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AXITRAQ Quotes and Estimations — User Manual

Platform: AXITRAQ (axitraq.app) Module: Quotes and Estimations Last Updated: September 2026 (PDF summary vs itemised sections)

Table of Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Access and Permissions
  3. Finding the Quotes Area
  4. Creating a Quote
  5. Quote Header Details
  6. Stages
  7. Line Items — Labour, Assets and Materials
  8. Per-Line Notes
  9. Stage-Level Notes
  10. Live Summary
  11. Refresh Prices
  12. Templates
  13. Duplicate a Quote
  14. Start From a Past Job
  15. Schedule and Clash Check
  16. Preview PDF
  17. Detailed Summary Tab
  18. Finalise and Re-issue
  19. Download the Quote PDF
  20. Convert Quote to Job
  21. Vendor Quotes
  22. Quote Settings
  23. Tips and Best Practices

1. Overview

The Quotes and Estimations module lets you build professional, staged quotes for clients — labour, machines/assets and parts/materials — with live pricing pulled from your existing catalogues, a scheduling clash check, a branded PDF that uses your own letterhead, and a one-click Convert to Job when the quote is accepted.

Quotes are snapshot-priced: the rate that applies to each line at the moment you add it is stored on the quote, so an issued quote never changes its numbers if your catalogue is updated later. When you want the latest rates you can pull them in explicitly with Refresh Prices.

Every quote lives entirely inside your own company — quotes are never visible to other tenants, and importing from a past job takes a snapshot copy only (the original job is never modified).

2. Access and Permissions

Access to Quotes is controlled by the Quotes permission section under Manage → People → Access Roles:

Capability What it allows
View Open the Quotes list, view any quote, download an existing PDF
Edit Create, edit, duplicate, finalise / re-issue, and convert quotes
Delete Permanently remove a quote

Account owners and platform administrators see Quotes automatically. Everyone else needs the capability granted.

3. Finding the Quotes Area

Quotes appears as a top-level nav item once you have the permission. Its three pages are:

  • Quotes — the quote register (active quotes, drafts, finalised, converted, expired).
  • Templates — quotes marked as re-usable templates.
  • Quote Settings — numbering, default terms, letterhead branding, categories and quote types (admin).

4. Creating a Quote

From the Quotes page:

  1. Click + New Quote, or use one of the fast-start options:
  2. From Template — pick a template and turn it into a fresh draft.
  3. From Past Job — snapshot a completed job's people, assets and materials as a starting point (see section 14).
  4. Fill in the quote header (client, category, description, validity, schedule, etc.).
  5. Add stages (see section 6).
  6. Inside each stage, add labour, asset/machine and parts/material lines (see section 7).
  7. Review the live summary on the right (see section 10).
  8. When you're happy, Preview PDF to check formatting, then Finalise to issue the quote (see section 18).

5. Quote Header Details

The Details tab captures everything about the quote that isn't a line item:

Field Description
Client Click the field (or start typing) to open a searchable client list. Matches name, trading name and ABN. Click a row to select. Use + New Client to quick-create without leaving the quote.
Category Groups quotes for reporting (e.g. Civil, Plumbing, Maintenance). Managed in Quote Settings.
Type Free-form quote type (e.g. Fixed Price, Schedule of Rates, Time and Materials).
Description Short summary displayed at the top of the printed quote.
Valid Until Expiry date shown on the printed quote.
Schedule Window Proposed start and finish dates, used by the clash check.
Tax Tax rate applied to the quote total (defaults from company settings).
Discount Optional whole-of-quote discount (percentage or fixed).

6. Stages

Every quote is broken into one or more stages — logical sections that you can rearrange, price, and comment on independently. Typical uses:

  • Mobilisation / Site prep / Main works / Demobilisation
  • Concrete / Formwork / Reinforcement
  • Kitchen / Bathroom / Laundry

Each stage has:

  • A name.
  • Optional stage note (see section 9).
  • Three line groups: Labour, Assets / Machines, Parts / Materials. Each group has a Subtotal row (hours/units and totals follow the Ex / Inc GST radio). Parts & Materials also shows the blended MU % or GP % for that group (profit on total buy vs total sell).
  • Optional Summarise on PDF per group (see below).
  • A running stage subtotal.
  • Optional stage-level discount applied only to that stage's totals.

Summarise a section on the client PDF

Each group (Labour, Assets & Machines, Parts & Materials) can appear on the branded PDF in two ways:

  • Itemised (default) — every line prints, the same as today.
  • Summarised — tick Summarise on PDF and enter a short comment. The client PDF then shows one row for that group (your comment, or a default label such as “Parts & materials”) plus that group’s subtotal. Qty and unit are blank so it does not look like a single catalogue item.

You can mix modes on the same stage (for example itemised labour and summarised parts). The Stages & Costing tables stay fully itemised so your costing does not change. Line notes on a summarised group are not printed (they remain working comments). Stage notes still follow Show on quote/PDF.

Existing quotes stay itemised until you tick a box. Duplicating a quote or using a template copies the ticks and comments. Convert to Job still copies every line — summary is display-only.

At the top of Stages & Costing (not on Details) are two radio groups that apply to the whole quote:

  • Ex GST/TAX (default) or Inc GST/TAX — how you type and see Unit sell / Rate, plus a GST column between sell and Total. Line prices are always stored exclusive. The PDF still prints Subtotal (ex tax), Tax, Total inc.
  • Markup % (default) or Gross profit % — the materials column next to Unit sell. Markup = profit ÷ cost. Gross profit = profit ÷ sell. Example: buy $100, sell $130 → MU 30%, GP 23.1%.

These radios are saved on the quote. New quotes pick up the company defaults from Quote Settings.

When a quote has more than one stage, every line has a Move to stage list on the right (fixed width so long stage names do not stretch the table). Use it after Load items (which always lands in the first stage) or whenever a line belongs on a later window.

Drag the ⋮⋮ handle on the left of a labour, asset, or materials line to reorder it within that list.

7. Line Items — Labour, Assets and Materials

Each stage supports three line types. All three use type-to-search pickers — click the field to open a scrollable list, or start typing to filter. Keyboard up/down/enter is supported, and every picker has a — free text — option so you can add off-catalogue items without polluting your master lists.

Parts & Materials search uses the same any-words matching as the Parts register: each word must appear somewhere in the part number, name, category or sub-category (order-independent). Example: 150mm SOC or 150 FLG finds Connector DI NC SOC/FLG 150mm. The results panel expands over the table and scrolls when there are many matches.

Labour lines

Pick an employee (or free-text position), enter hours, and the rate resolves automatically from your existing labour rate cascade:

  1. Client-specific override (if configured for this client)
  2. System labour type
  3. Employee rate card

You can override the rate on any line.

Asset / Machine lines

Pick an asset (or free-text machine name), choose the charge period (hourly / daily / weekly) and enter quantity. The rate resolves from:

  1. Client-specific asset rate override
  2. The asset's own charge rate for the selected period

Parts / Materials lines

The Part column stays narrow and shows the item code / SKU / part number from your catalogue, or from the vendor quote when the item is new. Hover the code to see the full line (for example 014738 — Adaptor Male Viega Water 40mm x 40MI).

Description is the catalogue name or the vendor-quote wording. You can rewrite it for this quote. The ↺ button reloads the original description.

Pick a part (or free-text material). The sell price is set from the usual pricing chain (client-specific pricing → catalogue sell price → cost + markup). If a client- or category-specific markup applies it is included automatically.

Buy is editable so you can snapshot a special without changing the catalogue. The i button next to Buy still opens supplier variations (base cost, group cost, linked suppliers).

A MU % or GP % column (from the toolbar radio) sits next to Unit sell. Editing the % recalculates sell from the current buy. Editing sell refreshes the %. Editing buy leaves sell alone and refreshes the %.

A GST / TAX column sits between Unit sell and Total on labour, assets and materials. Totals follow the Ex / Inc radio.

Each group ends with a Subtotal row. On Parts & Materials the Buy cell is total buy (qty × unit buy) and the MU/GP cell is the blended % on that section (same MU vs GP mode as the toolbar).

Lines loaded from a vendor quote are highlighted in light yellow. Refresh Prices does not overwrite those buys. The legend under Parts & Materials explains the highlight.

8. Per-Line Notes

Every labour / asset / material line has a pencil icon that expands a Note / description field. Each note has a Show on quote/PDF tick:

  • On — the note is printed under the line item on the branded PDF, so your client sees the detail (inclusions, exclusions, assumptions).
  • Off — the note is a private working comment for your team.

Notes are preserved when a quote is duplicated or used as a template.

9. Stage-Level Notes

Each stage has its own description / scope note, again with a Show on quote/PDF toggle. Use stage notes to describe the whole section (scope, assumptions, what's included/excluded) and per-line notes for detail on individual items.

10. Live Summary

The right-hand summary panel updates as you edit:

  • Per-stage totals for labour, assets and materials
  • Stage subtotal with any stage-level discount applied
  • Overall subtotal across all stages
  • Whole-of-quote discount (if set)
  • Tax and grand total

The Detailed Summary tab (section 17) gives a much richer version of the same data laid out for review before finalising.

11. Refresh Prices

If your catalogue moves (parts price updated, new labour rate, seasonal asset rates), open an existing draft and click Refresh Prices. Every catalogue-linked line re-resolves against the current rates. Free-text lines, manually edited lines, and material lines priced from a vendor quote (cost_source = vendor_quote) stay untouched.

Snapshots are the default. Refresh Prices is opt-in. It only ever touches an editable draft — a finalised quote's numbers never change unless you explicitly re-issue it.

12. Templates

Any quote can be marked as a Template. Templates:

  • Appear on the Templates tab of the Quotes page.
  • Are never issued or numbered themselves.
  • Can be turned into a fresh, non-template draft via New → From template (or the From Template button on the register).

Templates are a great way to standardise quotes you write regularly (recurring inspection package, standard trench-and-lay, standard SWMS site pack). All stages, line items and notes come across.

13. Duplicate a Quote

Every row in the Quotes register has a Duplicate button. Duplicating:

  • Copies the header, all stages, and every line (with its snapshot price preserved verbatim).
  • Copies all per-line and per-stage notes.
  • Resets the new quote to a draft: no quote number, no revision, no PDF, no linked converted job.

Use it whenever you want a fresh quote based on an existing one without mutating the original.

14. Start From a Past Job

From Past Job lets you build a quote by snapshotting a historical job's real numbers. Pick a job and the platform pre-fills a new draft with:

  • Employees who worked the job, with their total submitted/approved hours.
  • Assets used on the job, each priced for the charge-rate period used at the time.
  • Materials used on the job, at the client's current material pricing.

The new quote is completely isolated — it records the source job for your reference only. Editing or issuing the quote does not change the original job in any way.

This is ideal for producing a variation or a "same again next year" quote.

15. Schedule and Clash Check

On the Schedule tab, set the quote's proposed start and finish dates, then click Run clash check. The check compares the quote's proposed employees and assets against your active and pending jobs whose dates overlap the quote window. Results list:

  • The resource (employee or asset) that clashes
  • The conflicting job (linked so you can open it)
  • The other job's dates and status

The clash check is advisory only. It never blocks you from issuing or converting a quote — it's there so you can spot capacity problems early and either reschedule or replace a resource. If no schedule window is set, the check gives you a friendly prompt to set the dates first.

16. Preview PDF

The Preview PDF tab always renders the quote live from the current editor (letterhead, line items, and any Summarise on PDF ticks):

  • Draft / Template previews carry a faint diagonal PREVIEW watermark and no quote number. This makes it obvious the document isn't the issued version.
  • Issued quotes also preview live — so you can check a change before you re-issue. The file behind Download PDF is still the last issued snapshot until you Re-issue.
  • If your company has no letterhead uploaded, the preview uses a clean built-in header so you can still show the client what they'll receive while branding is being finalised.

Use Refresh to re-render after edits, or Open in new tab to view full-size.

17. Detailed Summary Tab

The Detailed Summary tab is the review view before finalising. It shows:

  • Quote header (client, category, type, validity, schedule).
  • Per-stage breakdown listing every line item — labour, asset and material — with quantity, unit, amount, visible notes and stage subtotal. Sections ticked Summarise on PDF stay expanded here and show a 1 line badge so you can see what the client PDF will collapse.
  • Whole-of-quote totals (subtotal, discount, tax, grand total).

Read it top-to-bottom before issuing to catch missing items and formatting slips. Use Preview PDF to see the collapsed client layout.

18. Finalise and Re-issue

When the draft is ready:

  1. Click Finalise.
  2. AXITRAQ assigns the next quote number (using the prefix and sequence configured in Quote Settings — e.g. QUO-0001).
  3. The branded PDF is generated and stored against the quote.
  4. The quote's status moves from Draft to Issued.

Finalised quotes remain fully editable. If a client asks for a change, or you tick Summarise on PDF after issuing:

  1. Edit the quote.
  2. Click Re-issue.
  3. The revision number increments (e.g. Rev A → Rev B), the PDF is regenerated, and the new revision replaces the previous one on the record.

Preview already shows the new layout; Download PDF only updates after Re-issue. The client's copy of a previous revision is unaffected — only newly downloaded copies use the new revision.

19. Download the Quote PDF

Once a quote has been finalised, Download PDF appears on the editor. The PDF is served securely and is only downloadable by users in your company who have the Quotes permission — it is never public and cannot be accessed by another tenant.

20. Convert Quote to Job

When a client accepts the quote:

  1. Open the quote and click Convert to Job. A preview lists every stage (there is no stage-count limit) with dates and quoted totals.
  2. AXITRAQ creates one new job in Pending status with:
  3. A job description built from a per-stage cost breakdown of the quote.
  4. A note recording the quote number, revision and total.
  5. The quoted total stored as the job budget.
  6. One schedule window per quote stage (name, dates, and a snapshot of labour / asset / material lines). Summarise on PDF does not change this — the job always gets every line. The calendar shows one event per stage — not a single bar from first to last date.
  7. The distinct employees from the quote linked as job employees.
  8. The distinct assets from the quote linked as job assets.
  9. Every part-backed material line converted to an estimated job material (aggregated per part), using vendor-quote buy costs where you applied them.
  10. Any vendor quotes attached to this quote copied onto the job (and linked to the job+vendor purchase order when one exists).
  11. The quote's status moves to Converted — but the quote itself stays editable and can still be duplicated.

Free-text material lines (items that aren't linked to a catalogue part) are noted in the job description but not added as estimated materials — because there's no catalogue part to attach them to.

Idempotent. If you press Convert to Job again on a quote that's already converted, you get a link to the existing job — no duplicate job is ever created.

The new job then follows the normal Jobs workflow: schedule each stage, assign crew, capture timesheets, and invoice. See Invoicing a Job for manager approval, Standard actuals invoices, and Advanced progress / stage claims.

21. Vendor Quotes

On the quote Details tab, upload a trade vendor quote (for example a Tradelink specials PDF). AXITRAQ stores the file and reads the line items (SKU, description, qty, buy). Click the vendor quote in the list to open a review window: the file on the left, captured items on the right.

  1. Choose the vendor, an optional reference, and the file, then Upload & read quote. Reading can take up to a minute. If a line was missed, add it in the review window. Read quote runs capture again (already-loaded lines are kept).
  2. Matching uses supplier item codes first, then part number, then an exact catalogue name. Unmatched lines still load as free-text materials — they do not create new catalogue parts or vendors.
  3. Load to my Quote on a line adds it to the first stage as Parts & Materials: item, description, qty, vendor buy, and a sell from buy × markup (client category / part MU, else system / company default). Catalogue sell is not used. Already-loaded lines show Loaded. Use Move to stage on the Stages tab if the sheet covers more than one window. Load all remaining does every unused line in one go.
  4. Tick Set as our new expected buy price on a line that matched a catalogue part. That remembers the expected buy so a later vendor invoice for that item can alert if the price differs. It still does not change the catalogue. The tick is disabled until the line matches a part.
  5. Apply buy to existing lines (in the review window) is the overlay path: it writes vendor buy onto material lines that already share the same catalogue part. It does not add new lines.

Hard rule: a vendor quote never writes catalogue buy or sell. Catalogue buy changes only when someone edits the part, or when a confirmed vendor invoice is processed — and for job-only specials that invoice confirm leaves the catalogue alone unless you tick Also update catalogue buy prices.

22. Quote Settings

Manage → Quotes → Quote Settings (admin only) covers:

Stages & Costing defaults

Default Ex / Inc GST and Markup % / Gross profit % for new quotes. Each quote can still change the radios; line prices stay stored exclusive.

Numbering

  • Prefix for quote numbers (e.g. QUO-).
  • Next number — the sequence AXITRAQ will use for the next issued quote. You can pre-set this to align with an existing numbering scheme when you first switch to the platform.

Default Terms

  • Paragraph of default terms and conditions that appear on the printed quote. Editable per-quote if a specific job needs different terms.

Branding — Letterhead and Continuation

Upload two PDF backgrounds that AXITRAQ overlays quote content onto:

  • Letterhead — used as the background of page 1 only.
  • Continuation — used as the background of pages 2+ (optional).

The letterhead is your existing designed A4 stationery in PDF form — you keep full control of the visual design. AXITRAQ places quote content inside a configurable safe-area so it never overlaps your letterhead's logo, address block, or footer.

Adjust the safe-area margins to match your letterhead layout (top/right/bottom/left). Upload size limit is 15 MB and files must be valid PDF.

If either background is missing, the printed quote still renders using a clean built-in header — so a new customer can start issuing quotes immediately while designed letterhead is prepared.

Categories and Quote Types

Manage the pick-lists that appear on the quote header:

  • Categories — e.g. Civil, Plumbing, Fitout, Maintenance.
  • Types — e.g. Fixed Price, Schedule of Rates, Time and Materials.

Both are per-company and only used inside your account.

23. Tips and Best Practices

  • Build a template library. Most trades quote a handful of jobs repeatedly. Turn your first good quote of each shape into a template and start every subsequent one from it.
  • Use stages liberally. Two or three well-named stages make a printed quote instantly easier for a client to read (and reduces scope disputes).
  • Turn per-line notes on selectively. Client-facing detail should be Show on quote; internal margin comments should be hidden.
  • Set the schedule window early so the clash check is meaningful.
  • Preview before finalising. The Preview PDF tab is exactly what your client sees — one glance often catches a wrong quantity, a missing note, or a stage in the wrong order.
  • Re-issue for changes, don't create a new quote. Re-issuing keeps the same quote number with a revision letter, which is much cleaner for your client to reconcile.
  • Refresh Prices sparingly. On a long-running draft, remember that a refresh will pull today's rates onto every catalogue-linked line — it can move totals. Use it deliberately.
  • Convert only when the client has confirmed. Once a quote is converted, the job appears in scheduling and dashboards.