If this is the first time the Showroom Module has been utilized, the quote listing will contain no entries and, at this point, the user can only click the Add button. Clicking Add displays the Quote window that is very similar to the Project window with a few minor differences.
Quote Tab
First, notice that Design Manager creates a unique sequential Order Number for the quote, which the user cannot change. Opposed to entering a Project Name, the Quote window allows the user to enter an optional Description for the quote such as “dining room table and chairs” to assist in identifying the quote.
The Open Date represents the creation of the quote and will default to the current date but can be changed at any time.
Each quote requires a valid client code. With the cursor in the Client Code field, clicking on the search button
or pressing the Alt-S keys on the keyboard will launch the Client Search window to allow the user to select an existing client. Likewise, the user can also use the Client Search window to create a new client. Clients can also be created by selecting Project - Clients from the main Design Manager Ribbon/Tool Bar. Unlike creating a client from the project window, however, when the user creates a client from the quote window, the quote number will default to the client code. The client code can be altered, but as many Showroom clients may only order merchandise once, creating unique alphanumeric codes for each may be unnecessarily complicated. Upon entering or selecting a valid client code, the client name, address, phone, fax, salesperson, and contact information will default from the client file. Any of this information can be edited as necessary. Remember that this is the billing address that will print on the quote, order acknowledgement, and invoice.
The Client Purchase Order Number (Client PO #) allows the user to record an internal purchase order number for the client which differs from the purchase order number that Design Manager will automatically generate for the quote.
The salesperson code defines the employee that is managing the quote. When the cursor is currently in the Salesperson/Manager field, clicking on the search button or pressing the Alt-S keys will launch the Employee Search window to allow the user to select an existing employee. A new employee can also be created from the Employee Search window. Employees can also be created by selecting Project - Employees from the main Design Manager toolbar.
The sales tax code determines the appropriate sales tax calculations for the goods and services sold for the quote. A valid code can put input directly into the Sales Tax field or selected from the Sales Tax Code Search window by clicking on the search button or pressing the Alt-S keys.
Contact: The Contact name will be defaulted upon inputting a Client Code and represents the name of the main contact for this Project. If you do not have a contact other than the Client, you may leave this field blank.
Phone: The Phone number will default to the Client Phone number but should be the main phone number for contacting individuals concerning this Project. Additional contacts and phone numbers concerning the Project can be entered on the Notes Tab.
Fax: Enter the Fax number for a Project here. The Fax number will be defaulted from the Client information. If you do not have a Fax number, you may leave this field blank.
Email: Use this field to enter an e-mail address for a Project. When reprinting a Proposal or Invoice for emailing to your Client, this address will default in the "Send To" field on the email message. If you need to enter multiple addresses, use a semicolon to separate each address, or use the Notes field on the Notes Tab.
Website: The Internet web address pertaining to a Project or Client can optionally be recorded here.
Phone 2 Description/Number: Use this field to record the name of an additional contact. An example might be "John’s cell". The cell number can then be typed into the Phone 2 No. field to the right.
Phone 3 Description/Number: Use this field to record the name of an additional contact. The number can then be typed into the Phone 3 No. field to the right.
Delivery / Ship To Tab
Upon clicking the Delivery / Ship To tab, notice that the billing address information is carried forward into the client delivery / site address information. If the site address differs from the billing address, the information can be changed accordingly.
The ship to code determines which shipping address will be used to receive the merchandise from the vendor. An existing ship to code can input directly into the Ship To field or selected from the Ship To Search window by clicking on the search button or pressing the Alt-S keys. Furthermore, a new Ship To can be created from the site address information by clicking the Create From Above button.
Defaults Tab
On the Defaults tab, the user can input a Purchase Order Side Mark which will be included on all purchase order components for the quote. Of course, the defaulted side mark can be changed for each component as necessary. The Append Location to Side Mark checkbox will concatenate the name of the room location to the existing side mark on purchase orders for the quote.
The Designer and Extension (Designer/Ext.) field can be used to enter the name and telephone extension of the designer responsible of the purchasing for the quote. When entered, this information will appear on all purchase orders for the quote.
The Client Deposit Percent (%) will default to all items in the quote, automatically calculating the necessary deposit amount to be requested from the client. The deposit percent and amount can be edited for each item as necessary. Selecting the Include Sales Tax in Deposit checkbox will include the item’s sales tax with the proposed price when determining the total deposit requested amount.
Client Invoice Terms will print on any invoices generated for the quote.
Notes tab
Various Notes regarding the quote can also be recorded on this tab.
After entering all necessary information for the quote, clicking the OK button will save the quote and return to the Quotes and Orders window. The quote information can be updated at any time by clicking the Edit button and making the proper adjustments. If no purchase orders have been issued for the quote nor any client deposits recorded against the quote, the user can also remove the quote entirely by clicking the Delete button. If either of these conditions has previously occurred, the user will be prompted to close the quote, if desired.
Advanced Options
As with projects, additional options are available for quotes and orders to grant the user greater freedom in configuring the format of their quote and order documents. To access these options, click File - Company Information. On the Company window, click the Advanced button in the bottom, right-hand corner. On the Company Advanced Options window, the quote and order options are located on the tab entitled Showroom.
By default, Design Manager will print “Quote” and “Order Acknowledgement” on the quote and order documents, respectively. These terms can be changed by the user by inputting the desired text into the respective Title field. Likewise, the user can selectively suppress the printing of sales tax on the quote and order by marking the appropriate Suppress Sales Tax checkbox.
Suppress Location Heading (Suppress Loc. Heading) prevents the items’ location name and subtotal from appearing on the quotes and orders.
Remarks on a New Page (Rmrks. on New Page) force the quote and order documents to begin the printing of the desired remarks on a new page instead of printing immediately beneath the document totals. This option is particularly useful in improving the readability of a large remarks section as the text will usually be contained within a single page.
Show Delivery / Shipping Address (Show Del./Ship Addr.) will include the delivery / site address information on quote and order along with the billing address.
Suppress Unit Prices prevents the item’s unit price from appearing on the quote and order, allowing only the item’s extended price to be displayed. When displaying the unit price, the user can calculate the unit price to a precision of one-tenth (1/10th) of one (1) cent by selecting the Unit Price to Three Decimal Places (Unit to 3 Dec. Places) option. Using 3 decimal places eliminates problems with rounding. If the quantity is three (3) and the sell price for the three (3) items is $100.00 then the unit price is thirty three dollars, thirty three and a third cents. With 2 decimal places the unit price would show $33.33 which, when multiplied by the quantity of 3 gives an extended price of $99.99. However, the quote or order would display $100.00 as the extended price. With Unit Price to Three Decimal Places selected, the unit price would be $33.333 which would correctly yield $100.00 as the extended price upon summing the quantity and the unit price.
The Order Closed By selection indicates what event(s), if any, will close an order thereby removing it from the Orders tab on the Quotes and Orders window. The available choices are as follows:
Client Invoice (Client Inv.) – the order will close when the items have been fully invoiced to the client.
Delivered – the order will close when the items have been included on a delivery ticket.
Both – the order will close when the items has been both fully invoiced to the client and been included on delivery tickets.
None – the user will manually close orders.
The Style fields are used to specify how the different component types are to be treated and displayed on quotes and orders. The selections are Combine, List, Total, and Ignore. Any component types set to Combine will have its sell price added into the merchandise sell price. List will cause the portion of the item with the specified component type to be displayed under the description of the merchandise with a separate title and sell price. If Total is selected, the sum of portion of the items for that component type will be printed in the summary area of the quote or order. Ignore means the particular component type will not be included in any manner on the order or quote.
When selecting List or Total as the quote/order Style, the Title fields are used to input the heading for each type of component to appear beneath the item or in the summary region, respectively. For example, the component type may be called Freight, but the user wants all delivery fees to be titled “Shipping”. To do so, simply enter “Shipping” in Title field for Freight.
The respective Remarks field is used to include standardized or specific verbiage to the client regarding the order or quote. The remarks input on the Advanced Options window will default to newly generated quotes and order but may be edited as necessary.
Inputting Specifications for the Quote
Once the quote has been created, the next task is to input the merchandise for the quote by selecting the new quote on the Quotes and Orders window and clicking the Items button. Doing so displays the Specifications window for the quote. Selecting Showroom - Specifications from the Design Manager menu and inputting or searching for the quote number can also access the Specifications window.
For a full explanation of precisely how to input merchandise specifications, see Specifying under Project Management.
Once all the specifications have successfully been added for the quote, notice that the Estimated Quote Total and Deposit Status columns will display the total selling price of all goods on the quote and the requested deposit for the quote, respectively.
Printing the Quote
At this juncture, the quote can be printed for the client by clicking the Print button.
The Quote Date will default to the current date but can be changed as needed. If the user is reprinting a quote or would like to reflect that edits have been made to the quote, the Revised Date can be entered which will then be displayed on the printed quote along with the original quote date. Selecting Pictures will embed the item’s associated picture into the quote next to the item’s description. If Email is selected, the Email window launches allowing the user create an email for the client with the quote included as a .pdf attachment.
After printing the quote, the user is asked to Accept or Reject the quote. Upon clicking Accept, notice the Quoted Date is now recorded for the quote. If Reject is selected, Design Manager will not record the Quoted Date.
Client deposits (retainers) can be received against existing quotes, analogous to receiving deposits of project proposals. For a full description of recording a deposit for a quote, see Cash Receipts under Accounting - Accounts Receivables.