Estimates

The Estimates area allows bids to be captured and tracked before they are won, giving early visibility of anticipated social value and win/loss performance.

Figure 1 The Estimates screen, showing saved bids and their status

The Estimates screen follows the same layout as the Projects screen:

Create Estimate (top right): adds a new estimate.
Filters: narrow the list by Business Unit, County, or Bid Status.
Search, column and export controls: search estimates, choose which columns are shown, and export the list.
Estimate list: each row shows the estimate name and reference, who created it and when, the date it was last updated, and its current bid status (for example Bid, Won or Closed). Select an estimate name to open it.

Creating an Estimate

Selecting Create Estimate opens a form split into two parts: the estimate details at the top, and the Metrics table underneath.

Figure 2 A new estimate with its details completed, before any metrics are added

Field	What to enter
Estimate Name	The name of the bid or opportunity.
Estimate Reference Number	If relevant, a reference from the bid document or your own identifier.
Bid Status	The current status of the bid, such as Bid, Won, Closed or Deleted.
Business Unit	The part of the business the bid belongs to.
County	If relevant, the county or locality the work will take place in.
Project Value	The value of the contract, in pounds.
Use Proxies From Year	The IES proxy value year to calculate against.

Select Save (top right) to save the estimate at any point. Until metrics are added, the Metrics table shows a "No metrics added yet" message.

Why the proxy value year matters The IES is reviewed annually, and proxy values, metrics or methodology may change from year to year. The system retains the proxy values in place at the point an estimate or project is created, so historical figures remain accurate even as later years' values change.

Adding Metrics to an Estimate

Select + Add Metrics to open the Add Metrics panel on the right-hand side of the screen.

Figure 3 The Add Metrics panel

There are several ways to find and select metrics in the panel:

Quick Add from a Metric Basket: choose a saved basket to select all of its metrics in one action.
Search: find metrics by code or keyword.
Group by: choose which model the metrics are grouped by, for example the Impact Evaluation Standard.
Expand All: open every impact area at once, rather than using the arrows one at a time.
Tick boxes: tick an impact area to select every metric within it, or expand it and tick individual metrics.

A running count of metrics selected is shown in the top right of the panel. Select Add Metrics to add them to the estimate, or Cancel to close the panel without adding anything.

Once added, each metric appears as a line in the Metrics table:

Figure 4 An estimate with four metrics added, showing the calculated social value

Column	What it shows
Metric	The metric code and description.
Proxy	The proxy value for one unit of the metric, taken from the selected proxy year.
Amount	Enter the anticipated commitment here, for example a number of FTE jobs or a value of spend.
Social Value	Calculated automatically by multiplying the amount by the proxy value.
Comment	Optional context for the metric line, for example "with chosen charity".

The red X at the end of each line removes that metric from the estimate.

Underneath the table, the system totals every line into a Target Social Value and a STEV (social total economic value) percentage, which is the target social value expressed as a percentage of the project value.

Worked example In the example above, 20 non-local FTE jobs (IM18) at a proxy of £31,466.17 each gives a social value of £629,323.37.

Across all four metrics, the target social value is £2,630,376.08. Against a project value of £25,000,000, this gives a STEV of 10.52%.

Managing Estimates

Saved estimates appear in the filterable list shown at the start of this article. Opening a saved estimate shows it as Edit Estimate, where the details and metrics can be updated and saved again.

The Actions menu (top right) gives three further options:

Figure 5 The Actions menu on a saved estimate

Action	What it does
Convert To Project	Turns a won bid into a live project (see the ‘Converting Bids and Project Set-Up’ article).
Export To XLS	Downloads the estimate as an Excel file.
Delete	Removes the estimate.