Resources

FAQs

General Questions
Who is CostCenter and why should I trust you?

CostCenter, an Acuity International product, is a leading independent provider of program management and technology solutions to government agencies. Founded in 1982 as Project Time & Cost (PT&C), we employ a highly educated, qualified, and credentialed staff of nearly 150 employees. Our advanced technical team is renowned for its demonstrated commitment to the highest standards of excellence and customer service.

While our program management and professional services team are distributed domestically and internationally in support of active projects, our software development team is exclusively US-based and primarily operates from our headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

Project Time & Cost (PT&C), Caliburn, Acuity?

It’s simple. We’ve evolved over the years. New name, same continued commitment.

  • 1982 – We were founded as Project Time & Cost (PT&C)
  • 2018 – We became Caliburn-PT&C
  • 2021 – We are now a part of Acuity International ETS (Engineering & Technology Solutions)
What’s CostCenter I bought CostBook/CostBase/CostPro?

CostCenter is a cloud-based portal that helps to solve coordination problems for owners, contractors, and architects in all types of industries. It acts as the core information hub for each of our construction applications and provides an overarching view of key performance indicators. By design, project details and workflows have been brought together in an intuitive interface. In addition, it highlights team updates and provides performance report to keep you in the loop at all points.

As you integrate our other applications into your work process, you’ll find an end-to-end construction cost lifecycle ecosystem at your fingertips. Everything from your cost book to your estimation tool will be able to speak to one another on some level. This built-in modularity allows you to only use the applications you need without worrying about cross-application compatibility — saving you from the troubles of custom integrations and APIs. With CostCenter, we’ve streamlined budgeting, scheduling, and file organization so you don’t miss a deadline.

Can I see an application in action before I buy?

Of course. We’d love to show you around. Please sign up for a demo and one of our team members will reach out to you as soon as possible.

Are all of your software cloud-based or downloadable?

It’s in the cloud for your convenience. No need to self-manage or have a network admin set up and maintain our suite of tools.

Are we able to setup different access permissions for members of the team?

Yes. There are different user roles that can be assigned by an admin user.

Products
What is CostBook?

With the most detailed construction cost data available, our out-of-the-box solution features approximately 35,000+ searchable unit line items researched, validated and routinely updated by experienced cost engineers. Yes, we have team of in-the-field cost engineers that oversee this data. CostBook features intuitive and flexible organization of cost items so that you can find what you need faster.

What are the benefits of using CostCenter's cost book data vs hard copy books?

While it can be nice to have a physical copy for reference, we find the benefits of a digital cost book far outweigh the benefits of a book set (physical or ebook). With a cloud database, you can access our cost data from anywhere. You can use our database interface to quickly add items to your estimation project. No manual input. Search, select, and add. It’s that easy. You can make changes to an item cost at one source point and that edit will make the appropriate corrections across your entire project.

What are the benefits of using CostCenter's CostBook (which is our cost book data) vs another construction cost database?

We believe in quality over quantity and data transparency. To do your job well, you need data you can rely on – cost data that can help you get an accurate estimate. We don’t rely on min, max, and averages to make our dataset. CostBook was created out of need. Our team of cost engineers couldn’t find a data source that would let them avoid the need to go in and adjust each and every item cost. What good is data if it’s not usable?

What is CostPro?

We built our estimating platform with the needs of the estimator in mind. A big portion of our in-the-field team members are cost engineers that are building our cost book and working with our developers to build an estimation application that can streamline workflows. Our intuitive user interface is designed to help you do your job better, faster, and with less rework required. When paired with the PT&C CostBook, have confidence that your detailed estimate is both current and accurate, regardless of the size of your project.

Can CostPro import excel spreadsheets?

It depends. If you’re looking to upload a spreadsheet of custom cost data, we can absolutely do that. If this is an export from another estimating platform we are unable to support these files. However, depending on the data in the export file, you could potentially reformat the data import portions of that file into your project. Reach out to our team and we’ll help you with this process.

Technical
Is the system portable to other cloud services? How about on-prem?

The short answer is no. We’re a cloud service and we’ll host your account.

The long answer is that our software suite can only be used with MS Azure if we develop a custom on-prem solution. Please reach out to our team if your agency or enterprise needs an on-prem solution.

How many cost books can I add to CostPro? I have another cost database I want to use.

Currently, you can access our CostBook data and plug in your own custom data if you have an export of that data.

Support
Are there tutorials or a learning center for cost estimation with your tools?

Yes, we do. Access our knowledge database to get the most from our products. Even if you had training, this knowledge database will be a great reference for any of the small details that is easy to forget.

Help, I lost my password.

No worries. Access your CostCenter login portal. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Request Password Reset.”

Help, I’ve encountered a bug in the software.

Let’s squash the bug. To report issues, please follow the steps below:

  • Log into your CostCenter portal.
  • Click on “Issues or Feedback?” (see the top navigation menu within our application).
  • Select “Bug” in the dropdown menu.
  • Add your comments. Include as much detail as you can. Consider the following as a guideline for how to describe a bug to our team: The issue, steps to reproduce, expected result, actual result, and your web browser.
  • Click on “Submit” once you’re done.

Example: I can’t upload an estimate to my project. / Go to CostPro project, click on the “Upload Estimate” button on the toolbar, and nothing happens. / A popup should come up. I’m no longer seeing a popup. / I’m using Google Chrome.

Help, I don’t know how to do X in your software.

Don’t worry, we have your back.

Access our knowledge database to get into the nitty gritty details.

Can’t find the answer to your question, reach out to our live chat. We’ll get you connected to an expert. You’ll be able to access our live chat through the chat bubble in the bottom right corner of our website.

Is CostCenter secure?

Yes! We have decades of Federal project experience and understand how important security is for every organization. Our website and cloud software all operate within a secure socket layer (SSL).

Services
Do you still provide cost engineering & consulting services?

Yes. Please click here to learn more.

What kind of projects do you work on?

We provide cost engineering to support over $100 billion in projects estimates worldwide. From stadiums to housing facilities, our team has helped develop estimates for projects of all sizes and across all budgets.

How long have you been around?

We have nearly 40 years of experience providing cost estimation, program, and project management for federal agencies. You could have known us as PT&C, Caliburn-PT&C, and now as Acuity.

What do you do?

New construction, renovations, decommissioning, program management, and so much more. Before releasing CostCenter, we had decades of experience in creating custom cost data and cost estimating platforms.

What are your main services?

Cost Estimating.
Construction Schedules.
Order Management.
Market Analysis.

Click here for more details.