Creating an Estimate

An estimate enables you to estimate custom services work during the sales process. You can then submit the estimate for approval before it becomes a live project. You can create an estimate from an opportunity, the Estimates tab, or from the Services CPQ workspace. Additionally, you create an estimate from an existing estimate or estimate template. For more information about creating an estimate template, see Creating an Estimate Template.

You can also create an estimate in a scoping session, which enables you to respond to a series of requirements in order to tailor your new estimate. For more information, see Guided Scoping Overview.

Notes:
  • Your administrator can disable estimate role skills, estimated expenses, and vendor line items in Services CPQ and specify the field values that are copied. For more information, see Managing Custom Settings from Setup.
  • When creating an estimate from a template, the current version of the source estimate products will be added. The copied estimate products might therefore be different to the instances of the estimate products that are visible on the template. After adding estimate products from a template, if you edit the source estimate product or the instance of the estimate product on the template, your changes will not be reflected on the copied record.

Creating a Blank Estimate

To create an estimate from scratch:

  1. Do one of the following:
    • On the Services CPQ workspace, go to Actions | Create Estimate.
    • On the Estimates tab, click New.
    • On an opportunity record, on the Estimates related list, click New.
  2. Click Create Blank.
  3. Complete the estimate fields as required. For details of the fields displayed, see Estimate Fields.

    Your administrator can control the fields that are displayed and their order by specifying an estimate field set in New Estimate Additional Fields field in the Services CPQ custom setting. Formula fields in the selected field set are not displayed.

  4. Click Create.
  5. In the Details tab of the estimate, search for and select the product to use to create an opportunity product when adding records independent of estimate products to opportunity. This field must be populated to enable adding independent records to opportunity or creating a project from independent records. For more information, see Adding an Estimate to an Opportunity and Creating a Project from an Estimate.

Creating an Estimate from an Existing Estimate or a Template

To create an estimate from an existing estimate or a template:

  1. Do one of the following:
    • On the Services CPQ workspace, go to Actions | Create Estimate.
    • On the Estimates tab, click New.
    • On an opportunity record, on the Estimates related list, click New.
  2. Select a recently used estimate or search for an estimate using two or more characters that appear anywhere in the name. To filter the search results, click Filter, select or deselect the filter options, and click Apply.

    The estimates are displayed in separate cards by default. To change the view to a list, select List from the Change View button menu.

    Note: Your administrator can choose the fields that are displayed in the summary of each estimate and estimate template, and in the filters panel. For more information, see Services CPQ Settings.
  3. Click Next.
  4. Complete and update the estimate fields as required. Some fields are pre-populated and uneditable because the values are copied from the selected estimate or estimate template. For details of the fields displayed, see Estimate Fields.

    Your administrator can control the fields that are displayed and their order by specifying an estimate field set in New Estimate Additional Fields in the Services CPQ custom setting. Formula fields in the selected field set are not displayed.

  5. [Optional] Select the Maintain Estimate Template Currency checkbox to maintain the currency of the associated estimate template for the estimate products and their related records. If deselected, they will be in the target estimate currency. Records independent of estimate products are always in the target estimate's currency.
  6. [Optional] Deselect the Include Skills / Certifications checkbox if you do not want role skill requests to be copied from the selected estimate. The checkbox is selected by default.
  7. [Optional] Enter the field values to override for the copied role requests. You can leave any of these fields blank to retain the values on the source record.
  8. Click Create.
  9. In the Details tab of the estimate, search for and select the product to use to create an opportunity product when adding records independent of estimate products to opportunity. This field must be populated to enable adding independent records to opportunity or creating a project from independent records. For more information, see Adding an Estimate to an Opportunity and Creating a Project from an Estimate.