First-time setup — connect DBx BOQ to your databases

You’ve installed DBx BOQ and SQL Server is ready. This article walks through the first-launch setup — connecting to your Databuild databases, adding users, and setting the defaults that shape every BOQ from now on.

Plan to spend about 15 minutes. None of these steps are difficult, but a few of the defaults (price level, currency, decimal places) are easier to set right now than to change later when you have estimates depending on them.

Step 1: Open Settings → System → Companies

When DBx BOQ launches for the first time it should open the Settings screen automatically. If not, click the gear icon in the top-right and choose Settings.

You’ll see a tabbed layout: System · Application · Data · Documents · Integration · License · About. Start on the System tab.

Step 2: Add your company

Click Add Company and fill in the connection details:

Click Test Connection. If it returns green, you’re connected. If it returns red, see troubleshooting below.

Click Save.

Adding company details

Once connected, fill in the company information shown on reports and purchase orders:

• Address
• Phone
• Email
• ABN (DBx BOQ has built-in ABN lookup — start typing the number and it’ll fetch the rest)
• Logo — upload your company logo. It’ll appear on PDFs, POs, claims, and reports.

Multiple companies

If you run more than one company / set of books, click Add Company again to add a second connection. You’ll be able to switch between them from the top-right menu without restarting DBx BOQ.

Step 3: Add users

Still on the System tab, click Users.

Add an account for each person who’ll use DBx BOQ:

1. Click Add User.
2. Set username and password.
3. Choose role:
   • Admin — full access including settings and user management
   • Estimator — can edit BOQs, catalogue, suppliers, jobs
   • Viewer — read-only
4. Save.

You don’t need to create a SQL Server login for each person — DBx BOQ handles user-level auth itself, then connects to SQL Server using the single dbxadmin login.

Step 4: Set your defaults (Application tab)

Switch to the Application tab. These defaults shape every estimate from now on. Get them right once.

Defaults section

UI Preferences

• Grid Row Height — Compact gives more rows on screen, Comfortable is easier to read. Most users prefer Normal.
• Font Size — Medium is fine. Bump to Large if you have a 4K monitor and the text feels small.
• Default Startup Tab — choose what opens after login. Jobs is a good default for estimators; Purchase Orders for procurement-focused users.
• Confirmation Dialogs — leave on while you’re learning the app. Turn off later if the prompts annoy you.

BOQ Options

These shape how the BOQ grid behaves. Defaults are sensible — you can come back later. The important ones to know about:

• Recipe Explosion — when adding a recipe item to a BOQ, should it expand into all its child items? Most estimators want this on.
• Auto-repricing — should DBx BOQ refresh all unit prices from the catalogue when a BOQ loads? On keeps things current; off is safer for finalised estimates you don’t want changing under you.
• Trade Groups — show/hide the Trade Group hierarchy in the Cost Centre panel. Turn on if your business uses Trade Groups; otherwise leave off.

Step 5: (Optional) check the Data tab

Switch to the Data tab to confirm:

• Jobs → Job Statuses, Job Types, Numbering — these come from your existing Databuild data, so usually nothing to change here.
• Units — the units of measure available when adding catalogue items. Add any custom units you use (e.g. tonne, lump, % of contract).
• DB Schema — DBx BOQ adds a few optional columns to your Databuild databases for features like archived items and Trade Groups. The DB Schema screen shows what columns it needs versus what’s already present, and generates SQL ALTER TABLE scripts that you (or your DBA) can review and apply. DBx BOQ never silently changes your schema — every change is opt-in via these scripts.

You’re done

Restart DBx BOQ (close and re-open). You should land on your chosen startup tab with your existing Databuild jobs visible.

What to do next:

1. Open a job — pick one of your existing jobs from the list. Verify the BOQ loads correctly and totals match what you’d expect from Databuild.
2. Press F1 on any tab — context-sensitive help opens with everything you need to know about that screen.
3. Try formulas — open a BOQ and type 10*2.5 in a Quantity cell. You’ll see it calculate live with a green calculator icon. This is one of DBx BOQ’s most-used features and it works in every numeric field.

Troubleshooting the connection

If Test Connection returns red:

• “Cannot connect to server” → SQL Server isn’t accepting TCP connections. Go back to installation step 4.
• “Login failed for user ‘dbxadmin’” → Authentication mode wasn’t switched to mixed, or password is wrong. See installation step 2.
• “Cannot open database ‘YOURSYS’” → The dbxadmin user wasn’t granted access to the database. See installation step 3, “Grant database access”.
• “Specified driver could not be loaded” → ODBC driver missing. Install Microsoft ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server.

Stuck? Contact support or call 1300 818 620. We’ve connected DBx BOQ to hundreds of Databuild installs and most error messages are immediately recognisable to us.