Quote Generator - Advice

[Joneze]

Hi,

I am looking for some advice on creating a large excel quotation system. I say large because it will not only cover many different product / services but each of those will have lots of different product combinations within the one product.

It is mainly quotes for software application which has cost brackets based on number of users, and modules that they require.

The calculator should also have the ability to show me to profit margin between buy in price and sale price. All exported to a nice looking PDF and also logged into another excel document for quote tracking purposes.

Now I believe this to be way outside my excel knowledge so i am starting to think paying someone to this is my only option but what kind of price am I looking at for something like this?


Thanks for any advice

[SamT]

See our Paid services link: Expert Programming

But... your question is too broad to answer as is; It is like asking a contractor, "What will it cost to build a house with a big kitchen and lots of bedrooms?"

I recommend that you create a mockup Workbook that has a sample Quote request sheet and a sample Quote sheet. Include a sample Product sheet and a Service sheet.

Since some Product sheets will layout differently, include a sample of each layout, do the same for different Service sheet layouts.




It is solely up to you to provide all known information that will be of use in this project

Try to think of and list every possible Data Point involved in this project. A Data Point is just the name of a particular item of information. Some sample Data Points are "Date," "CustomerName" or "CustomerFirstName" and "CutomerLastName," "ProductName," "ProductID," ProductModuleName," "ParentProductOfModule," or "ModuleOwner," "ServiceType," HourlyRate," "LaborMarkUpRate," "ProductCost," "ProductPrice." If the information is needed to calculate something, or it is information you want to use, it is a Data Point. If you already have any Forms of any kind that you use, every blank to be filled in on those forms is a Data Point.

Many Product Sheets will use the same Data Points (with different values,) and may use a Data Point more than once , but then the Data Point Name should change slightly to reflect its precise meaning and usage.

Tabularize data when feasible.




Seek the advice of the above linked VBA Express paid experts before making any sheet "Pretty." IOW, don't use any special fonts, or colors. DO NOT Merge cells. You can use borders and Horizontal Alignment = "Center Across Selection" to visually organize the information/Data Points.




Final Note: Data Point is a term I use to help newbies think about the Project information we need to create workable VBA Projects.

[Joneze]

Thanks for the pointers, and I see your point in how broad the question is. I was just looking for a rough price as in are we looking at hundreds or thousands? But again I guess it does depend on what exactly is require.

I guess either way paid or not I have some work to do on this, so when I get time I will try my best to do what you have suggested.

Thanks

[mdmackillop]

As you are at the outset, you should also consider an Access Database which I would suggest is better designed to maintain customer records, invoicing etc. which would incorporate the quotation system you have described. You are likely to find existing templates on the market which provide much of your required functionality.