Everything you need to go from a PDF plan set to a priced, proposal-ready bid — and how MyBids keeps your data yours, working offline and in the field.
Help v1.0 • MyBids 1.x Last updated 2026-09-01
MyBids runs in your browser as an installable app. Sign in with the account your administrator set up (or the invite link they sent you — see Your team). Everything you do is saved locally first and syncs when you're online, so the app never waits on the network.
Install it. In Chrome or Edge, use the install icon in the address bar (or Menu → Install MyBids) to run it in its own window and make it available offline.
A project is one job. Inside it you upload one or more plan sets — the architectural PDFs. MyBids reads every page and its dimensions so you can start measuring.
Before dimensional measurements mean anything, set the sheet's scale. In the takeoff workspace, use the calibration control to either:
Scale can be set per page or shared across a whole document. Counts don't need a scale; lengths, areas, and volumes do.
Pick a tool from the toolbar and measure right on the plan:
Right-angle snap keeps walls orthogonal (hold Ctrl to disable it momentarily). For areas and volumes you can subtract cutouts (openings/voids) and apply a slope factor so a pitched roof measures its true surface area, not the footprint.
An assembly is a reusable cost recipe you attach to a measurement. Each assembly has one or more lines with material, labor, and subcontractor costs, a quantity-per-unit, and a waste factor. Labor can be a dollar amount or hours per unit (priced at the bid's labor rate). Attach an assembly to a measurement and its costs roll up automatically by the measured quantity.
Bring your existing costs in from the Assembly Library → Import. MyBids reads CSV, Excel (.xlsx), and JSON with flexible column names, so exports from other tools usually import with little cleanup.
labor_cost) or hours (labor_hours / labor units / man hours) — the NECA/Accubid/Trimble convention.A project can hold several bids — a base bid plus alternates. Duplicate a bid to explore an alternate, compare bids side by side, and set one active (the takeoff attaches new assemblies to the active bid). Each bid has its own adjustments, tax, and per-item overrides.
The closing sheet finalizes a bid on top of its direct cost, in order:
Set the labor rate here so hours-based assembly lines price correctly.
Add a change order against a base bid to price added or deleted scope with the full takeoff + closing machinery. Approve or reject each one; the project's contract value is the base bid plus all approved change orders.
Track competing vendor or subcontractor bids for a scope in the Vendor quotes card, mark the winner, see the savings versus the highest bid, and apply the selected amount to a bid as a lump-sum line.
A typical is a reusable bundle of cost lines — a hotel room, a light pole, a branch circuit. Build it once, then place it into a bid with a multiplier (e.g. × 45 rooms) and every line drops in at the multiplied quantity. Seed a line straight from an assembly's cost.
Before a bid ships, run the Count audit to flag risky measurements — counted-but-not-priced, zero/mis-drawn geometry, dimensional measurements on an uncalibrated sheet, and overlapping count markers — each with a jump to fix it. The Analytics page rolls your bids' win/loss status into a hit rate and pipeline value.
MyBids is offline-first: it keeps a full local copy of your data, so you can take off, edit, and price with no connection at all. Save plan PDFs for offline use from the project page so they're available on the job site. When you reconnect, changes sync automatically. A self-hosted office instance can be reached securely from field devices with no router setup or static IP.
Still stuck? Email support@iownsoftware.com — include your company and what you were doing, and we'll help.