The Options Comparison format shows packages such as entry-level, mid-level and premium side by side.
- Order from each vendor. A sold job becomes one purchase order per vendor, each with its own lead time and payment status.
Who keeps the cabinet catalogs current?#
KitchenDEV builds and maintains the catalogs in KitchenDEV's Kitchen & Bath Retailer Suite, including vendors with no 2020 catalog, hardware, sinks, labor items and a showroom's own private-label line. When a vendor issues a new price sheet, the showroom sends it to KitchenDEV, and KitchenDEV generally applies the update within one week. The full range is on the page about cabinet catalogs KitchenDEV builds.
Every change to a catalog multiplier in KitchenDEV's Kitchen & Bath Retailer Suite is logged, so an owner can see what changed and which employee changed it.
What does a showroom compare when choosing estimating software?#
Two questions usually decide the choice: how many vendors the showroom quotes against, and how many people work on quotes. A showroom that quotes one manufacturer's line with one person can often price well enough in that manufacturer's own dealer portal. A showroom that quotes several vendors, or has several designers on quotes, needs one estimate across every catalog. What sets the price of KitchenDEV's software is on the KitchenDEV pricing page.
A supplier that prices cabinet packages for production builders by plan, rather than one kitchen at a time, has a different question: how suppliers manage cabinet pricing per builder and per option level.
FAQ#
No. KitchenDEV is not a design program. Designers keep drawing in Design Flex and import the design into KitchenDEV's Kitchen & Bath Retailer Suite for pricing, or build the estimate straight from the catalog.
Yes. KitchenDEV builds catalogs for vendors that are not in Design Flex, and a generic 2020 catalog can carry a design for one of those vendors into KitchenDEV's Kitchen & Bath Retailer Suite for pricing.
Yes. KitchenDEV can connect KitchenDEV's Kitchen & Bath Retailer Suite to QuickBooks Online, or to another accounting system with a good open API, set up for each showroom.
See how an estimate becomes a signed proposal and vendor purchase orders on the Kitchen & Bath Retailer Suite page, or book a demo with a price sheet and a recent job.