An estimate is an approximation of the probable cost of a product, program or project calculated on the basis of available information. The purpose with estimating is to establish a bid price for a quotation or a contract based on buildup of costs from a known structure of items.
The estimate revision consists of versions and item records. An estimate is used to retrieve a sales price for all top items of different items types, contained by the estimate tree structure. To create an estimate manually, first create the estimate header, including estimate description etc., and then add the items records.
When entering a new estimate, the following information retrieves default values: company, currency. It is possible to change the default values. On the General tab you can enter optional information for the estimate such as; responsible person, estimate type, estimate classification etc. For an estimate revision by default one version is created. A default version is always established when the estimate is created. It is possible to create several versions to handle the quantity breaks and differentiated offering to different customers. When a new version is created, all costs, insecurities and markups are copied from the previous version.
For each item record added to the estimate it is mandatory to select a customer defined item type. Each of these customer defined item types are connected to a reference item type, Generic and Product, determining which required and optional data to enter. The reference item type controls the assembly of the estimate tree structure and how costs, insecurities and markups are handled when calculating.
Also on the Customers tab specify one or several customers possible to connect to the versions of the costs calculated for the tree structure. All customer categories can be selected without restrictions.
As a result of this activity, an estimate revision is created and receives InProgress status. Additionally, a default cost version is created and also InProgress status. The estimate keeps track of the cost figures calculated for the versions and items during the estimate process.