Bid Types & Quote Types
The four levels a quote is built from, and the difference between what you’re quoting and what you call the quote.
On this page
1How a quote is structured
Four levels, from the outside in:
| Level | What it is |
|---|---|
| Bid Type | A kind of work you quote — “Interior Painting”, “Roof Replacement”, “Deep Clean”. It’s the container for everything below. |
| Item Category | A grouping inside a bid type — “Prep”, “Materials”, “Labour” — used to organise the worksheet and the quote. |
| Line Item | The thing that carries numbers: fields, formulas and a price. See Line Items & Item Categories. |
| Quote Type | A label on the proposal itself, used for reporting and for mapping to QuickBooks classes. |
2Creating a bid type
On Settings → Proposal → Bid Types, add one with:
- Name — what estimators will pick from the worksheet.
- Display Order — where it appears in the list.
- Only Notes — for a bid type that carries text rather than priced work.
- Room Measurement — enables the measurement grid on the worksheet for this type.
- National Proposal Type — for accounts using the national proposal module.
- Share with subaccounts — pick specific sub-accounts or All Accounts.
The row’s controls then let you Edit, Duplicate, Copy Bid Type Tree (the whole structure below it), Mass Duplicate, hide it (Hidden — BidType Visible) or delete it into Archives.
3Item categories
Each category belongs to a bid type and has a name and a display order. Categories are what make a long quote readable — the customer sees grouped work rather than forty loose lines.
4Quote types
A Quote Type is chosen on the proposal itself. Two things use it: reporting (the Dashboard can break Average Job Size, Closed Ratio and Gross Margin down By Quote Type), and QuickBooks class mapping — each quote type can be mapped to a QuickBooks class so revenue lands in the right place in your books. Quote types can also be shared with sub-accounts.
Name them the way you’d want them on a report
Bid types and quote types end up as chart axes on the Dashboard and as product names in QuickBooks. Short, distinct, stable names save a lot of cleanup later.
5Troubleshooting
A bid type isn’t available to a sub-account
It wasn’t shared. Edit it and pick the sub-accounts, or share with All Accounts.
Reporting by quote type is empty
Proposals were written without a quote type selected. It’s set on the proposal, not on the bid type.
6Related pages
- Line Items & Item Categories, The Worksheet.
- QuickBooks Online Integration — class mapping.