Discounting Estimates

You can discount an estimate using a global discount, or discount its individual records in the Builder, such as role requests and tasks. The types of discounting available depends on whether the billing type of your estimate is "Fixed Price" or "Time and Materials". Estimates with a billing type of "Time and Materials" can be discounted at any level, whereas estimates with a billing type of "Fixed Price" can only be discounted globally or at the estimate product level.

When discounting, we recommend that you choose one hierarchical level that best fits your business’ methodology of estimating to discount at. You can discount at multiple levels, though this is not recommended. This is so that your estimating processes are consistent across all levels of your business, and the discounting process is one that is simple, easy to follow, and objective.

Tip:

To see the total discount of a record's value, hover over the Discount (%) cell.

Applying a Global Discount

You can apply a global discount to the estimate by entering a percentage in the Global Discount (Percent) field in the Details tab. The global discount percentage is applied to the estimate's cost contingency if the Apply Discount to Cost Contingency checkbox is selected. On estimates with a billing type of "Time and Materials", it's also applied to every role request, which updates their bill rate on top of any other discounts. On estimates with a billing type of "Fixed Price", the global discount is also applied to the margin of any estimate products, and consequently the net bill amount. The discount is also applied on top of any other discounts to individual estimate products. However, discounting at record level as well as global level is not recommended.

Tip:

You can see the global discount as an amount on the Details tab in the Global Discount (Amount) field.

Applying a Record Discount

Discounts can be applied to any record in the Builder with a billing type of "Time and Materials". Only estimate products can be discounted on estimates with a billing type of "Fixed Price".

Records with a Billing Type of "Time and Materials"

You can apply a discount to an estimate product with a billing type of "Time and Materials" by double-clicking the Discount (%) cell on the row of the estimate product in the Builder. The discount is applied to each role request's bill rate within the estimate product. Their respective parent records' bill rate, net bill amount, and margin then roll up to include all of the discounted role requests.

Note:

The Discount (%) column is not populated for any of the estimate product's child records. This is so that subsequent discounts of these child records can be applied, although this is not recommended.

A Red down arrow is displayed next to the bill rate of the role request if it's lower than the rate on the related rate card as a result of the discount. A Green up arrow is displayed if the bill rate is higher than the rate on the related rate card.

You can apply a discount to a line set with a billing type of "Time and Materials" by double-clicking the Discount (%) cell on the row of the line set in the Builder. The discount is applied to each role request's bill rate within the line set. Their respective parent records' bill rate, net bill amount, and margin then roll up to include all of the discounted role requests.

Note:

The Discount (%) column is not populated for any of the line set's parent or child records. This is so that subsequent discounts of these child records can be applied, although this is not recommended.

A Red down arrow is displayed next to the bill rate of the role request if it's lower than the rate on the related rate card as a result of the discount. A Green up arrow is displayed if the bill rate is higher than the rate on the related rate card.

You can apply a discount to a task with a billing type of "Time and Materials" by double-clicking the Discount (%) cell on the row of the task in the Builder. This discount is applied to each role request's bill rate within the task. Their respective parent records' bill rate, net bill amount, and margin then roll up to include all of the discounted role requests.

If an estimate has sub-tasks, the parent task's discount doesn't include the discounts of its sub-tasks.

Note:

The Discount (%) column is not populated for any of the task's parent or child records. This is so that subsequent discounts of these child records can be applied, although this is not recommended.

A Red down arrow is displayed next to the bill rate of the role request if it's lower than the rate on the related rate card as a result of the discount. A Green up arrow is displayed if the bill rate is higher than the rate on the related rate card.

You can apply a discount to a role request with a billing type of "Time and Materials" by double-clicking the Discount (%) cell on the row of the role request in the Builder. The discount is applied to the role request's bill rate. Their respective parent records' bill rate, net bill amount, and margin then roll up to include the discounted role request.

Note:

The Discount (%) column is not populated for any of the role request's parent records. This is so that subsequent discounts of these parent records can be applied, although this is not recommended.

A Red down arrow is displayed next to the bill rate of the role request if it's lower than the rate on the related rate card as a result of the discount. A Green up arrow is displayed if the bill rate is higher than the rate on the related rate card. When you hover over the cell, the total effective discount is displayed, which is the total discount for the role request including any parent record discounts and the global discount.

You can also manually override the rates of a role request. For more information, see Overriding Role Request Rates.

Records with a Billing Type of "Fixed Price"

Estimate products are the only records that can be discounted when their billing type is "Fixed Price". Records independent of estimate products can't be discounted, but they are affected by the global discount. For more information, see Applying a Global Discount.

You can discount estimate products by double-clicking the Discount (%) cell on the row of the estimate product in the Builder. The discount is applied to the margin of the estimate product, and consequently the net bill amount. The margin and net bill amount of any of the estimate product's child records are also discounted, as these are always derived from the estimate product's margin.

A Red down arrow is displayed next to the margin of the estimate product if it's lower than the original margin as a result of the discount. A Green up arrow is displayed if the margin is higher than the original margin.

Applying Both Record Discounts and a Global Discount

You can apply both a global discount to the estimate and discounts to individual records, although this is not recommended. The way the two methods of discounting combine depends on the billing type of the individual record.

An estimate's global discount percentage is applied the estimate's cost contingency if the Apply Discount to Cost Contingency checkbox is selected. For records with a billing type of "Time and Materials", it's also applied to every role request, which updates their bill rate, and the role requests' respective parent records' bill rate, net bill amount, and margin then roll up to include the discounted role request. If any of these individual records are discounted and there is also a global discount applied to the estimate, the global discount and individual record discount compound to calculate the total discount of that record.

Note:

The Discount (%) column is not populated with an estimate's global discount. This is so that subsequent discounts to any of the individual records can be applied, although this is not recommended.

A Red down arrow is displayed next to the bill rate of the role request if it's lower than the rate on the related rate card as a result of the discount. A Green up arrow is displayed if the bill rate is higher than the rate on the related rate card.

An estimate's global discount percentage is applied to the estimate's cost contingency if the Apply Discount to Cost Contingency checkbox is selected. On records with a billing type of "Fixed Price", it's also applied to the margin of any estimate products, and consequently the net bill amount. If any of the estimate products are discounted, the global discount and individual record discount compound to calculate the total discount of that record. The margin and net bill amount of any of the estimate product's child records are also discounted, as these are always derived from the estimate product's margin.

Note:

The Discount (%) column is not populated with an estimate's global discount. This is so that subsequent discounts to any estimate products can be applied, although this is not recommended.

A Red down arrow is displayed next to the margin of the estimate product if it's lower than the original margin as a result of the discount. A Green up arrow is displayed if the margin is higher than the original margin.

Tip:

To see the total discount of a record's value, hover over the Discount (%) cell.

Discounting by Adjusting Bill Rate

You can discount role requests by entering the discounted bill rate amount in the Discounted Bill Rate column in the Builder. The Discount (%) cell for the role request will update to reflect the discounted bill rate. Their respective parent records' bill rate, net bill amount, and margin then roll up to include the discounted role request.

A Red down arrow is displayed next to the bill rate of the role request if it's lower than the rate on the related rate card as a result of the discount. A Green up arrow is displayed if the bill rate is higher than the rate on the related rate card.

Note:

Your administrator must enable the Discounted Bill Rate column in Lightning App Builder. For more information, see Estimate Builder Lightning Component Properties.