How to Record Quotes You Prepare in Word in Your Business Software, and Why It Matters

Some companies, because of the way they work, usually prepare their quotes in Word or Excel and do not use their business software for this at all, even when they have it.

This is normally the case for the following reasons:

• They frequently prepare quotes for tenders, and quotes like these are complicated to produce in business software because of the sheer number of specific line items
• The quotes carry a good deal of extra material intended to establish authority and experience, such as references or recommendations from other clients
• There are standard products but also a great many client-specific details, which makes a uniform template hard to build
• The quote opens with an introductory section containing a table of contents, information about the company and other material that cannot be produced in business software

Whatever the situation, a company should still record every quote in its business software, because that gives it a single place to see all its quotes together with the amounts, the clients they were sent to, and the dates they went out. Quotes recorded this way are far easier to search and analyse later than they would be sitting (if they are filed at all) in a folder on someone's computer or on a shared drive.

If this describes your situation, we suggest the following steps when you prepare a quote:

• Start the quote in your business software, in the sense of filling in the basic client details and obtaining a quote number
• Prepare the quote in Word or Excel, using the number previously assigned by the business software as the quote number
• Finish the quote in the business software by entering the final amount and all the terms you set out in the Word or Excel version. You can go a step further here and create items in the business software that correspond to the quote you prepared. For example, if a tender has 20 line items covering structural building work, you can create a single item called structural building work and give it the price covering all of those lines
• Attach the quote you prepared in Word or Excel

Everything described above can be done using TiramisuERP.