Outsource estimating or hire an estimator: the math for trade subs.
Most comparisons weigh one estimator against one estimating vendor. A trade sub's office is more than estimating, so this guide compares a hire with the whole back office and gives you a worksheet for your own numbers.
Outsourcing often costs less than a hire when bid volume is uneven or the office needs more than estimating. Axentra Solutions charges $350, $500, $800, or from $1,200 per bid with no plan required, or $2,500 to $7,500 a month for a back office plan. A hire adds salary, payroll taxes, benefits, software and training time.
The short answer
If your bid volume rises and falls, or the same desk also handles drawings, bid dates, purchase orders and books, outsourcing usually gives you more coverage for the money. If you have steady, high bid volume and want someone in your building every day, a hire can be the better call.
Either way, run your own numbers. The worksheet below lists every line that belongs in the comparison.
What a hire really costs
Salary
Median pay is the cleanest public number to compare. In May 2025, the BLS put median pay for cost estimators at specialty trade contractors at $80,330, and for bookkeeping clerks in construction at $54,890.
Median pay is a national middle. Your market may run higher or lower, so run your own numbers.
Payroll taxes, benefits, software, desk
On top of salary, a hire brings employer payroll taxes, benefits, takeoff and estimating software licenses, a computer and a desk. Add the hours you or a manager spend recruiting, interviewing and training before the first bid goes out on time.
Coverage gaps
One estimator means one person's vacation, sick days and notice period. Bid days do not move for any of them. When two bid dates land in the same week, the work waits or lands back on your desk at night. If the estimator leaves, you start the hiring cycle again.
Hiring takes time as well. In the AGC and NCCER 2025 Workforce Survey, 77% of firms with estimating openings had trouble filling them, and 40% of firms with accounting openings did.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Cost Estimators (median pay, May 2025) (opens in a new tab)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks (median pay, May 2025) (opens in a new tab)
- AGC and NCCER, 2025 Workforce Survey, national results (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
Pay figures are national medians, before payroll taxes and benefits. They are not Axentra Solutions prices.
What outsourcing costs
Per bid, no plan required
Axentra Solutions prices bids by size. You pay per bid, with no monthly plan required, and bids come back in 24 to 48 hours.
| Bid size | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Small | $350 | 1 trade, residential, up to about 15 sheets |
| Medium | $500 | 1 to 2 trades, up to about 40 sheets, or small multifamily |
| Large | $800 | Multi-trade, multifamily, or commercial |
| Extra large or intricate | from $1,200 | Quoted per project |
Monthly plans
When you want the whole office covered, there are three flat monthly plans, month-to-month. Each includes a monthly bidding price; extra bids are billed at the per bid rates. Everything else each plan includes is listed line by line on the pricing page.
| Plan | Per month | Monthly bidding price included |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | $2,500 | $1,400 |
| Platinum | $5,500 | $2,450 |
| Diamond | $7,500 | $2,800 |
An optional Premium add-on is $1,500 a month, available on Gold, Platinum or Diamond.
It is rarely just estimating
The same person who prices bids usually also chases bid dates, turns approved drawings into purchase orders and keeps the books current. A hire covers one of those desks. An outside back office can cover all of them with one team.
- Shop drawings for submittal, $150 a sheet for standard work, back in 24 to 48 hours
- Bid management at $750 a month: invites logged, due dates and addenda tracked
- Purchasing at a flat $1,000 a month, POs built from approved drawings
- Bookkeeping at $750 to $1,100 a month, in your QuickBooks file, with job costing
- Project management at $750, $1,500 or $2,500 a month, by number of active projects
A worksheet to run your own numbers
Fill in your own figures for one year. Leave a line blank if it does not apply to you.
| Line | Hire in-house (your numbers) | Outsource (your numbers) |
|---|---|---|
| Salary or fees | Annual salary: ________ | Bids per year x price per bid: ________ |
| Payroll taxes and benefits | ________ | Not applicable |
| Software, computer, desk | ________ | ________ |
| Hiring and training time | ________ | ________ |
| Coverage for vacation, sick days, turnover | ________ | ________ |
| Other desks (drawings, POs, books) | ________ | Plan price or single services: ________ |
| Total per year | ________ | ________ |
Use your own figures. Monthly plan prices are flat; per-bid prices depend on bid size.
When hiring is the better call
Hire when you have steady, high bid volume all year and you want someone in your building every day: walking the shop, talking to installers, sitting in on meetings. A good in-house estimator who knows your shop is worth a lot. Outsourcing fits best when volume is uneven or the office needs more than one desk covered.
Who does the work
Axentra Solutions is a team with 75+ years of combined expertise. Before offering the service to other subs, the team spent 6 years running one subcontractor's full back office: bids, drawings, purchasing and books. The work is built from the plans, specs, addenda and field dimensions you send, and comes back in Excel, PDF, DWG or your own template.
What you keep either way
- Your prices and markup. You set them and approve every bid before it goes out.
- Your approvals on every bid and every PO.
- Your customers and your relationships with GCs.
- Your files and your plans, kept confidential.
See how the whole office splits between Axentra Solutions and you on the back office page, or start with estimating services for subcontractors.
Related services
Every price is on the pricing page.
Questions on this guide.
Is outsourcing estimating cheaper than hiring?
Often, when volume is uneven or the office needs more than bids. Run your own numbers with the worksheet on this page.
Can I start per bid and move to a plan later?
Yes. Pay per bid needs no monthly plan. Bids are $350, $500, $800, or from $1,200 by size, and plans are month-to-month.
Who sets the prices on my bids?
You do. You set prices and markup and approve every bid.
Are my plans and pricing kept confidential?
Yes.
Can the same team handle drawings, purchasing and books?
Yes, inside the Gold, Platinum and Diamond plans or as single services.
When should I hire in-house instead?
When you have steady volume and want someone in your building every day.
Price the hire against the whole office.
Schedule a Consultation. Tell us your trade and your bid volume, and we confirm the bid size and price before we start.
Have a job out to bid? Send the plans when you book.