Templates & Constants
Name your rates once, let each location set its own value, and start every quote from a prepared set of items.
On this page
1What a constant is
A constant is a named value you use in proposal formulas instead of typing the number — a labour rate, a waste factor, a sales-tax percentage, a markup. Write LaborRate in a formula once and every line item that uses it changes when the rate changes.
Constants are defined at the bid type level, where they’re given a name and an Enterprise-level value. That value is the default for everyone.
2Local values
The point of constants in a franchise network is that the structure stays central and the numbers can be local. A sub-account can give a constant its own value — a regional labour rate, say — without touching the template or the formulas. The logic is shared; only the number is different.
Plan the constants before building templates
Decide up front which numbers are going to vary: rates, taxes, multipliers, minimum charges. Making them constants at the start is easy; converting a hundred hard-coded formulas later is not.
3Proposal templates
A proposal template is a prepared starting point: the bid types, categories and line items a particular kind of job normally needs, ready to pull onto the worksheet in one action rather than assembled line by line. Templates can be added to a worksheet at any point — an estimator can start from a template and then add or remove items for the job in front of them.
Templates, like bid types, can be shared across the account tree so every location quotes the same work the same way.
4Using a constant in a formula
Reference the constant by name inside a line item’s retail, COGS or item-total formula, exactly as you’d reference a field. When the worksheet calculates, the account’s value for that constant is substituted — the local value if one is set, otherwise the Enterprise default.
5Troubleshooting
One location’s quotes are all wrong
Check that location’s constant values. A local override with a typo affects every proposal in that account and nowhere else — which is exactly what makes it hard to spot centrally.
A new constant isn’t available
Constants belong to a bid type. Add it to the bid type whose line items need it.
6Related pages
- Line Items & Item Categories, Proposal Field Types.
- Account Types in ClientTether — how the account tree works.