# Anyone used Smartsheet? Project Management Software Advice Request



## IFGC_PM (Aug 30, 2017)

Good day,

We have been browsing many project management software options and are currently very interested in smartsheets. We will be using this software for estimating, tracking labor and material cost, scheduling & Gannt charts, and sharing timelines with clients. 

Does anyone have experience using Smartsheet in the construction industry?


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## pathbuilder (Jul 22, 2017)

I haven't tried SmartSheet, but I'll follow this post. Have you looked into Zoho? Im about to pull the trigger on Zoho CRM Plus, but it's such a big decision (time wise), I'm trying to look into what seems like a hundred different options lol


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## IFGC_PM (Aug 30, 2017)

Thanks for your reply, and yes I've checked out Zoho. I think Zoho is an awesome program if it is meeting your needs. For the requirements we have it wasn't going to work, primarily having a program that tracks cost and has a good/flexible estimating ability. 

And totally understand! I've spent many full days so far researching, and I feel a few more ahead. There are far more options than I could have imagined, all with some quirks of course too.


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## pathbuilder (Jul 22, 2017)

IFGC_PM said:


> Thanks for your reply, and yes I've checked out Zoho. I think Zoho is an awesome program if it is meeting your needs. For the requirements we have it wasn't going to work, primarily having a program that tracks cost and has a good/flexible estimating ability.
> 
> And totally understand! I've spent many full days so far researching, and I feel a few more ahead. There are far more options than I could have imagined, all with some quirks of course too.


For estimating and cost tracking I plan on using Xero. Looks awesome


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## bfreeds207 (Oct 5, 2017)

I just posted in a similar thread...

I just went through a long process that included demos and trials with many platforms. I was most impressed with BuilderTrend. The pricing did not work for me, because it's based around projects, and as a specialty contractor I have too many for it to be sot-effective. But for a GC it seems very full-featured. In terms of estimation specifically, it's not going to totally replace a top of the line estimation tool. But it has quite a bit of flexibility and incredible import capability. Also the best integration with QuickBooks I saw out there.


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## IFGC_PM (Aug 30, 2017)

*Bt*

Thank you for the reply! We went through a trial with builder trend and were impressed with the software as well. Unfortunately we are a small town GC, and do some remodeling and smaller projects alongside new builds. The price for builder trend did not fit our budget, especially since we're not always as busy as we presently are and not all projects that we wish to track bring in a lot of $$.


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## pathbuilder (Jul 22, 2017)

I've officially landed on Zoho CRM, Zoho Projects, and QuickBooks Online for accounting. Good luck!


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## fantastic_pete (Oct 5, 2017)

Did you end up choosing smartsheet? thoughts?


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## IFGC_PM (Aug 30, 2017)

*Thoughts and Path*

No, we did not end up choosing Smartsheets. Their customer support is excellent and their product is very interesting. The primary reason why we didn't choose smartsheets is I have many years working/building in excel and saw that I could build out a solution that would better fit our needs in G Suite (Google Sheets). 

Also to reply to an above post, cool! I didn't know about Zoho Projects, and have trialed many many softwares. I knew they had a good CRM, and the project interface looks promising. We also have quickbooks and may use more of their functions later, right now it's only our accountant who uses QB. 

Our original needs and solutions chosen solutions (for cost & function):

estimating --- G Suite (Google Sheets)
tracking labor and material cost --- G Suite (Google Sheets)
scheduling & Gantt charts --- Trello + Ganttify
sharing timelines with clients --- Trello + Ganttify, Google Sites & Google Photos

Trello + Placker is a close second for our needs. If they develop some areas a little more we might switch. Really we needed something to fit our immediate needs today (using an old excel macro to estimate and track the projects in progress) while choosing software we could build with in the future. 

We're also using Trello now for task management and to take notes in the field.

And damn there are some good solutions we've found along the long road of trial like taskworld, asana, smartsheets, and the list goes on. We chose a cost effective solution that is certainly taking a little time to build out but we're hoping that will pay off down the road. 

Have an awesome fall if fall is near you.


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## IFGC_PM (Aug 30, 2017)

*One More*

I did want to say, I'm not entirely building out G Suites from scratch. We are doing our best to emulate a fantastic and no longer supported excel macro called MacNail. We are taking our favorite MacNail functions and building them into Google Sheets. Just thought I should reference that for transparency.


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## youseffau (Jan 19, 2019)

IFGC_PM said:


> No, we did not end up choosing Smartsheets. Their customer support is excellent and their product is very interesting. The primary reason why we didn't choose smartsheets is I have many years working/building in excel and saw that I could build out a solution that would better fit our needs in G Suite (Google Sheets).
> 
> Also to reply to an above post, cool! I didn't know about Zoho Projects, and have trialed many many softwares. I knew they had a good CRM, and the project interface looks promising. We also have quickbooks and may use more of their functions later, right now it's only our accountant who uses QB.
> 
> ...


Do you use google photos to manage punch list or snags? How many photos are you managing with G suite...approximately.


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