Importing Your Own Parts

Import a List of Items From Excel!

Last Updated By Michael Croteau

Updated at June 22nd, 2022

Importing your own parts is a great way to personalize your library! If you'd like to import your own list of items, pay close attention to the instructions below!

First, you’ll want to download our part library (via Excel) to get an idea of the format you will need. To do this, head into your account and click ToolsExport Parts. This will download a spreadsheet to your computer. 

Alternatively, you can download a handy part import template sheet here.


When you open up this spreadsheet, you will see our entire part library. The only thing that matters is the information in row 1. Copy and paste Row 1 to a new spreadsheet (or, just use the import template included above.) 


Now that we have a new spreadsheet, we can begin adding parts. You can use the first line to get an idea of what should go into each column. Most importantly: be sure each column is filled in with the correct information. If you forget what should go into a particular column, head back to the example spreadsheet, and take a look at how Clear Estimates’ part is entered.

In the example below, I am going to import a part called “Tile Removal”:

Above, you can see I have filled out most of the columns for my part. Here is a breakdown of each column (and whether or not you need it):

Column Description Required?
PART CODE 
Unique number for the part
Yes
SUPPLIER CODE
Unique number for the part
Yes
CATEGORY
The category where the part will be placed. Your account already has many. You can designate one of ours, or create your own.
Yes
PART DESCRIPTION
Name of the part
Yes
COMPANY OR SUB-CONT
"C" for "company" or "S" for subcontractor. Most of the time you will place a “c” here
Yes
PART UNIT TYPE
The part needs a unit type. In my example, we will be removing tile by the Sq. Foot. You can only choose unit types: 
Pieces 
Sq. Feet 
Lin. Feet 
Cu. Yds. (note the periods after both "Cu." and "Yds.") 
Dollars 
Hours
Yes
COMPANY UNIT COST
How much is one of this part going to cost (material)
Yes
SUB-CONT UNIT COST
Same as company unit cost, this is if a sub is going to do the work
Yes
HLR
Hourly labor rate. Choose a letter from our rates list and apply it here. Or create your own in your account and apply it here.
Yes
HOURLY MULTIPLIER
How many hours will it take to install/remove 1 of this part.
Yes
MATERIAL MULTIPLIER
If the part contains material, this needs to be a 1
Yes
ROUGH-IN HOURS
Most of the time left blank
No
FINISH HOURS
Most of the time left blank
No
PRELIMINARY TEXT
Text for the part to be displayed on your preliminary proposal to the client
Yes
FORMAL TEXT
Text for the part to be displayed on your formal proposal to the client
Yes
SUBCONT TEXT
Text for the part to be displayed on your subcontractor proposal
Yes
PART IMAGE PATH
Leave blank No

Once you have correctly filled out your columns, head to the next step. We highly recommend a test import (of at least a few parts) to make sure you are comfortable with the formatting.

Save your spreadsheet as a .csv file. Then, head back into your Clear Estimates account and head to Tools > Import Parts. You will see this box pop up:

Click Browse, and find your .csv sheet in your drive. Then, select Update prices and add new parts to database.

Hit Next Step. Now, choose the parts you would like to import. You can select individual parts, or just click “Select All”. When finished, click Next Step.

You will be given a notification outlining what is about to happen. If everything looks good, click Next Step.

That’s it, you are all done! This is your receipt of import:

Hope this helps!

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