Adding Tax, Fees, Discounts and Markup to a Proposal
Use adjustment columns to add sales tax, service charges, discounts, markup, vendor tax or freight to a proposal, set values per group or line, and control their order.
Adjustments are columns that change a proposal's totals: sales tax, a service charge, a loyalty discount, a markup, or on your own side, vendor tax, freight or contingency. Each column runs over every line of the proposal, and you can give a group or a single line its own value where it differs.
Columns sit on one of two sides:
- Cost columns are internal. They raise or lower the Budget and are never meant for the client. Use them for what you will pay on top of a line's cost, such as tax a vendor charges you.
- Charge columns are client-facing. They raise or lower the Revenue. Use them for tax you charge, service fees, discounts and markup.
The two sides are separate. The tax you pay a vendor and the tax you charge a client are different rates on different amounts, so each gets its own column.
Add a Column
Open Adjustments
Add a column
Name it and choose the method
Set the document value
Save
Multiply takes a factor. 1.0825 adds 8.25 percent, 0.90 takes 10 percent off, and 3.0 is a three-times markup. A factor cannot be negative. A factor of 0 is allowed and zeroes the line out.
Add takes a signed amount. 500 is a fee and -500 is a credit.
The side and the method cannot be changed once a column exists, because every value already entered was written for them. To change either, remove the column and add a new one.
Set Values for a Group or a Line
Below the column list, each side has a grid with a Document row, a row for each group and a row for each line. Type a value in a cell to give that group or line its own value, and clear the cell to fall back. Clearing the Document cell resets the column to no effect: 1 for Multiply, 0 for Add. You can also set a line's value from the column of the same name on the Line Items tab.
The two methods treat these rows differently:
- Multiply cascades. A line uses its own value if it has one, otherwise its group's value, otherwise the document value. A group value of 1.05 under a document value of 1.0825 replaces it for that group.
- Add sums. Every value is its own fee, added once where it is set. A document value of 500 plus a group value of 200 charges 700 in total: one fee for the document and one for the group. A line value is added to that line.
A cost-side Add can only be set per line. Its document value stays at 0 and group cells are disabled. That keeps every dollar of the budget on a specific line, so the line budgets always add up exactly to the proposal's budget and an overspend can be traced to the line it belongs to. A flat cost that belongs to no single line, such as delivery, is a line item instead.
How Columns Are Calculated
Columns are worked out line by line, in the order they are listed on each side.
- Each line starts from its base: quantity times unit cost on the cost side, and quantity times unit charge on the charge side.
- Each column on that side is applied in order. A Multiply column multiplies the line's running total, and an Add column adds the line's own value.
- Lines are summed into group and proposal totals, and then group and document Add values are added at their own level.
Order matters. Suppose a line charges 1,000 and has a Delivery fee of 100 set on the line, plus Sales tax at 1.08. With Delivery first, tax applies to the fee and the line totals 1,188. With Sales tax first, the fee is added after tax and the line totals 1,180. Drag columns within a side to change the order. Cost and charge columns are ordered separately, so moving one never reorders the other side.
Because group and document Add values are added after every line is calculated, no Multiply column ever applies to them. A document-level service fee is never taxed. If a fee needs to be taxed, add it as a line item or as a line value.
Each column on the Adjustments tab shows its Effect, the amount it added or removed across the proposal. The same amounts appear under each group and at the bottom of the Line Items tab, between the subtotal and the Total charge and Total cost.
Hide a Charge Column From the Client
A charge column can be marked Hide from the client, for example a fee you fold into the prices you show. The column still counts in every total; only the client view changes. Cost columns are never shown to the client, so they have no such setting. BackOps does not yet produce a client-facing proposal document, so this setting is saved for when it does.
Columns are locked with the rest of the pricing once a proposal is accepted. Move the proposal back to Sent to change them.