Working With Quotes

A Quote is a document set up to provide a quotation to give to a Customer.

The procedure for creating a Quote is similar to creating a Sales Order. You must enter Customer details in the Header, then enter the Product lines and any Documentation details before Completing the Quote and issuing it to the Customer.

A Quote may be converted into a Sales Order if the Customer wishes to purchase on the basis of the Quote.

There are procedures for reviewing Completed Quotes, to see how many Quotes are new and/or have lapsed and/or have been converted into sales. See Reviewing Completed Quotes.

The procedure for working with Quotes is as follows:

1.      Create A New Quote. You may either:

• Create a new blank Quote document on your desktop. Or:

• Create a new Quote by duplicating an existing Sales Order, Quote, Sales Contract or Credit Note.

See Creating A New Quote.

2.      Enter Header Details. In the header section of the Quote you must enter the Customer, Delivery Type and other important details. The Lapse Date field defines how long the Quote is valid for.

At this point you may need to:

• Deal with any pop-up windows which appear when you add the Customer.

• Enter an alternative delivery address.

• If it is a Direct Sale: enter Supplier details in the Supplier tab which is created.

See Entering Quote Header Details.

3.      Enter Product Line Details. In the lines section of the Quote you must specify the Products the Customer requires.

At this point you may:

• View price and stock details for a product.

• Enter Text, Manual and Special lines as well as standard Product lines.

• View and enter additional details relating to the Quote in the Properties section.

• Review Product and Customer details, and also view the Product Catalogue.

• Cancel lines on the Quote, or cancel the whole Quote.

• Right-click on a Product line to carry out a variety of useful operations, including copying and pasting Products and inserting lines.

• Work with Auto Add-ons, Top Sellers And Associated Products - facilities for offering Product recommendations to boost Customer sales.

• Lump-sum or re-price items on the Quote, or manipulate prices and discounts in other ways.

• Add Timber, Sheet Material, Packs and Kits to the Quote.

• Select alternative stock units/quantities.

• Park the Quote.

See Entering Quote Product Lines.

4.      Review/Enter Details In The Available Sales Document Tabs: A series of additional tabs display within sales documents at an appropriate point within the document's progress.

You may wish to review - and, if necessary, enter - details by selecting the following tabs within the Quote:

• Diary: To view a list of Tasks for the selected Customer. You may also view, Complete, edit and delete individual Tasks, and also create Tasks.

• Notes: To view Notes for the selected Customer. You may also view, edit and delete Customer Notes, and also create Customer Notes.

• Documentation: To view default header and trailer text defined for this customer, which will be printed on the completed document, and if necessary select alternative header or trailer text for this document/customer.

• User Defined Fields: Click the User Defined Fields tab to view User Defined Fields which have been defined for this document type. In the available fields you may enter data, or select from a series of menu options.

See Additional Sales Document Tabs.

5.      Review/enter details in the Properties area: When a sales document is open you may use the Properties area - to the right of the screen - to review and edit additional details relating to the current Document, Customer and Product.

This might involve specifying 'Complete Delivery' options, 'Fixed Price' options, Special Price options, Print options, and more.

See Understanding The Properties Area.

6.      Complete The Quote. This involves marking the Quote as 'complete'.

On Completion, the Quote is automatically 'printed' (i.e. printed as a hard copy, emailed or faxed to the customer, and/or saved to disk, depending on the specified print location). You have the option to re-print the Quote and also change the default print location for the Quote.

At this point you may:

• Add a delivery charge; i.e. a Carriage Charge, Premium Delivery Charge or a standard Haulage Charge to the Quote.

• Convert the Quote to a Sales Order.

• Duplicate the Quote (as another Quote or as a Sales Order, Sales Contract or Credit Note).

Once the Quote has been Completed, a Tracking tab is created automatically, which enables you to view/open all documents relating to the Quote after Completion.

See Completing And Printing Quotes.

7.      Review and Convert Quotes. You may review Quotes after Completion, to see how many Quotes are new and/or have lapsed and/or have been converted in sales. See Reviewing Completed Quotes.

To retrieve and edit an existing Quote see Editing Quotes.

If the Customer wants to proceed with an order based on an existing Quote see Converting A Quote To A Sales Order. There are options if the Customer does not wish to order certain lines, or does not wish to proceed with the Quote. You may also monitor Lost and Converted Quote lines.

To cancel a Quote see Cancelling A Quote.

NEXT: Creating A New Quote