CFE guide · Estimating

Import a Callidus® Summary Report Into Your Estimate in One Click

Stop retyping takeoffs. Drop the Summary Report PDF from Callidus into CFE - Advanced Estimating Worksheet and every line comes in: code, description, quantity and units. Each line is typed and checked against your Import Rules, and your takeoff notes travel with it. Two minutes later the quantities sit in the Estimate Quote, ready for your labor and material prices.

By Cristian Valcu, Founder, Commercial Flooring Estimating LLC · Updated November 2, 2026

• 2 minutes
• Beginner
• Needs: Summary Report PDF
• Trial and subscription

Why retype a takeoff you already have?

A typical commercial job has 10 to 40 takeoff lines. Typing them by hand means one slipped digit on 3,467 feet of base can quietly cost you the job, or your margin. Worse, the notes the takeoff estimator wrote (addenda reviewed, "order in full boxes", "add 5 to 7% to this base") tend to stay in the PDF instead of reaching the estimate.

The Import Takeoff (Callidus) screen reads the printed Summary Report the way an estimator would, line by line, and shows you exactly what it found before anything touches your estimate.

The four steps

1. Export from CallidusPrint or export the takeoff as a Summary Report PDF.
2. Open or drop the PDFHome tab, Open PDF, or drag it onto the drop box.
3. Review the previewTypes, checks, sub-lines and the net check, all on one screen.
4. Transfer to EstimateOne green button. Rows land in the Estimate Quote.

1Export the Summary Report from Callidus

Use the standard Summary Report. CFE reads:

• Project name, takeoff date, who did the takeoff and the address
• Every product line: code, description, net, gross and base
• Text-box notes, such as "Addendum 1 and 2 reviewed"
• Yellow highlights, which mark the amounts the takeoff wants you to use

2Open the PDF, or just drop it in

You can start from the green Import Callidus Summary Report button on the Dashboard, from Home › Import, or from the Integrate tab. The file is read on your computer with plain code, no AI. It is never uploaded, which matters when a GC’s drawings are under NDA.

Before reading, CFE says where the lines will go: Lines go into JE-100042 · Estimate Quote, with a Change link. Pick a Change Order or an Alternate there and the same takeoff prices a revision instead of the base bid.

3Review the import preview

This is where the import earns its keep. Each line gets a Type (Base, Tile, Transition / trim, Walk-off mat and so on), picked by your Import Rules from the code or a keyword. The Checks column tells you what CFE did with each number (see the worked example below).

At the top, the net check adds the lines up and compares them with the report’s Plan Total. On the Prairie View Daycare takeoff the lines add to 1,436.31 sy against a Plan Total of 1,436.32, so the check is green. If they don’t match, the warning appears in red before you transfer, not after you’ve sent the bid.

4Transfer to the Estimate Quote

Press Transfer to Estimate Quote. The lines go in after the last used row, the project name fills the header, and a green bar names the file with an Undo transfer button. Nothing is priced for you: Labor $/u, Mat’l $/u and Attic % stay blank, because those are your numbers. The green edge stays on each transferred row until you change it, so you can see at a glance what you’ve reviewed.

Worked example: what the Checks column did on a real takeoff

These are the lines from the YMCA Early Learning Center Summary Report shown in step 1, and what the import made of each one.

Left out on purpose: the company header and page footers, tile layout text after the colon (split, full and tileEdge counts), tile piece counts and roll sizes (the gross amount is used instead), and floor plan labels from page 2 on.

When a line says "Type?"

A line whose code and words match no rule shows a red Type? box and the check "Pick one so the rules can run". On the Prairie View Daycare takeoff, F-3 (a 24"x24" walk-off carpet tile) came in that way. Pick the type from the list and CFE adds that type’s sub-lines at once. Lines it did match show the word that decided it under the type, such as word "floor tile" or word "schluter", so you can see why each one was typed.

Click any description, Qty or Units in the preview to type over it before the transfer, and right-click a line (or use the ··· button) to insert a row above or below, add a ↳ sub-line or delete the row.

Set your Import Rules once

The Import Rules tab decides which type each line gets and which ↳ sub-lines come with it. CFE checks the words of every type first, top to bottom, then the codes (the letters before the dash, so TL-1, TILE-3 and FT-12 match TL, TILE and FT), then the fallback words. Words win over codes because codes change from architect to architect: FT-1 is floor tile on one job and a Schluter strip on another.

Sheet vinyl lines are where the rules pay off most: flash cove, cove stick and cap, seam welding and integral inside and outside corners can all be added as sub-lines automatically. Export rules to a file saves them as a small .cferules file, and Import rules from a file lets you add a co-worker’s words, codes and sub-line rules to yours or replace yours.

What to do next

With the quantities in, price the lines and follow your first estimate, step by step, then choose markup or margin. Using another takeoff program? Import an Excel or CSV takeoff works the same way. The Estimate Quote worksheet page shows the whole sheet.

Written by

Cristian Valcu – Founder & CEO, Commercial Flooring Estimating LLC

Cristian has estimated commercial flooring with Callidus for over 20 years and built CFE - Advanced Estimating Worksheet to price those takeoffs without retyping them.

Last updated: November 2, 2026