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Your pricing library 📚
The cost catalog is a database of individual costs or cost groups (assemblies). This library maintains pricing information and helps you update templates and estimates efficiently throughout the course of a project.
✅ INCREASE ACCURACY: Easily push and pull often-used costs and assemblies to avoid transcription errors.
⌚ADDED TIME SAVING: Save and update pricing across multiple projects and templates.
Table of Contents:
- Navigating the Cost catalog
- Building the Cost catalog
- Pulling costs into Estimates
- Updating Cost catalog items
- Using the Web Clipper to Create a Cost Item
Navigating the Cost catalog
Where?
The Cost catalog can be found in the left menu.
Customize your view
The data table can be customized by selecting the menu icon ☰ within each header:
- Column headers can added/deleted, reorganized, and sorted.
Finding costs
Costs and their information are listed in rows down the page.
💡Use the Search bar in the upper left if you cannot find a cost you are looking for.
Building your Cost catalog
If you're new to Ressio, costs and groups can be added in three ways:
✏️ From scratch
📄 Imported from a CSV file
🔄 Added from a project estimate
💡TIP: Always include a COST CODE and PRICE in your costs/groups.
Adding costs from scratch:
Select Create in the top right and choose + New cost item or + New cost group.
💡Remember: Cost groups are a more effective method of adding multiple related costs to an estimate.
New Cost item: Create a single cost (e.g., Hot Tub = $10,000).
New Cost group: Create multiple cost details within a cost item (e.g., Hot Tub: Materials = $7,500, Installation = $2,500).
Once the necessary cost information is entered, select Update in the bottom right of the edit window.
Importing Cost catalog items
Import bulk costs using a CSV file to quickly populate the catalog.
- Download the Cost catalog Import Template
- For instructions on populating and uploading the template, ⬇️ watch the video below. ⬇️
- Import yourself or email the completed template to the Ressio support team
Adding from estimate
Cost items and assemblies can be added to the Cost Catalog directly from an estimate.
Select the three dots ⁝ to the right of the item or group and choose Add to Cost Catalog from the drop down.
Assemblies: Add cost groups the same way. Select three dots ⁝ to the right of the sub group name.
NOTE: Only 2nd level items can be added to cost catalog groups.
Deleting Cost catalog items
Costs can be deleted in three ways:
- Right-click the cost and select Delete
- Select the three dot icon ⋮ to the right of the cost
- Mass delete: Check the boxes to the left of the costs you'd like to delete and right-click Delete
💡TIP: Mass select all costs by checking the first box, holding Shift on your keyboard, and checking the last box on the page.
Pulling Cost catalog items into estimates
Once the Cost catalog is populated, you can use the data to build estimates and estimate templates.
In any Estimate, simply begin creating a cost item using the + icon.
Cost catalog items CANNOT be added to the Category level (1st level) or to the Sub-Item level (3rd level) of the estimate.
Selecting costs
All Cost Catalog items will appear in a dropdown menu in the Name column. Scroll or begin typing to find and select the cost you want to pull into the estimate.
🔗 A hyperlink icon beside a cost indicates it is linked back to the Cost catalog. 🔗
NOTE: Linked costs can be mass updated from the Cost catalog; unlinked costs cannot. Unlink a cost by selecting the 🔗 icon and choosing Unlink.
Unlinking Cost Catalog Costs
Once costs have been added to an estimate from the Cost Catalog, they will remain linked to allow for individual or mass edits (see below).
Cost catalog items, once added to an estimate, CANNOT be edited in the estimate.
Unlink costs to edit them. Select the link icon 🔗 to unlink.
Updating pricing & details using the Cost catalog
One of the main benefits of the Cost catalog is the ability to push pricing changes to multiple estimates and templates.
Editing Cost catalog items
Costs can be edited by selecting the cost name on the left.
Pushing costs into estimates
Once a cost has been updated, select Sync.
A new window will show the projects linked to the cost and the estimate's locked status.
Select which estimates/templates to update and select Update selected estimates.
CAUTION: Think carefully before pushing updates to a locked (under-contract) project. Pushing updates into locked projects generates pending change orders.
Using the Web Clipper to Create a Cost Item
You can create a new cost item in your Cost Catalog from vendor product metadata. The web clipper allows you to past a a product page URL to create a catalog item with imported metadata, price, image and source link. You can use your cost items in your selections choices. To learn more about creating and managing selections, read Creating and Releasing Selections.
To create the cost item, navigate to the Cost catalog:
- Click the "Create" button in the top left hand corner
- Select "🔗 Add from URL"
- Add your URL in the field
- Click "Import"
- Review information and fill in information if need be.
✅ This works best on individual product pages. Navigate directly to the specific product before copying the URL. Pricing may not always transfer depending on the retailer's website. If a field comes back empty, you can fill it in manually.
❓ Choice not opening after it was created? This can happen occasionally. Look for the green confirmation banner, your choice was still created. Find it in the choice list and click to open and edit it.
🗒️ Some retailer websites restrict outside access to their product data. If you get limited or no results, enter the choice details manually or try a different retailer site.
If you still have unanswered questions or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to our dedicated support team at support@ressiosoftware.com. We're here to help!