Manufacturing · Millwork and casework
A custom millwork shop prices work nobody has priced before: a run of casework for a hospital, a reception desk from a drawing, store fixtures on a schedule somebody else set. The estimate gets built in a spreadsheet that started life on another job, sheet goods and hardware get priced from memory or from a PDF somebody saved in March, and the shop finds out what the job really cost after it ships. Meanwhile the accounting system knows what you invoiced and nothing about what it took.
Whatever you price from today.
The shop’s own numbers, while the job is still open.
Most shops start with quoting, because that is where the money leaks and where the payback is easiest to see. A focused build is usually two to four weeks at a fixed price agreed before work starts.
Who it is for
A millwork quote is a small manufacturing plan wearing a price tag.
That is why generic estimating software fits badly: it wants a catalog of products, and you sell work that does not exist yet. The same shape of problem turns up in the job shops and trade contractors we build for — one-off pricing, materials that move, and a shop floor whose real costs never reach the office. If an off-the-shelf package covers what you need, we will tell you that and the audit still costs nothing. MillHQ, the ERP we are building, is aimed at exactly this kind of business.
Three different problems
Shops searching for millwork software are usually looking for one of three things, and they are not interchangeable. It is worth knowing which one you actually have before anyone quotes you.
The quote takes too long and the price is a guess.
Cabinet and millwork estimating packages assume a catalog: pick products, apply pricing. Custom work does not exist yet when you price it, so the package fights you and the estimate goes back to the spreadsheet. We build quoting that follows the rules you already price by, with your own material and hardware costs in one place.
Nothing joins up: quote, shop, install, invoice.
A full ERP replacement is a long, expensive year and rarely the right first move. More often the answer is to leave the accounting where it is and build the missing middle around it. MillHQ is the ERP we are building for businesses like this; it is not finished, and we will say so rather than sell you a plan.
The books are fine. The job costs are not.
QuickBooks knows what you invoiced and what you paid. It was never built to tell you what a run of casework cost while the job is still on the floor. That gap is filled in front of the accounting, not by replacing it.
Commercial casework manufacturing, architectural millwork, closets, store fixtures: the shapes differ, the problem rarely does. The free Process Audit puts hours and dollars against each one and says which is worth fixing first.
Common questions
Either. Replacing an ERP is a long, expensive year and it is rarely the right first move. Most shops are better served by leaving the accounting where it is and building the quoting and job tracking around it, so the ERP keeps doing the part it does adequately. If the ERP genuinely is the problem, we will say so, and MillHQ is where that work is heading.
No, it is the starting point. The spreadsheet holds years of knowledge about how you price, and the first job is to get that out of one file and one person's head and into something the whole shop can use without breaking it. Nothing is thrown away.
Sometimes, and it depends entirely on what your machines and software will accept. Some shops have a nesting package that already does this well, in which case we leave it alone and feed it. We will look at what you run before promising anything.
Yes, and on this kind of work it usually matters more than the original quote. The point is that a revision is priced, recorded and invoiced rather than absorbed, and that you can see at the end of the job what the changes actually cost you.
No. What we build is custom software shaped around the systems you already run — most often quoting and job tracking that feed the accounting you keep. MillHQ, the ERP we are building, is aimed at exactly this kind of shop, but it is not finished and we will not pretend otherwise.
Sometimes you should, and we will tell you when a package covers it. They fit badly when every job is priced from a drawing rather than from a catalog, when your markups differ by customer, or when the estimate has to carry install and freight. If an off-the-shelf package fits, buying it is cheaper than anything we would build.
Yes, and the logic inside them is the starting point rather than something to throw away. The point is to get years of pricing knowledge out of one file on one person's desktop and into something the whole shop can use, without losing the way you price.
QuickBooks is an accounting system. It is good at invoices, bills and the general ledger, and it was never designed to tell you what a job cost while the job is still in the shop. What we build sits in front of it and hands it clean numbers, so you keep the accounting you have.
A few sentences is plenty: what you would like built or improved, and who it is for.
We read and answer every message ourselves.
All of these reach Chris directly.
Tell us about your project Book a free 30-minute Process Audit Email chris@edenmillsoftware.com Call 410-375-4340Not sure what you need yet? The free Process Audit is the place to start.
