Quotes

User Manuals > Quotes

Introduction

Quotes in CommitCRM provide an easy way to define and create sales quotes and proposals for products and services, using your Items list.

Your Items list can be imported from QuickBooks or from other sources such as Excel spreadsheets, text files, and more.

Customers can view Quotes using the Commit Web Interface, and print out their own copy via the Web. You can also customize Quotes layout to make sure it provides exactly the information you want it to.

The Quotes are linked to CommitCRM Accounts, so each Quote is automatically attached to the correct customer, keeping the complete history in the Account’s view.

Quote Life-cycle

Each Quote has a Status indicating what is happening with this Quote. Possible Statuses are:

• Open
• Lost
• Accepted by Web (by Customer via Web Interface)
• Won

Only an Open Quote can be updated. All Status changes are recorded in the Quote’s Audit tab.

When a Quote is first created, it is in status Open. It can then be modified in one of the following ways:

• Lost:
  Technician can change the Quote status to Lost, meaning the Quote was not accepted by the customer and will not be executed.
• Accepted by Web:
  Quotes that are marked as Public can be accessed and accepted by the customer via the Customers Web Interface. The customer can accept the Quote, which then becomes Accepted by Web. Note that this Quote is not considered won until it is updated by a technician to status Won.
• Won:
  Technician can change the Quote to Won, either from status Open or from status Accepted by Web. The Quote can then be converted to Charges or QuickBooks Invoices - see Converting Quote to Invoice.

See more details about what each status means in Quote Status.

Quote Window

When opening the Quote window, the Quotes list is displayed. In this window you can search for a Quote using the search panel at the top part of the window and view the results in the list. See Searching For Quotes for more details.

Double-clicking a Quote opens the full Quote details window:

In this window you can find all the Quote information including:

• Quote Status
• Quote Lines
• Quote Account, Bill-To and Ship-To details
• History Audit
• Other Properties

See more details in the sections below.

Quote Status

Each Quote can be in one of the following statuses:

• Open
• Lost
• Accepted by Web
• Won

Status Open

The Open status means the Quote is in progress and can still be modified. The Quote lines can be updated, affecting the Quote price and total amount, together with other Quote details. An Open Quote can become either Won or Lost. If updated by the customer, it can also become “Accepted by Web”, however, it still requires a technician to explicitly change the status to Won in order for the Quote to be won.

Status Lost

In this status, the Quote details cannot be modified, and most of the Quote tabs become read-only. Quote Properties, which are internal details about the Quote, can still be updated. When a Quote is Lost it cannot be converted to Charges/Invoice, however, it can be changed back to Open for further work if needed.

Status Accepted by Web

While a Quote is open, technicians can make it Public, so privileged customers can access the Quote, view the details and accept it. Once a Quote is accepted by the customer, it becomes “Accepted by Web” and most of the Quote tabs become read-only. Quote Properties, which are internal details about the Quote can still be updated.

At this status, technicians can change the Quote status to Won, and convert it to Charges/Invoice.

Should one need to update any of the Quote details at this point, technicians can change the Quote back to Open, clearing the “Accepted by Web” status. All of the status changes are logged int he Quote Audit tab for full tracking of it’s life-cycle.

Status Won

Once a Quote is approved by the customer (either via the Customer Portal or in any other way), technicians should change it’s status to Won.

When a Quote is Won most of the Quote tabs become read-only and cannot be modified. Quote Properties, which are internal details about the Quote can still be updated.

At this status, technicians can convert the Quote to Charges/Invoice, based on the Quote lines.

Lines Tab

The Quote Lines tab is where you add Items to your Quote. Each line represents a product or service, or can be a plain-text line which helps you structure your Quote better.

Adding new lines is done via the options at the top part of the tab, including: Item, Textual Lines, Blank Line or using quick-add options. See more details in Add Item-Based Lines.

The Quote total amount appears at the bottom-right corner of the tab. When using CommitCRM Taxes, the total amount shows also the Tax calculation. On the right part of the list appear control buttons which allow you to move lines up or down in the Quote, and also edit and copy a line (these options are also available when right-clicking a line).

General Tab

Under the General tab you will find:

• Account
  Each Quote must be linked to an Account. All quotes which are linked to a specific Account can be viewed from the Account’s Quotes tab.
  
• Bill To
  The contact and address details for billing. These details are taken from the linked Account by default and will be used when printing the Quote and when converting it to an Invoice.
• Ship To (optional)
  The contact and address details for shipping. These details are optional and are needed only in cases the package needs to be shipped to another address than the Bill To address. This field will be used when printing the Quote and when converting it to an Invoice.
• Contract (optional)
  Each Quote can be linked to a Contract. Use Contracts for Quotes when you want to use specific Custom Pricing or override the Account’s Custom Pricing. When using a Contract for the Quote, the Item’s price is taken based on the Custom Pricing defined for the Contract. If no Contract is selected for the Quote, the Item’s price is taken from the Item’s settings, or from the Account’s Custom Pricing (if defined).

Tip One-time customers: If the need arises to generate quotes for one-time customers or for potentials customers that step in and ask for a quote, one can create a dedicated Account called ‘One Time Customers’ and create the quote under this “dummy” account. In case the quote is Won it is possible to create a real Account for the new customer and select the new Account for the Quote. Note that best practice for this case would be to create a new Account for each such customer. Creating a new Account makes it easier to enter details such as address, email addresses, phone numbers etc. and also track this customer in the future. Such Accounts can be assigned a special Type (such as “Prospect”) which can be updated when they become “real” customers. This way you can easily filter the Account list in the future and delete irrelevant records.

Audit Tab

The Audit tab is where you can track what happened with this Quote from its creation.

The system automatically logs actions performed on the Quote under this tab, including:

• Quote creation
• Status updates
• Customer Web access to the Quote, including when a customer views and prints the Quote or when a customer accepts the Quote.
• Quote being converted to Charges/Invoice
• Quote being marked as Public or Not-Public

Properties Tab

In the Properties tab the system keeps internal properties for the Quote, which are accessible only for Employees. Customers do not have access to this information via the Customers Web Interface.

Properties do not include any financial information regarding the Quote, and can be updated even when the Quote is approved and locked for updates.

Quote Properties include:

• Name
  An internal name for the Quote. Use it to provide a short description of the Quote. This field is displayed in Quote lists, including the Quotes tab under the Account window.
• Reference
  The Reference field is an optional additional identification for the Quote (the main ID is the Quote Number).If defined, the reference field must be unique.
• Manager
  The Employee in charge of this Quote. By default, the Employee creating the Quote is the Manager, unless specifically specifying another employee.
• Custom Fields
  Field1-Field3 are optional custom fields which can be renamed to be used for your own needs.
• Public flag
  The Public flag determines whether a Quote is accessible to customers (who have the appropriate privileges) via the Customers Web Interface. By default, a Quote is not Public unless explicitly set as Public.
  • Quote downloadable format
    Customer users who access the Quote via the Web Interface can print out the Quote. By default, the format which will be printed is determined from Tools > Options > Quotes and refers to all Quotes. Using this option in the Quote will override the default report format and will determine which specific format will be printed for this Quote by the customer.
• Notes (Internal)
  In the notes field you can keep internal notes regarding this Quote.

Working with Quotes

Create New Quote

To create a new Quote:

1. Open the main Quotes Window
2. Click New at the toolbar
3. Add the Quote lines in the Lines tab - see Add Item-Based Lines and Add Textual and Blank Lines for more details.
4. Click the General tab and choose the Account which is linked to the Quote. See more details in General Tab > Account Details.
   Note: It is possible to start the new quote creation process from the Account window, via the Quotes tab, and this will automatically fill-in the Account details in the Quote.
5. If needed - add Ship to address or load it from any existing Account
6. Choose a Contract in case it is required - see more details in General Tab > Contract.

At this point, the Quote contains the essential details required for it. In addition you can add the following details:

• In the Header & Footer tab, you can add the Header and Footer text which will be displayed in Quote reports at the beginning and the end of the report. This text also appears in the Web Page displaying the Quote to the customer when using the Web
• In the Properties, you can add more internal details about the Quote - see Properties Tab.

Add Item-Based Lines

Use the Lines tab in the Quote window to add item-based lines to the Quote.

The top part of the tab is where you add Items to the quote using the following options:

• Add Item
  Choosing this option will open a New Quote Line window, allowing you to choose the item which will be added to the Quote, set its price and optional discount or markup.
• Quick Add Item
  Choosing this option lets you quickly add a new Item-based line to the quote by choosing the Item from a drop-down list. This will add a single Item as a line in the Quote. You can then double-click this line to edit it and refine its properties.

Each Item price can be adjusted using discount or markup:

1. Edit the Quote line
2. Next to the price, choose Discount or Markup as required.
3. Choose whether to use percentage or a fixed amount.
4. Enter the discount or markup amount.
   Note that discounts will be printed in reports. Markups on the other hand are never printed in reports and can only be viewed when editing the Quote Line.

Note: Only fixed-price unit-based Items (as opposed to hourly Items) can be used in Quotes. Each Quote line represents a service or product which is offered to the customer, and when converted later to Charges, they should reflect a purchase of a service in units rather than work actually performed. See more details below.

Why work with unit-based Items:
When defining items, users can define each Item with a price that can be either be unit-based or hourly-based. This classification can then be used in charges, to log work by hours or by service (by unit). Product/Part Items are always unit-based. When adding Items to a Quote, only unit-based items can be used. The system is set up this way in order to prevent situations in which Charges created from Quotes affect employees’ hourly reports. By using unit-based charges, you can add charges to the system without influencing the employee's hourly summary charge reports. For example, in order to quote a 50 hours, you should add a Labor Item that is a unit- based “1 hour” and set the quantity to 50 rather than adding an hourly-based Item that sets the charge for 50 hours. This method actually helps to keep the data accurate as hours Charges should only be added to describe actual work performed or time actually spent by a technician.

Add Textual and Blank Lines

Adding textual (plain-text) and blank lines to the Quote helps you design it to fit the specific customer’s requirements and needs. You can add explanation lines, separators lines, etc. to make the Quote more readable and clear.

Adding lines is done from the Lines tab, using the options at the top part of the tab:

1. To add text lines click the Add > Textual Line option.
2. To insert blank lines above the selected row, click the Add > Blank Line option.

Tip: These options are available from the right-click pop-up menu.
You can also use keyboard shortcuts to add: New item – F4, Textual line – F5, Blank line – F6.

Make Quote Public

Making the Quote Public means that privileged customers can see, print and accept this Quote via the Web Interface.

By default, the Quote is not Public and must be explicitly marked as Public in order for the customer to be able to see it.

See more details in Customer Access to Quotes.

Convert Quote Lines to Charges

After a Quote is accepted and set as Won, it can be converted into billable charges in order to bill the customer for the items.

Quotes can be converted to:

• Charges
  This option will create a Charge for each Item line in the Quote, and will mark it as billable or not depending on whether the Quote is linked to a Contract or not (see Quote Contract).
• QuickBooks Invoice
  To create an Invoice in QuickBooks for the Quote see Quotes#Convert Quote Lines to Invoice.

To convert a Quote into Charges:

1. Set the Quote as Won using the statuses bar at the top.
2. Once the Quote is Won, the Convert To menu becomes active. From the Convert To menu Choose > Charges...
   
3. In the Convert Quote into Charge window which opens you should set details which will be used for each of the Charges which will be created:
   1. Contact - the Contact which will be assigned to all Charges.
   2. Contract - If the Quote has a Contract defined for it, then this Contract is selected by default for all Charges.
   3. Date - the Date which will be used in the Charge.
   4. Billing Status - this option determines the way the Billing flag of the Charge will be defined. The default behavior it to use the Contract’s settings (e.g. set all Charges as Not-Billable for a Block-Of-Money Contract, see more details in billable flag behavior). You can override the Contract behavior rules by setting this flag to either “Billable” or “Not Billable” which will affect all Charges which will be created from this Quote.
   5. Add Quote Number to Charge Description - will add the number of the Quote at the beginning or the end of the Charge description, as selected.
   6. Select Add as New Line to add the Quote number as a separate line in the Charge description.

All Charges which will be created for this Quote, can be viewed by clicking the Show... link next to the Converted To Charges status extension at the top part of the Quote window.

Convert Quote Lines to Invoice

After a Quote is accepted and set as Won, it can be converted into billable charges which will be included in a QuickBooks Invoice.

Converting a Quote to an Invoice creates the Charges in CommitCRM according to the Contract linked to the Quote (see Quote Contract). Then the Invoice is created in QuickBooks and all billable Charges are marked as Billed automatically.

To convert a Quote into an invoice:

1. Set the Quote as Won using the statuses bar at the top.
2. Once the Quote is Won, the Convert To menu becomes active. From the Convert To menu Choose > QuickBooks Invoice...
   
3. In the Generate QuickBooks Invoice wizard which opens review the details and click Next to generate the Invoice.

All Charges which will be created for this Quote, will be linked to the Invoice reference number and can be displayed from the Account's Charges tab or when searching for Charges by Invoice Reference number (Charges Window > QuickBooks Icon > Filter by Invoice Reference).

Search For Quotes

The Search panel provides advanced search options:

• By Quote fields
  Choose a field from the drop-down list and enter the search text in the text box. Click Refresh to view the result list.
• Quick filtering by Status
  Using the quick check-boxes selection you can easily filter by status (on top of the search above). You can determine the default filtering for this window from Tools > Options > Quotes. See Quote Status for more details about the different Quote Statuses.

Copy Quote

Copying a Quote will copy the Quote lines, Header and Footer and Quote Properties (Reference, Public and Downloadable Report format are not copied). Other details should be added manually after copying the Quote.

To Copy a Quote:

1. Open the Quotes Window
2. Select the Quote you want to copy.
3. Click Copy icon in the toolbar.

Delete Quote

Deleting a Quote will delete the Quote itself together with all the Quote lines.

To delete a Quote:

1. Open the Quote window
2. From the main Quotes menu, select Quotes > Delete.

Note: If a Quote has already been converted to Charges or Invoice, it cannot be deleted.

Reports

Printing out a Quote can be done via the Quote window or from the Reports window. The system comes with a set of predefined reports for Quotes, which covers a few formats and data layouts. It is also possible to customize the reports, change their layout, add your logo, etc. You can find more details in Reports.

Quote Reports include

• Detailed Quote information
  The detailed reports are the customer-facing reports which can be printed out for the customer, listing the Quote lines, with prices, taxed (if used) and the total price.
• Quote Lists
  Quote list reports are intended for internal usage for employees to print out lists and analyze the Quote data.

Administrators can determine which report will be printed by default when clicking the Print icon in the Quote window. See more details in Quote Options.

Send quote as PDF by Email

Quote can be attached as PDF file to email using Quote email templates. See more details on creating and using email templates in Email Templates.

Customer-facing Reports

The Quote details reports are designed to be printed for customers. These reports include the following features:

• Ability to change terminology - it is possible to define an alternative word instead of “Quote” which will be used in reports and in the customers Web portal. See more details in Quote Options.
• Price for Customers - Customer-facing reports show the item price after adjustments (e.g. custom price, markup) without exposing the original price to the customer. Discounts on the other hand are shown in the report.
• Determine which report will be printed via Web portal - when choosing a default report in the Quote Options window, this determines which report will be printed when a customer clicks the “Print to PDF” link in the Quote Web page. It is possible to override this and choose a different report format for each Quote in the Quote’s Properties tab.

Quote Options

User settings:

• Default employee – Me/All
• Default statuses

Global System settings (only for Administrators):

• Default report
• Quote term for Customer (single and plural)
• Increment Quote number
  System Administrators can change the Quote numbers being created and increment the automated Quote number to start from a non-sequential number.
  For example: On January 1st you can increment the Quote numbering to the next 10,000 number so you’ll easily know, based on the Quote number, when it was created.
  To increment the next Quote number, go to Tools > Options > Quotes and click Increment Quote Number.
  Note that only System Administrators can perform this action, and, once it is performed, it is irreversible, so it should be performed carefully.

Quotes Web Access

In addition to managing Quotes using the CommitCRM client software, the Commit Web Interface provides Web access to Quotes using Commit Web Interface.

• Technicians Access
  Technicians at customer sites can easily view Quote details, including the Quote lines, Audit, Status and other properties.

Using the Employee Web Interface, technicians can edit Quote Lines and update the Quote Status and Properties. More advanced options (e.g. Editing Quote lines or converting a Quote into Charges or Invoice) are available only via the CommitCRM client.

• Customer Access
  Customers with web access can optionally have access to their Quoes online. (Note that you can select not to show Quotes to customers.) See more details in Customer Access to Quotes.

Customer Access to Quotes

Customers Web Interface provides the following options for Quotes:

1. View Quotes
2. Print Quotes
3. Accept Quotes (Privileged users only)

All customer actions are logged in the Quote Audit, which is available to employees only.

All customer activity regarding Quotes in the Web Interface is logged in the Quote Audit tab. If the customer views the Quote, even without accepting it, this is also logged in the Audit.

View quotes

Only Quotes which are marked as “Public” can be accessed by customers via the Web portal. See more details in Make Quote Public.

Print Quotes

Customers can download a printable PDF version of the Quote by clicking Download as PDF on the Quote page.

It is possible to determine which layout will be used for customers from Tools > Options > Quotes > Default Detailed Report. In addition a different report format can be selected for each Quote in the Quote’s Properties tab.

Note that the term “Quote” can be replaced in reports if you want to use different terminology when printing customer-facing reports. See more details in Quote Options.

Accept Quotes

Customers can accept a Quote, and sign their approval via the Web portal.

Approving a Quote will:

1. Change the Quote Status to “Accepted by Web”
2. Make the Quote read-only so it cannot be modified once accepted.
3. Log the acceptance in the Quotes Audit for future reference.

Note that accepting a Quote does not change its status to “Won”. Changing a Quote to status Won and further handling it can be done only by technicians. See more details in Quote Status.

To accept a Quote:

1. Make sure the customer is privileged to accept Quotes.
2. The customer should then log in to the Customer Portal using their customer Web user
3. Click Quotes and find the relevant Quote. Click View to enter the Quote details page.
4. Scroll down and click Proceed to Accept Quote.
5. Enter the customer name, email and signature and click Accept.

Privileges

Quote privileges control who has access to Quotes, and who can update the Quote. Privileges are managed in the Employee and Customer levels as explained below.

Employee Privileges

In order for Employees to be able to create, edit and view Quotes they require the following privileges from File > Users and Privileges > Privileges:

• Quotes
  Only employees with the Quotes privileges have access to the Quotes window. It is possible to control whether they have access for View, Edit or Delete actions.
• Other Employees’ Quotes
  Only employees with this privilege have access to Quotes assigned to other employees. If the employee does not have this privilege, they will have access only to their own Quotes, i.e. Quotes where they are assigned as the Manager.It is possible to control whether they have access for View, Edit or Delete actions

All privileges affect both the client application and the Web Interface.

See Employee Privileges for more details about assigning privilege groups to Employees.

Customer Privileges

Customers who have access to the Customer Web portal, can be allowed to view and accept Quotes via the Web.

To allow customers to access and accept Quotes use the following privilege from File > Users and Privileges > Customer Privileges - for Web User:

• View Quotes
  Allows the user to view thePublic Quotes linked to their Account.
• Accept Quotes
  Allows the user to accept a Quote if it was not accepted or Won yet. This Privilege requires the View Quotes privilege to be selected as well.

See more details about assigning privilege groups to customers in Customer Privileges.

Spell Checking

All text lines and Item lines in the Quote can be spell-checked by clicking the Check Spelling button in the edit window:

Using Taxes in Quotes

In case taxes are defined and used in CommitCRM these settings automatically affect the Quote items and prices. To use Taxes, make sure to define the Tax both for the Account and for each Item being used in the Quote.

When Taxes are used, the Quote total amount will be displayed with Taxes, in the application and Web pages, and in printed reports.

See more details about customizing and using taxes in Charging Using Taxes.

See Also

• Sales
• Billing
• Charging Using Taxes
• Reports
• Items
• Charges