Preparing a quotation

From a reviewed enquiry to an issued, numbered Flowtech quotation, and its revisions.

What this process achieves

Turns a reviewed enquiry into a Flowtech quotation: one line per instrument, each naming a product, an item code, a rate and a discount, with charges, tax and terms, issued as a frozen, numbered version with a PDF.

Who is involved

Sales person — confirming or excluding the enquiry’s lines in line review, and every decision on the quotation itself. A quotation is generated only once every line it covers is confirmed or excluded (R38).
Office head — follows the progress of the office’s enquiries, and can confirm or exclude their lines too.
The system — builds the draft from line review, says what is missing, and does the arithmetic.

What starts it

The Quotation card beside an enquiry in the inbox.

The steps

Generate. The sales person generates a quotation from the enquiry. It takes the next number (R85) and opens a draft with the header filled from the enquiry’s contact and customer reference, and the terms from the active template. Each line names its own application (R40). An enquiry can have several quotations.
Check the lines. The draft lists one line per instrument from line review. A line that cannot be issued says why: no product, an unreadable datasheet, no item code, an option still open or a model number that cannot be composed, no rate, or no or inactive HSN. A line not yet confirmed in line review, quoted at a quantity the enquiry does not state, holding a fluid property the customer must confirm (R121), or priced without some option prices, is flagged in amber and counted in a banner above the lines; none of these stops the issue (R37, R38). A rate, discount, quantity or skip typed earlier on a line that has since changed is listed as withheld with what it set (R36): enter it again on its line if it still stands, and dismiss what is left.
Choose options and fix values. An option still open, or one to change, is chosen from Options on the quotation line. The choice is saved on the enquiry’s line, so line review and every quotation for the enquiry follow, and a confirmed line goes back to not confirmed in line review. A line’s other values, and custom wording for an option, change only in line review, and the draft picks the change up the next time it is viewed (R45). The product and the item code follow the line’s values and options, and the product family is the one a reviewer picked in line review, if any (R96). The quotation does not offer a choice of product or item code, so a line whose product is not wanted is picked again in line review or skipped on the quotation.
Enter quantities, rates and discounts. Each line’s quantity where the enquiry’s is not the one to quote, its rate, its discount and whether it is left out, then the overall discount.
Set charges and terms. Each charge is off, on with an amount, or on at zero (R42). The terms template, delivery, payment, warranty and clauses can be edited for this quotation. The payment split comes from the template’s price rule for the quotation’s basic value and delivery option, or the template’s default where none applies, and follows as they change. A split typed here stays as typed until Use the template’s rule is chosen. The header and validity are completed. The place of supply is the state chosen on the header, from the list of Indian states and union territories; the delivery address does not decide it.
Preview. The PDF is previewed in the browser, with a DRAFT mark on every page. A draft prints what is still open as open (R38). Each flow line prints the client’s flow beside the Flowtech range. A range marked Suggested asks the client to confirm their flow lies within it before the order; a flow whose unit was not stated prints as given, and its note says so (R87, R108).
Issue. Issuing asks first, showing the grand total. It is refused while a change is withheld (R36), while an included line cannot be issued (R37, R38), while the billing address is empty (R103), while no place of supply is chosen, while the company profile’s state is not on the list (R86), while an edit is unsaved, or when the grand total changed after the page was opened, in which case the quotation reloads. It freezes the version: number, date, lines, totals and letterhead. The PDF is downloaded and sent from the salesperson’s own mail; FlowOS does not send it yet.
Revise. When the customer asks for a change, the sales person revises the quotation. Revising asks first: the next draft becomes the latest version. It copies the header, terms, charges and each line’s quantity, rate, discount and skip, and is rebuilt from line review; it is numbered -R1, then -R2. A revision started by mistake is removed with Discard draft, which asks first and goes back to the last issued version. A quotation generated by mistake and never issued is removed with Delete quotation; its number is not used again (R85).

A quotation whose enquiry’s conversation received a revision request after it was issued is listed under Quotes Needing Revision; one whose latest version is a draft is under Quotes Pending to be Sent.

Rules that apply

R23–R38, R40–R45, R85, R86, R101–R103.