Cost buildup
Cost buildup is a feature that allows sales representatives and managers to create quotes by assigning costs to specific components of the designed system.
Cost buildup line items range from solar equipment to custom line items, and from general base costs to labor. A margin can be applied directly to individual costs or on the total project.
Account administrators have the ability to set default project-level costs (base costs, labor, and margin) as well as solar equipment costs. On the quote page, you will see all costs represented by a single $/W value that will appear in the Install Cost input field by default (highlighted below). Without updating the account defaults, this number will be $3.20/W.
Account set up & defaults
Upon account creation, your organization is set with default costs on modules, inverters, and project base costs of $1.00/W, $0.20/W, and $2.00/W, respectively. These can be changed at any time by any account administrator. Solar equipment costs can be updated by clicking into the side navigation bar, then into Settings, and selecting the Equipment option.
Under both the Solar Modules and Inverters tabs, you can set the default costs. Setting a default cost for a module -- similarly done for inverters -- sets that default cost for all modules. This is done by editing the input field in the top left (highlighted below).
While the default module cost sets the default cost for all modules, you can override the cost of a specific module by clicking the Edit Item button in that module's row. The Edit Item window will appear, allowing you to set a different default cost ($/W or $) and margin for that module (displayed below). Click Submit to save any changes.
From the sidebar menu, under Settings, the account administrator can also select Project Costs to both create custom line items and set project cost controls. Under the Additional Costs tab, there is an Add Costs button that allows users to create and store common line items to be used for all quotes (highlighted below).
Clicking the Add Costs button opens the Add Cost window, allowing you to create a specific line item. Each cost can be named and saved as a $ or $/W value (displayed below). The cost amount can be left blank; a sales representative or manager will then input a cost for the line item when ultimately generating a quote.
While in the Project Costs window, there is also a Project Cost Controls tab (to the right of Additional Costs). Clicking this tab reveals a variety of defaults and constraints that can be set and applied to all jobs. Account administrators can set the project level margin, base costs, and project labor while also applying a constraint of a minimum margin to be applied (displayed below).
For instructions on how to construct a quote using cost buildup, click here.