Audience: Builder, trade, supplier, dealer
Read/Watch time: 10min watch, 10min read
Article content: FAQ/Videos
This article covers all things to do with PC/PS/Allowance items (what you call them will differ depending on where you are in the world) and how Buildxact handles the presentation on the quote, and markup on those items.
This whole topic has quite a bit to it, so we've presented this in two, you can do one or both of:
Watch the video below for your region
Below the videos read on for the in-depth explanations.
Australia and New Zealand
North America
Before we get into the in-depth explanation, here is a list of the headings as a guide:
What parts of the world use what terms/buttons?
Depending on what part of the world you're in, your screen will look slightly different at this point.
North American users will use the "A" button. A standing for "Allowance"
Users from Australia and New Zealand will use the "P" button. P standing for "Prime/Provisional"
So what does the PC/PS/Allowance button actually do?
By using these buttons in your quote you are indicating to your client that these figures are an allowances in your estimate. As a result Buildxact will do two things which this article will go into further.
Firstly we'll create a separate area in your quote to display these items to your client.
We'll adjust the markup on the item based on what you select for redistribution (the N/C/E buttons)
What is markup redistribution?
In short, dealing with PC/PS/Allowance items you have the option to choose whether the markup added to an item is shown in the total cost of that item to a client, or whether you want to show the without markup cost and as a result move that markup around on other items.
The default for Buildxact is to move markup from a PC/PS/Allowance item onto non-PC/PS/Allowance items within the same cost category, which is shown by the C (category) button, and described in Option 2 below.
Why do you move markup via redistributions
In short, there are 3 reasons.
PC/PS/Allowances may be used in the case where selections are going to happen and the client will actually go hunting for the item they want, meaning the amount they have to "spend" based on your quote needs to be the amount they actually have to spend, meaning not an amount with markup, hence our default redistribution option is C (Category) which does not show markup to the client.
In the case where there is a change or credit during the job on a PC/PS/Allowance item we want to work then on the cost price or non marked up price, this is to preserve your markup by having it moved to other items (unless you've used the N option in which case the client has seen the markup)
We want to avoid a scenario where a client can look backwards calculate the markup you've added to a quote by doing maths from the PC/PS/Allowance items sections on your quote.
So how does redistribution work?
You have three options for moving markup, all are done via the N/C/E toggle button shown below. Note that in the screenshot below the prices in green are the "sell prices" so will show the effect of the redistribution without needing to print the quote, the client will see the exact same thing (ignoring the PC/PS/Allowances table on your quote, that's different).
The items in this screenshot above are all $1000 with 10% tax and 20% markup, yet based on which option is selected for redistribution the prices shown are different. Clicking on the "sell price" for any item will show more info about the markup on that item, screenshots of this are shown below under each option.
Option 1 - Don't move markup (N = None)
This option is basically the "off" function where no markup will be moved from this item onto any other item.
Clicking on the "sell price" for this item shows that this item has $200 of its own markup, and $300 from other items (these other items would have had C or E selected for redistribution) moved onto it.
If an item is a PC/PS/Allowance item AND has the N selected the markup for that allowance will be shown to the client.
Option 2 - Move markup within the category (C = Category)
This option will mean that this item will always be shown to the client without markup. To expand on this, it will never be shown with markup and will never have any markup redistributed onto it. The markup that this item would have had (if applicable) has been moved to other items within the same category (except other C/E items). This setting is the default for all PC/PS/Allowance items.
Clicking on the "sell price" for this item shows that this has no markup of its own, and no markup from other items is being applied either.
Note: If you click the C button on an item where there are no other items in the category, the markup has nowhere to go, we default to using option 3 and treating it as though you clicked the E button
Option 3 - Move markup over across the whole estimate (E = Estimate)
This option will mean that this item will always be shown to the client without markup. To expand on this, it will never be shown with markup and will never have any markup redistributed onto it. The markup that this item would have had (if applicable) has been moved to across all other items (except other C/E items) within the whole estimate.
Clicking on the "sell price" for this item shows that this has no markup of its own, and no markup from other items is being applied either.
Can I change the default redistribution setting?
Yes. The default redistribution setting is option 2 (C = Category), but you can change it to option 1 (N = None) per estimate if you need.
If you'd like to change this default you can do it at an estimate level from within the estimate details section.
Go into estimate details and click edit
Update the PC/PS default setting. Note this wording will be different in different regions.
When the box is ticked the default will be the C option (within category) when using a PC/PS/Allowance item
When the box is un-ticked the default will be the N option (no markup redistribution) when using a PC/PS/Allowance item
How do PC/PS/Allowance items show on my quote?
Again, depending on where you're based the default options will be different.
North American users get the allowance items showing without tax by default and markup based on your redistribution settings.
Australian and New Zealand users will get PC/PS items showing with tax by default and markup based on your redistribution settings.
The logic of what we show on the quote (regardless of where you're based) is that the PC/PS/Allowance items should give the client the "sticker price" of the item such that if they went into a store to look for the same item they would be able to compare your quote price with the store price.
Can I change the settings for how PC/PS/Allowance items show on my quote?
Yes you can. When in the quote letter screen (regardless of the quote layout you use) you'll be able to change the PC/PS/Allowance settings as shown below.
The options you have are:
Base Total (excl. tax) - this option shows the PC/PS/Allowance items without tax and and markup based on your redistribution settings. This is the default setting for North America.
Total (incl. tax) - this option shows the PC/PS/Allowance items with tax and markup based on your redistribution settings. This is the default setting for Australia and New Zealand.
Full Breakdown (incl. tax and markup boxes) - this option shows the full breakdown of the PC/PS/Allowance including the tax and markup based on your redistribution settings.
In addition to the above 3 options you can for any option choose to add the markup amount on the PC/PS/Allowance items as s percent.
Note that anytime we are showing markup amounts on PC/PS/Allowance items the markup amount will be consistent with the redistribution options chosen. Meaning if you choose to redistribute your markup for a PC/PS/Allowance item we'll always show the markup on that item as $0.
Lastly, when I get to the job how can I settle PC/PS/Allowances?
For us all the settling/adjusting of PC/PS/Allowance items is done via variations.
See here for all the information on that.