Overview
Ensign can generate a dedicated export file formatted specifically for Pegasus (EQ2). The EQ2 export includes fields and conventions that map directly to the Pegasus system. For the Sage 200 export, see Exporting to Sage.
Prerequisites
Before the EQ2 export button becomes available, you need to enable two settings in system preferences.
- 1
Go to Tools > System Preferences and open the Miscellaneous Default tab.
- 2
Near the bottom of the screen, tick the option Show export to other format options on the summary table. This unlocks the Sage and Pegasus tick boxes on the Cost Code tab.
- 3
Switch to the Cost Code tab. You will now see an additional tick box for the Pegasus (EQ2) export. Tick it to enable the feature.
Once enabled, an EQ2 Export button will appear on the summary table alongside the standard reporting options.
Enabling these options also adds extra columns to the cost code setup screens — such as the cost code label (group code) column visible on the component type and manufacturer type grids. These additional columns allow you to configure the supplementary references that the Pegasus export requires.
Column layout
The exported spreadsheet includes the following columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Contract number | Your Ensign job code number, used as the contract reference in EQ2. |
| Mode | A flag indicating whether the row is a title (mode 1) or an item (mode 2). Title rows represent your section structure headings (e.g. floor names) and carry no cost values. Item rows contain the actual product data. |
| Item reference | Corresponds to the takeoff line number in Ensign. This determines the order in which items appear when imported into EQ2. |
| Account reference | The account reference (e.g. "in-house"). |
| Quantity | The quantity of the item. |
| Estimated cost rate | The estimated cost rate for the item. |
| Unit of measure | Either "metre" or "number", matching how the item is measured in Ensign. |
| Cost code | The cost code reference. Note that the EQ2 export deliberately excludes cost code descriptions, because Pegasus holds its own descriptions internally. |
Generating the export
- 1
On the summary table, click the EQ2 Export button.
- 2
Save the file to your Import Export folder in Ensign's cloud storage.
- 3
Copy the file to your local machine and open it to verify the data before importing into Pegasus.
Controlling item order in the EQ2 export
The item reference column in the EQ2 export is derived from the takeoff line number in Ensign. If you need items to appear in a specific order when imported into Pegasus, you must reorder the lines on the takeoff screen before exporting.
Use the up and down arrows on the takeoff screen to physically move lines into the order you need. Do not rely on clicking a column header (such as Description) to sort the display — this only changes the visual sort order on screen and does not alter the underlying line numbers. The EQ2 export always uses the actual line numbers, so only the arrow-based reordering will affect the exported order.
If you need all items of a particular type grouped together in the export (for example, all valves followed by all pipework), move those lines into adjacent positions using the arrows before continuing to the summary table and running the export.
Labour cost code exports
The Pegasus export can include labour cost code data if you have enabled the labour cost code column in system preferences. When enabled, labour costs are broken out with their own cost code references in the export file. Most users do not require this level of detail, but it is available if your accounting workflow needs labour and material costs separated by cost code.
Custom exports
If you need a cost code export in a format not currently supported, contact the Ensign support team. There may be an existing report format that suits your needs, or a new one can be considered for a future update. The standard cost code reports can also be exported to Excel Data Only format (see Reporting by Cost Code), which provides a clean column layout that can be restructured to match most import requirements.