The quote was right in spring
You quoted a full rewire in March. The customer accepted in June. When you order the twin and earth, the price at the counter is noticeably higher than the figure in your template, and the same is true of the SWA and a few other lines. The labour's the same; the margin on materials has gone.
Nobody's fault exactly. The template prices were entered last year and updated when someone had time, which was never.
Why your prices lag the counter
Your wholesalers change prices regularly, and cable in particular moves with copper. Your quoting spreadsheet or job software holds a fixed list. Updating it by hand means going line by line through hundreds of items, so it happens rarely, and different estimators patch it in different ways.
Quote validity periods help in principle, but only if someone checks the prices when an old quote is accepted.
| Where prices sit | How often updated |
|---|---|
| Quote template or spreadsheet | When someone remembers |
| Job software price list | Imported once, then drifts |
| Wholesaler trade counter | Changes often |
| Wholesaler account portal | Current, but not connected |
| Estimator's memory | Varies by estimator |
Different job types feel it differently. A domestic rewire uses a lot of twin and earth. A commercial job might use SWA, data cable and containment, each on its own price cycle. A quote template that has one old price per item hides the fact that some lines are far more exposed to price changes than others.
The margin that disappears quietly
Every job quoted at old prices and bought at new ones loses money on materials. It doesn't show as a loss on any single day, just as a thinner year. Estimators lose confidence in the price list and start adding their own padding, which makes quotes uncompetitive in the other direction.
Long jobs are the most exposed. A commercial fit-out quoted in the autumn and started in the spring can see material prices move between tender and order, and if nobody checks at the point of order, the difference comes out of the margin.
The price-aware quoting we build
- Price feed: we load your wholesalers' price files, or read your account prices where the wholesaler provides a download or API, on a regular schedule.
- Product matching: your quote items are matched to wholesaler product codes once, with the office confirming any that are unclear.
- Price updates: your price list updates from the feed, and changes above a threshold you set are listed for the owner to see.
- Quote check: every quote shows the date its prices were taken. When an old quote is accepted, it is re-priced in the background and any material difference is flagged before you confirm the job.
- Order compare: when you order, the order price is compared with the quoted price per line, so you can see where margin moved.
- Estimator view: estimators see the current price and the last few changes on the lines that move most.
How you handle price changes with customers is your decision and your terms. The system tells you when it matters.
Quotes that match the counter
Your price list stays current without a spare afternoon. Old quotes are checked before you commit. Estimators trust the numbers, so they stop padding. And the owner can see when a price change is worth a conversation with the customer.
It also makes conversations with customers simpler. If a quote is accepted long after it was issued and material prices have moved, you can show the customer which lines changed and by how much, rather than asking for more money on a feeling.
Is your pricing like this?
- Material prices in your template are months old.
- Cable costs at order time are higher than quoted.
- Old quotes are accepted and ordered without re-checking.
- Estimators keep their own price notes.
- You can't see which lines have moved most.