The price list changed in March
Your main fabricator announces a price increase from the first of March. You have forty quotes out, some from November. A homeowner accepts one in April, on the old price. Two accepted jobs are waiting to be ordered because the homeowners wanted a summer fit. Nobody checked which quotes used the old list, so all of them go through at the old figures, and the margin on each one quietly shrinks.
Why old quotes slip through
Quotes carry a validity period, but nobody checks it when a homeowner comes back. Price lists change on the fabricator's timetable, not yours. And accepted jobs waiting months to be ordered are exposed to every change in between.
- Quotes do not record which price list they were built on.
- Validity dates are printed on the quote but not tracked.
- When a new price list arrives, nobody lists the quotes affected.
- Accepted jobs waiting to order are not repriced to see the effect.
- The decision to honour or revise is made case by case, from memory.
What your terms allow when prices change is for your own terms of business and your adviser. The system shows you the exposure and applies your policy.
What the gap costs
Each old quote accepted at the old price gives away the difference, and across a busy season that adds up. Revising prices after acceptance without clear terms damages trust. And without seeing the exposure, you cannot decide sensibly whether to absorb an increase, pass it on or order early.
Quote validity tracking we build
- Every quote records the price list version it used and its validity date.
- When a new fabricator price list is loaded, open quotes built on the old one are listed with the difference each would see if repriced.
- Homeowners accepting a quote after its validity date are flagged before the acceptance is confirmed, so the office can reprice or honour it deliberately.
- Accepted jobs not yet ordered are shown with their margin at the new prices, so you can decide whether to order early, if the fabricator allows, or absorb it.
- Your policy, such as honouring quotes within validity and repricing those outside it, is applied consistently.
- Homeowners with open quotes can be contacted before the rise takes effect, if that suits your approach.
| Quote state | What you see after a price rise |
|---|---|
| Open, within validity | Difference if repriced, your policy applied |
| Open, expired | Flagged for repricing before acceptance |
| Accepted, not ordered | Margin at new prices |
| Ordered | No change, already at old prices |
How price rises feel afterwards
A fabricator price rise becomes a list of affected quotes and jobs, with numbers, rather than a surprise months later. Expired quotes are repriced before acceptance. You decide deliberately where to absorb and where to pass on. And homeowners get honest notice rather than a revised price after they said yes.
The same tracking works for hardware and glass price changes that affect only part of a quote.
It also helps when you talk to your fabricator. With a clear list of open quotes and accepted jobs at the old price, you can ask whether early orders can be placed before the rise, or whether the increase can be phased for work already quoted. That conversation goes better with numbers in hand than with a general complaint about prices.
Signs price rises are costing you
- Old quotes are accepted at old prices without anyone checking.
- You do not know which quotes used which price list.
- Accepted jobs wait months to be ordered.
- You find out about the margin effect at year end.