How we made a spreadsheet price book usable by every estimator
The existing Excel pricing rules became a tested quote tool, so estimators could prepare quotes without depending on one spreadsheet expert.
- Excel
Excel
- Client
- UK made-to-order joinery maker
- Documents
- Excel price book, customer requirements and quotes
- What we built
- A tested quote tool using the existing pricing and margin rules
- Where it runs
- In the browser, using the rules from the Excel price book
- Who checks
- Estimator checks inputs; authorised reviewer approves quotes outside the margin rules
fx=ROUND(B3*B4/1E6*C5,0)
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Item | Input | Rate | Price |
| 2 | Window type | Sash | ||
| 3 | Width, mm | 1200 | ||
| 4 | Height, mm | 1500 | ||
| 5 | Timber | Oak | £690 | |
| 6 | Frame | £1,242 | ||
| 7 | Glazing | Double | £172 | £310 |
| 8 | Fitting | £180 | ||
| 9 | Margin rule | 22% |
QuoteRatesMargins
Any estimator on the team
- Window
- Sash
- Size, mm
- 1200 × 1500
- Timber
- Oak
- Glazing
- Double
- Frame£1,242
- Glazing£310
- Fitting£180
The pricing worked. Too few people could use it.
The spreadsheet held the rules the firm relied on to quote its work.
We checked the new calculations against the source workbook.
Moving the price book meant preserving its pricing logic.
Quotes outside the agreed margin rules still needed approval.
Making the price book easier to use did not remove its limits.
Estimators can prepare their own quotes.
The team uses the browser tool with the pricing rules carried over from Excel.
Read the full story
Quotes for a made-to-order joinery maker waited for the person who understood the pricing spreadsheet. We put the same pricing rules into a browser tool that the estimating team could use. Quotes outside the agreed margin rules are held for approval.
The pricing worked. Too few people could use it.
The spreadsheet held the rules the firm relied on to quote its work.
Using it depended on knowing which inputs to change and how the calculations fitted together. Quotes waited for the person who knew the workbook, even when another estimator had the customer’s requirements ready.
We built a quoting tool around those existing rules so the team could prepare prices without having to understand the workings of the spreadsheet.
We checked the new calculations against the source workbook.
Moving the price book meant preserving its pricing logic.
We traced the Excel inputs and calculations into the browser tool, then compared calculated prices with the source workbook. Differences needed resolving before the tool was used for quotes.
The estimator entered the job requirements through the quote form. The calculations followed the existing rules, while the quote kept the information needed for the estimator to check what was being offered.
Quotes outside the agreed margin rules still needed approval.
Making the price book easier to use did not remove its limits.
We held quotes outside the margin rules for an authorised reviewer. The estimator could prepare the quote, but an exception needed approval before issue.
The tool priced the inputs it was given. The estimator still checked the requirements and dimensions used in the quote. Survey checks, final sizes and approval for manufacture remained with the responsible people before production.
Estimators can prepare their own quotes.
The team uses the browser tool with the pricing rules carried over from Excel.
Each estimator enters the requirements and checks the resulting quote. A price within the rules can follow the normal issue process; a quote outside the margin rules waits for the authorised reviewer.
The spreadsheet expert is no longer the necessary starting point for every quote. Their knowledge is in the checked calculations, while decisions about unusual work and production still go to the people responsible.
Does one person hold your pricing together?
Send us your price book. We’ll show you it working as a quote tool, checked against the workbook.