Custom quoting software, with a margin only you can see

How quotes often get written

You open the last quote in Word, save it under a new name and change the lines. Prices come from the supplier's PDF price list, and the markup is worked out in your head or on a separate sheet. If the customer asks for an alternative, you start again.

A few months later nobody knows which quotes were accepted, which are still waiting for an answer, or what margin the work actually made.

What the software does

The quote is built line by line, picking from your own products and services. There are also ready-made bundles, free text and section titles to break up a long quote. Markup and discount go on a single line or on the total, and stamp duty or other extra charges are added when needed.

While you write, a panel shows estimated cost and margin. That panel stays in the office: the PDF that goes to the customer has only the lines and the selling prices, with your logo, your colours and your letterhead.

Each quote has a status (sent, accepted, declined), as in the Dracartys CRM, so at the end of the month you can see how many you closed and how many went nowhere.

An example: the Dracartys CRM

Dracartys personalises products and gifts. Each product has size and colour variants, and each variant has three prices: purchase, list, and a custom selling price that price-list imports never overwrite. Quotes are built the way described above, and the print template can be changed from the settings, without touching the code.

Quotes for building work

Construction quotes have a shape of their own: items priced by measurement or as a lump sum, sections by trade, sometimes an official price book as the starting point. All of that fits in custom software, but it needs to be checked against your real quotes before any code is written. If the work then becomes a site to follow, hours and materials are collected in job tracking software.

When you don't need it

If you write a few quotes a month and they are nearly all the same, a good spreadsheet template or the quotes module of your invoicing software will do. Custom software pays off when there are many quotes, with many lines, or when prices have to come from lists that keep changing.

Frequently asked questions

Can we keep our suppliers' price lists?

Yes. Price lists are imported from Excel or CSV. In the Dracartys CRM the supplier's lists arrive as Excel files, and the app shows a preview before it changes any price.

Does the customer see our margin?

No. Estimated cost and margin stay inside the app and never reach the printed quote or the PDF.

Does it work for construction and building quotes?

It can: items priced per square or linear metre, lump-sum items, sections by type of work. I have worked with construction companies before; we still start by looking closely at how you write your quotes today.

Can an accepted quote turn into an order or an invoice?

Yes, if you need it: the lines move on to the order and then to the invoice without being typed again.

Read more

• The service: Custom business web apps
• Work of this kind: CRM Dracartys
• More pages like this: Software for one specific job