Working With Estimate Options
ePS iQuote allows you to create more than one option within the same Estimate, varying not only the quantity, but also the product’s technical specifications. You can, for example, send the customer several Estimate options for the same product without needing to create a separate Estimate record: with or without varnish, with or without spot color, printed in digital or offset, etc.
To add more quantity options to the Estimate, follow the steps below:
- In the toolbar, click Option 1.
- Click New Option to create an Estimate option identical to Option 1, including the Quantity options.
- Select the new option to edit the technical specifications in the Product tab or the production route in the Engineering tab, as described in Engineering Tab.
- When finished, click Save.
- After editing the new option's product specification, you must Calculate or Recalculate the Estimate so that the system can create the Engineering for the new option.
- You can change the Option (and Quantity) that is currently selected by clicking on the down arrow next to the Option's name in the top toolbar.
Note: Each Option can have several Quantity options, as you can see on Working With Estimate Quantities.
Note: The information displayed on the Product, Engineering, and Negotiation tabs change according to the Option selected.
Creating a New Option in Approved Estimates
First of all, to enable this features, you must:
Go to Sales > Records > iQuote > Commercial > Estimate General Settings, or enter “estimate general settings” in the quick search field.
Under the General tab, check the Allow to create a new option in approved estimates parameter.
Save it before closing.
Follow the steps 1 to 4 from "Working With Estimate Options".
After enabling this parameter, you are required to select one of the available options when approving an Estimate (i.e., change the status to "release to production" or similar) with more than one option.
After approval, the option that you chose will be in bold, but the other options are not erased from the Estimate.
The system also saves all the versions in the History tab, under Prior versions:
Note: Click Load previous versions to see all the versions ever saved in this Estimate.
Note: When you select a different option of an approved Estimate for approval, the system looks into the previous approved products and, if one of them has the same name as the new approved one, the system automatically links its inventory items. If there are no previous products with the same name, the system creates new inventory items automatically.
Editing Options in an Approved Estimate
When you approve the Estimate, iQuote automatically creates the respective Job with the same name using the selected option:
To change the option, follow these steps:
Go back to the Estimate (Sales > iQuote > Estimate > select the Estimate record).
Click the status drop-down menu and choose “Making Estimate”.
Add notes in the appropriate field, if necessary.
Click Confirm. Now, you can make any changes in the Estimate (e.g., in the product specification or in the negotiation) if necessary.
After making the necessary changes, follow the steps below to approve the Estimate.
(optional) Before approving the Estimate, you can create a new option based in one of the existing ones. For that, go to the Options drop-down menu and choose New option:
Click the Status button and change it to the next status in your workflow (e.g., “Release to production”), in order to approve it. The Status Changing window opens.
All options will be available for you to choose in the window.
The system identifies the option that you previously approved (most probable option) with an asterisk, but you can select any of the options and click Confirm to approve it.
Go to the related Job record, which was already created. The system will have tagged it as needing to review.
Review the Job changes and Accept Modifications. The system incorporates the specification regarding the new chosen option in the job.
Adding Prior Versions to an Approved Estimate
In order to add a prior version to an approved Estimate, follow the steps detailed below:
Open the Estimate record (Sales > iQuote > Estimate > click to edit the record).
Click the status drop-down menu and choose “Making Estimate”.
Add notes in the appropriate field, if needed, and click Confirm.
Go to the Options drop-down menu and choose Add prior version. The Add Prior Option window opens.
The Add Prior Option window displays a list of versions and the options in each version, sorted by date and time.
Tip: When copying an Estimate, click Load previous versions to open this same window and access previously discarded options.
Select the chosen option and click Confirm. The system adds the option in the Qty/ Price tab and identifies it accordingly. If necessary, you can edit its name.
Note: You can add any number of options but only one at a time.