Why Create a Custom Item

While STACK provides thousands of pre-built items that will easily work for most projects, there may be times when those items don't fit your exact need. Creating a custom item allows you to incorporate the unique project costs specific to your work. Once you've created an item, it's available for you to re-use project after project, and you can edit or delete it at any time if needed.

Best Practices

Custom items are created and saved under Items/My Items. We strongly recommend that you create a folder structure there to help organize your custom items and that you give your items detailed names so you can easily find what you need as your catalog of custom items grows.

Ways to Create a Custom Item

Create an item from scratch.
Copy a pre-built item (from STACK Items, Quick Start Items or BNi Items*) and customize it to suit your needs.
Perform a bulk import. (This is only advised if you have a large number of custom items to create or edit. See Bulk Import Custom Items to STACK for more info.)

*If you copy a BNi item, the copied item will not be connected to the regional cost database, you will have to manually enter costs.

See below for instructions to:

Create a Custom Item

Copy and Customize a Pre-Built Item

Edit or Delete a Custom Item

Create a Custom Item

Click Items on the main navigation toolbar.
Under My Items, click the ellipsis (three dots) next to the folder where you want the item saved. (Create a new folder if needed.)
Select Create item here.
Fill in the Item Information fields. (See field descriptions below.)
Click Add to save or Create and Add Another to quickly create similar items.*

*Example: If you are creating one item to represent drywall, click Add to save and you are done. However, if you are creating several items to represent different drywall sizes, you can click Create and Add Another which will save the item information you entered and leave the Item Information fields populated so you can make the changes you want for the next item without retyping everything. You can click Create and Add Another and repeat the process until you have created all the items you want, then click Add to save and exit the edit screen.

Item Information Field Descriptions

Item Name (required, text - 120 characters max)

Create a name for the item; the material is commonly used as a starting point. The name can be as general or specific as your needs require - ex., 'Drywall' or '4 X 8 Drywall'.

Description (optional, text - 255 characters max)

You can enter a description of the item, how it functions, or any requirements/specifications. This description will only appear on the Item Information screen, not on reports or estimates.

Unit of Measure (required, dropdown)

The takeoff measurement type. This field determines which drawing tools can be used with this item. You must choose one of the listed values from the dropdown.

Purchase Unit (required, text - 50 characters max)

How you purchase the material, such as gallon, case, box, case, sq ft, 5-foot section, etc. This field will appear on reports and estimates.

Coverage Rate (required, numeric)

Enter numerical values for the item’s Unit of Measure and Purchase Unit from above -i.e., how many units of measure are in a purchase unit. (The number entered for the Purchase Unit is usually 1.)

Examples:

375 sq ft = 1 gallon *
5 lin ft = 1 (one) 5-foot section
1 lin ft = 1 lin ft
500 lin ft = 1 coil

*For this example, say you're creating a "paint" item and selected sq ft as the Unit of Measure and entered gallon as the Purchase Unit; for coverage rate, you would enter how many sq ft (375) you can cover with one gallon of paint.

The information entered under coverage rate is used to convert your takeoff data (measurements and counts) into material costs and quantities on your reports and estimates.

Cost Type (required, checkbox)

You can apply multiple cost types to each item.* Equipment, labor, material, and subcontractor are preloaded options, or you can create a custom Company Cost Type in Account Settings/Company Settings. Check the box next to each cost type that you want to apply to the item. The data for each selected cost type will appear on Item Reports and the Material and Labor Estimate.

*If your purchase unit is a measurement (sq ft, lin ft, etc.) with one to one coverage rate, you can avoid creating separate items by applying multiple cost types like material AND labor to one item.

If your purchase unit is a physical item (board, tube, gallon, etc.), you can apply multiple cost types to the item, but it might be easier to create separate items to represent the material, labor, equipment, etc.

Accounting Code (optional, text or numeric - 250 characters max)

This could be a code assigned by your billing or accounting department, QuickBooks Online Item info, a part number, SKU number, or any code you want associated with the item. You can enter a different code for each cost type you choose.

NOTE: You must enter an Accounting Code for each selected item cost type if you want to export STACK estimates to QuickBooks Online.

Unit Cost (optional, numeric)

The default price of the item. This is typically your purchase price, but you can include markup in the amount. You can enter a different unit cost for each cost type you choose.

Copy and Customize a Pre-Built Item

(From STACK Items, Quick Start Items or BNi Items*)

*If you copy a BNi item, the copied item will not be connected to the regional cost database, you will have to manually enter costs.

Click Items on the main navigation toolbar.
Locate and click on the item you want to copy from STACK Items or Quick Start Items.
Click Save As.
Choose the folder where you want to save the copied item.
Click the + button to the right of the chosen folder.
Under My Items, open the folder where the item was saved.
Edit the Item Information fields you want to change - make sure to change the name of the item. (See field descriptions above.)
Click Save.

Edit or Delete a Custom Item

NOTE: Any changes made to an item will affect ALL projects (future AND existing) that contain that item.* We recommend that you download and/or Create Snapshot of existing reports, estimates, and estimate worksheets for projects that use the item you want to edit, prior to making the changes, so you have a record of the original reports and estimates.

*Changes to Unit Cost are an exception - they will be updated on existing reports and will be applied to estimates and reports created after the edit, but will NOT be updated on existing estimates.

NOTE: Delete CANNOT be undone.

Click Items on the main navigation toolbar.
Click on the item you want to edit under My Items.
Edit the Item Information fields you want to change and proceed to Step 4.
OR
Click the Delete button to delete the item.
Click Delete in the pop-up box to confirm.
You must click Save to save your changes. (If you click Cancel, the changes you’ve made will NOT be saved.)