Content
Description
With Proposal add-on proposals, order confirmations and agreements can be created into Visma Severa. Proposals are connected to cases and there is a possibility to add multiple proposals to one case. Hour, item or product rows added on proposal can be used to create case data, such as phases to enter work hours to or fixed fees for invoicing.
Creating own proposal templates is also possible to make proposal creation more faster process.
We know that Severa's layout for proposals is not always enough and for that reason we want to also offer you a free integration to WebMerge. With WebMerge you can create various templates with the look and feel of your choice. For more information, check our article regarding WebMerge.
Proposal add-on can be purchased via Upgrades.
Proposal settings
Locate the following three sections related to Proposal creation in Tools - Settings.
Work types
In order to calculate profitability of the proposal correctly, the cost per hour of work types needs to be set. Profitability calculation uses the costs from work type settings (Tools - Settings - Work types, Cost per hour) as work costs.
Proposal statuses
Proposal statuses can be created and modified in Tools - Settings - Proposal statuses. You can add and disable/delete existing statuses, change the order in which statuses appear on proposal status drop down and rename an existing status.
Proposal templates
Go to Tools - Settings - Proposal templates to add proposal templates. You can add as many templates as you like. Changes made to an existing template will not update an existing proposal that has been created using the template. Template used on proposal can be selected from a list when creating a new proposal and from proposal's Settings tab.
Different sections of proposal template are explained below. Locate the number of the step from the picture below to see more clearly where each section is.
- Add PDF files to the proposal template. Files added at the top of the template are printed before any other proposal content and files added at the bottom are printed last. PDF can be for example company's terms and conditions.
- Company logo is displayed but it cannot be changed on the template. Each proposal automatically gets a logo of the organization (or business unit, if Organizational hierarchy add-on is enabled).
- The default title is "Proposal", located in the top right. Change the title to more suitable if needed, such as "Order confirmation" or "Agreement".
- Enter text that is visible on the proposal before proposal rows. Notice that it is possible to use html in this field to create a customized look and layout for the text. On this field automated tags "[Case name]" and "[Case number]" can be used to display the case name and number on the proposal to which the proposal is connected to.
- Choose a price list. Price of products and work hours (work types) comes based on selected price list.
- Add subtotals by entering a name for the subtotal. Proposal rows can be dragged and dropped under a certain subtotal. On the proposal, subtotals show the total value of rows connected to each subtotal.
- Add items, products and work types as proposal rows. Item is an individual row that is not connected to any product in product register. For an item it is possible to freely enter unit price and unit cost. Products and Work types get pricing from selected price list. After adding a row, description for row can be entered in the big text box that appears below the row. Drag and drop rows to change the order or connect a row to subtotal.
- Choose to show Billing details (from the case > billing details), Case members, Gantt chart or Tree view of phases on the proposal.
- There is a second free text area to enter information below the proposal rows. This field also allows html, but doesn't include the automated tags.
- As a default, proposal footer gets company information based on the document preferences set up in Tools > Settings > Company details (or business units, if Organizational hierarchy add-on is enabled). To add more information such as website address or more phone number, edit the footer and enter the information in to desired place.
- Choose which columns are displayed on the proposal. For example hide VAT from the proposal total or only choose to show total price for each row.
Proposal creation
Proposal can be created from New - Proposal menu or by opening an existing case and clicking "New proposal" in Proposals -section. Note! Case access rights apply to proposal creation.
Basic information form
This form only occurs when proposal is created from the New -menu. When proposal is created from the case, settings are selected based on case settings.
- Choose account from account register or add a new account
- Choose account contact or add new contact
- Choose from account's existing case or add new case
- Choose a business unit
- Choose what template is used (optional)
- Choose what will be the sales status of the proposal
- Choose sales person of the proposal
- Sales probability percentage comes automatically based on the selected sales status. It can also be edited to preferred percentage.
- Enter expected order date (optional)
- Currency can be selected when Multi-currency add-on is enabled. When using a proposal template currency is automatically selected based on the what currency's price list used on the template.
Proposal layout and editable fields
Proposal can be created using mainly one window. Each section of a proposal is editable by clicking the pen icon at the left. Different sections of proposal are explained below. Locate the number of the step from the picture below to see more clearly where each section is.
- Add PDF files to the proposal. Files added at the top of the template are printed before any other proposal content and files added at the bottom are printed last. PDF can be for example company's terms and conditions.
- Company logo is displayed on the proposal but it cannot be changed here. Each proposal automatically gets a logo of the organization (or business unit, if Organizational hierarchy add-on is enabled).
- The default title"Proposal" is located in the top right. Change the title to more suitable if needed, such as "Order confirmation" or "Agreement". The proposal date can also be changed.
- Customer's contact details show name, contact person and an address. Only addresses added to a account card can be selected as address to the template.
- Enter text that is visible on the proposal before proposal rows. Notice that it is possible to use html in this field to create a customized look and layout for the text. On this field automated tags "[Case name]" and "[Case number]" can be used to display the case name and number on the proposal to which the proposal is connected to.
- Add subtotals by entering a name for the subtotal. Proposal rows can be dragged and dropped under a certain subtotal. On the proposal, subtotals show the total value of rows connected to each subtotal.
- Adding of proposal rows is described in more detail later in this article. See Proposal and subtotal rows Clicking the pen icon will open the rows into edit mode and clicking the pen icon again will close the edit mode and shows the rows as they are shown on the actual, printed proposal.
- Choose to show Billing details (from the case > billing details), Case members, Gantt chart or Tree view of phases on the proposal.
- There is a second free text area to enter information below the proposal rows. This field also allows html, but doesn't include the automated tags.
- As a default, proposal footer gets company information based on the document preferences set up in Tools > Settings > Company details (or business units, if Organizational hierarchy add-on is enabled). To add more information such as website address or more phone number, edit the footer and enter the information in to desired place.
- From the action menu at the top right you can change the status of the proposal or delete the proposal.
Proposal settings tab
Proposal layout settings can be managed by clicking the Settings-tab. Select the language and formatting used on Proposal. You can also select which columns are shown and hide VAT if necessary.
Profitability
Profitability of the proposal opens in a pop up window when clicking the link at the top. Profitability is calculated based on the prices and costs of rows added to the proposal. Profitability can only be viewed on each proposal separately and it is not connected to case's margin. Use profitability on the proposal to see an estimate of what your case margin might be if case is invoiced based on proposal.
- Income: total price of the proposal.
- Work types: Work types added to the proposal are shown separately on the profitability. Total amount of hours and total costs are summed up for each work type. The cost is calculated using formula "amount of hours * cost of work type". Cost of work type is defined in Tools > Settings > Work types.
- Other expenses: all item & product expenses on one row. Notice that expenses doesn't show costs of hidden rows.
- Total profit = income - work type costs - other expenses.
Pricing
Pricing opens in a pop up window when clicking the link at the top.
- When using proposal template, price list defined on template is used for new Proposals (Tools > Settings > Proposal templates)
- When adding a proposal to a new case for an account using a specific price list, price list of the account is used (Account > Account information -section > Price list). If account doesn't have price list set, then organization default price list is used.
- When adding new proposal to an existing case, case pricing is used on Proposal.
- In the pricing pop up, price list can also be changed to "custom" and own prices can be set up. Notice that proposal's and case's price lists are connected, so that custom prices are then used on the case as well.
Proposal and subtotal rows
Subtotals are added by entering a name at the top of proposal row editing mode.
Proposal rows are added from the end. From the "Not selected" menu it is possible to choose work types and products and then enter the rest of the details. In case you don't want to use any predefined product, keep the "Not selected" in the first dropdown and type a name, quantity, unit, price and cost for the row. Row is added after clicking Save.
When new row is added, it is possible to enter description for each row. Description and other changes made to the rows are save by clicking the "Save" button at the end.
Order of the rows can be changed with drag and drop. Click and hold the mouse on top of the row you wish to move and then drag the row into correct place.
There are two check box selections for the rows. First check box is "Create to case for invoicing". Proposal rows will not automatically be billable on the case. Check the rows you wish to invoice and click "Update" at the end. Second check box is "Show in proposal". With this selection you can choose which rows are shown on the proposal and which are hidden.
Adding flat rate
Proposal can use flat rate pricing where case billing uses flat rate instead of price per hour.
- Add new subtotal (name of the phase on case)
- Add new invoice row by selecting the work type from the list and give the amount of hours belonging to that phase (Notice that the flat rate will be calculated from this hours * price per hour)
- Drag and drop the work type under the subtotal
- There are two check box selections for the rows. First check box is "Create to case for invoicing". Select the subtotals you want to add as flat rate phases and remove selection in front of work type rows.
- Add the flat rate by clicking the Update -button
- Subtotals are added as new phases
- Pricing is updated and flat rate is added
Access existing proposals
In case sales section you can see the value of proposal/proposals added to a case. The total excluding VAT is saved as the value of the case (including only the rows that are shown on proposal view mode) and is updated every time proposal rows are updated. If there are many proposals on the case, the value of the case equals the total of all the proposals.
There can be many proposals on one case. You can see and access all proposals added to a case in case proposals -section. Changing the status of a proposal can be done in case view or by opening the proposal.
Proposals can also be opened from the Proposal report.
Proposal report
Proposal report can be found in the report content menu. For example go to New > Report and select "Proposal" in the content menu.
In the "Selected data" section define what kind of information you wish to report. Column headers can be dragged and dropped or double clicked from "Available data" into "Selected data" and the order of the headers can be changed by clicking the header name, holding with mouse and changing the position. Filter the report based on for example proposal statuses, sales people, dates etc. Multiple filters can be added to limit the search results.
Report can be saved into report gallery, it can be added to dashboards and it can be exported into Excel.
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