Options And Alternatives

How Do I... Use Options And Alternatives

Options and Alternatives allow you to show a customer what a job estimate would be if certain items were added to the job (Options), or were used in place of other items (Alternatives).

Optional and Alternative items are not added to the job total. Separate totals showing the cost of each Option or Alternative are displayed at the bottom of the Job Listing report. For Alternative items, the total displayed is the difference between the cost of the original estimated item and the alternative item.

Examples:

A customer would like to see the estimate with, and without, the cost to construct a deck. In this situation, you would estimate the price of the deck, but you would mark it as an optional item (see below).
A customer would like to install all wood windows but may want to choose vinyl windows if the wood windows put them over their budget. In this situation, you would estimate the wood windows, and the vinyl windows, but mark the vinyl windows as alternate items. The total for the vinyl window alternative at the bottom of the job listing would show the difference (negative for less) between the wood windows and the vinyl windows.

To Create Optional Job Items

To create Optional job items, follow these steps:

Open Job Estimate

Select a job in the prompt at the top of the main window, then click on Job, and Edit Job Estimate in the shortcut menu to open the Job Estimate entry form.

Create An Item

Create the optional item, the same as you would any other item, according to steps described in the Edit Job Estimate topic. The item can be an individual item, or a group item that contains any number of sub-items.

Designate The Item As An Option

Select Job Estimate Options in the Job menu. This will open the Job Estimate Options form.

Add A Job Option

Click on Add to the right of the prompt at the top of the form.

Enter Option Name

Enter a name for the option to briefly describe it.

Select the item(s) that make up the option.

Check one or more items that are to be included in the job option.

You can have any number of optional items belong to one Job Option, and you can create any number of Job Options (each with any number of optional items in them).

For example, a customer may want the option to do some finish work themselves. So to list various job items as part of the finish option, you would mark them as optional, and assign them to the "Finish Option" option name.

Click OK

Click OK at the bottom of the screen to save changes.

Print An Option Listing

Click Job Options in the Documents menu to view or print a list of job options for the customer.

Optional items are listed with regular items in the Job Listing report, except that they appear in italics, and their item amounts are not added to the job total. The Job Listing report displays separate estimate totals for each option name at the bottom of the report.

If a customer decides to include an option in a job, you can convert it to an actual item by simply deleting the Job Estimate Option (but not the items in the option). Here's how:

If a contract has not been signed, change the optional item(s) to actual item(s) by removing them from the job option (or deleting the entire option) in the Job Estimate Options form.
If a contract has been signed, you must create a change order. To create a change order, remove the optional item(s) from the Job Estimate Option (in the in the Job Estimate Options form), and then add the item(s) to a change order in the Change Order form.

See How Do I... Create A Change Order for more information on how to create and print a change order.

To Create Alternative Job Items

Job Estimate Alternatives are similar to Job Estimate Options, except that their amounts (displayed at the bottom of the job listing) are the difference between the cost the alternative, and the item(s) which they are an alternative to. To create job item alternatives, follow these steps:

Open Job Estimate

Select a job in the prompt at the top of the main window, then click on Job, and Edit Job Estimate in the shortcut menu to open the Job Estimate entry form.

Create An Item

Designate The Item As An Alternative

Select Job Estimate Alternative in the Job menu. This will open the Job Alternative Options form.

Add A Job Alternative

Click on Add to the right of the prompt at the top of the form.

Enter Alternative Name

Enter a name for the option to briefly describe it.

Select Alternative To:

Select the job item for which this is an alternative.

Select the item(s) that make up the alternative.

Check one or more items that are to be included in the alternative.

You can have any number of items belong to one Job Alternative, and you can create any number of Job Alternatives (each with any number of items in them).

Click OK

Click OK at the bottom of the screen to save changes.

Print An Alternative Listing

Click Job Options in the Documents menu to view or print a list of job options and alternatives for the job.

Alternative items are listed with regular items in the Job Listing report, except that they appear in italics, and their item amounts not added to the job total. The Job Listing report displays separate estimate totals for each alternative at the bottom of the report.

If a customer chooses an alternative item...

If a customer chooses an alternative item (instead of the original item), you can convert it to an actual job item. Here's how:

If a contract has not been signed
, change the optional item(s) to actual item(s) by removing them from the job alternative (or deleting the entire alternative) in the Job Estimate Alternatives form.
Then, remove the original item (which the alternative was an alternative to).
If a contract has been signed
, you must create a change order.
To create a change order, remove the alternative item(s) from the Job Estimate Alternative (in the in the Job Estimate Alternatives form), and then add the item(s) to a change order in the Change Order form.
Then, remove the original item (which the alternative was an alternative to).

See How Do I... Create A Change Order for more information on how to create and print a change order.