Create & Manage Bill of Quantities

This guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough of creating, managing, editing, and interpreting the BoQ to ensure consistency and traceability across your project's financial lifecycle.

1. BoQ Overview in Coreloops

Each Coreloops project supports one BoQ, acting as the live commercial reference throughout the project’s lifecycle. The BoQ defines the tendered values, and once a project is marked as "Live", those values become contract benchmarks.

The platform calculates and tracks multiple financial states:

• Original Tender Values – locked once the project starts

• Live Contract Values – updates dynamically if BoQ is changed post-start

• Forecast Values – driven by changes to quantities, costs, or commercial inputs

These values are shown throughout the platform via consistent metrics:

• Original Value / Budget / Margin / Margin %

• Forecast Value / Budget / Margin / Margin %

Audit trails log every change to BoQ values—both at the individual line-item level and across the entire BoQ document.

2. Adding and Structuring BoQ Items

Navigate to Project > Bill of Quantities, then click "Add New" to insert an item. You can add:

• Section – high-level grouping for works (e.g., Groundworks, Superstructure)

• Subsection – nested within a section to refine scope (e.g., Excavation, Foundations)

• Line Item – quantifiable work item, must include cost and/or sell values

• Text Item – non-financial line for notes, assumptions, or reference only

Nesting Rules and Hierarchy:

• Sections can contain subsections or line items directly

• Subsections can contain line items only

• Line Items can exist standalone or within a parent

• Text items can appear at any level

When an item is added, you can:

• Enter a Reference Code (e.g., 1.1, A, G3)

• Define a Title / Description

• Reorder items freely via drag-and-drop or item actions

• Change item types using the type selector, with a confirmation prompt to update hierarchy

3. Line Item Fields and Calculations

Line items are the functional heart of the BoQ. Each includes:

• Reference Code

• Title

• Quantity

• Unit (e.g., m2, m3, hr, item)

• Cost Rate and Cost Price (auto-calculated)

• Sell Rate and Sell Price (auto-calculated)

• Assigned Cost Code (only one allowed per item)

• Forecast Start / End Dates

• Assigned To (team member)

Important: Cost and Sell Prices are always derived from Quantity × Rate. Manual overrides of calculated price fields are not supported.

Parent items (sections, subsections) will automatically sum the values of all their child line items. These totals update dynamically and are not manually editable.

4. Collaboration Features

Clicking into a line item reveals a detail modal with:

• Full field editing (including changing parent, type, or cost code)

• Document linking (manual, currently for traceability only)

• Audit trail for all changes with timestamps and user attribution

• Commenting system with @mention support (sends email notifications)

• Assigned To field for ownership and accountability (not yet used for permissions)

Line items support full versioning and tracking of value changes. This is visible per item and in the overall BoQ history log.

5. Bulk Actions and Maintenance

You can bulk-select items within the BoQ to:

• Assign to a user

• Apply or change cost codes

• Delete items (with confirmation prompt)

If you delete:

• A line item linked to documents or variations – it is removed immediately

• A section or subsection with children – system prompts you to either remove all or release children

Note: All deletions are final, but changes are traceable in audit history.

6. Text Items

Text items are flexible, non-priced entries that can:

• Exist at any level (section, subsection, root)

• Include notes, clarifications, assumptions

• Be reordered freely

• Be included in exports and summaries

These are valuable for internal reviews or to replicate contractual BoQ language.

7. Variations in the BoQ

Variations are added as separate line items in the BoQ and can be:

• Linked to original line items for traceability

• Tagged visually within the BoQ to identify them as variations

• Used to measure cost or scope change over the contract lifecycle

8. BoQ Summary and Global Settings

The Summary tab provides a project-wide view:

• Discount and Retention: Apply globally or toggle to set per-line

• Forecast and Original metrics: Value, Budget, Margin, Margin %

• Export options: Download full BoQ, section summaries

• Reimport support (upcoming): Will allow Excel re-sync

Once the project status is set to Live:

• Original (tender) values are locked

• Changes update the contract's live values

• You must stop the project to amend original BoQ values

9. Reporting & Analytics Integration

BoQ data connects directly to all reporting modules:

• Dashboard: Forecast/Actual margins by cost code

• Cost Reports: Benchmark vs live spend

• Valuations: Progress draws linked to BoQ structure

• Variation Orders: Rolled into BoQ for forecasting

All BoQ metrics match their definitions in other areas of Coreloops. There’s no re-calculation or custom logic at the BoQ level—ensuring consistent financial alignment.

Best Practice: Assign cost codes diligently at setup. These tags control how your analytics are broken down later.

10. Final Tips

• Use a clean, logical reference code system (e.g. 1.0, 1.1, 2.0)

• Keep sections clear and limit nesting to 2–3 levels for clarity

• Use "Assigned To" for workflow visibility and collaboration

• Rely on audit trails and comments to maintain commercial transparency

• Treat BoQ changes post-Live as contract amendments; use variations instead when possible