Until they began using Precise Builder, JM Riehl Builders relied on a patchwork system to handle estimating. Material lists calculated on paper, labor added as a lump sum in QuickBooks, and every update requiring a trip back to the original notebook.
It worked… but it was messy, slow, and difficult to revise once a customer wanted changes.
Today, things look very different. With Precise Builder, Mark Riehl now estimates faster, keeps customer information organized, tracks costs more clearly, and makes adjustments without the headaches that used to hold him back.
What used to be scattered across notebooks, QuickBooks entries, and loose papers now lives in one clean, structured system.
Before Precise Builder, estimating happened in multiple disconnected places:
Mark’s biggest challenge was simple: making changes shouldn’t require starting over.
With Precise Builder, that pain point disappeared.
“When a customer wanted to make changes to the estimate, I couldn’t just easily make a couple changes or void a couple items like I can in Precise [Builder].”
For the first time, Mark can revise estimates quickly, track his costs as he goes, and use clean change orders after a job is signed. This was something he didn’t have before.
Mark now uses Precise Builder primarily for estimating and scheduling, and those two features alone transformed his workflow.
Quotes, messages, invoices, and job details no longer float around in separate tools. He can now see the full history of every customer in a single clean record.
The structured system helps Mark:
“It definitely helps me be able to know a little more what I’m doing per job.”
Instead of guessing, he now sees the financial picture clearly for each project.
Transitioning from QuickBooks to Precise Builder required a shift in how Mark thought about estimating. Kits, labor percentages, square footage, and material quantities worked differently than what he was used to.
At first, the challenge was recalibrating his thinking.
But once he committed to using it consistently, Mark noted that within a few months of steady use, the software felt natural and easy to work with.
By early 2025, it had become the daily system. Not an experiment, not a secondary tool, but the way JM Riehl Builders estimates.
While Mark and his partner John are currently the primary users, the benefits to the business are already clear:
Mark uses scheduling regularly, and though the team hasn’t fully adopted the job-site features yet, he already sees how the structure can support future growth.
When asked whether he would recommend the system, his answer was straightforward:
“I would go with it. I really like the estimating part of it.”
For JM Riehl Builders, Precise Builder replaced an outdated, manual estimating process with a streamlined, organized, and much easier system.
Mark now enjoys:
And most importantly: confidence that every job is documented, traceable, and easy to update.
With the Precise Builder software, you can finally run your construction company well and with accuracy. Via one single platform, you’ll have access to all your processes and important information, making it easier than ever to:
Run your company using one central software
Stop stressing over seemingly endless office work
Better estimate how much each job will cost
Grow your sales and have fun doing it!
Explore Precise Builder on your own time? Access our free live demo today and discover the benefits.
Schedule a time with one of our experts to talk through exactly how Precise Builder fits your company.
We will explore your exact needs and areas of weakness, then show you the features that will work best.
Schedule Now"With Precise Builder, everything lives within the software and I can access it anywhere ... to sum it up, it has saved our company an incredible amount of time, which is a huge return on our investment"
-Kevin, TriState Buildings
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