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Quotation Builder

Client-ready quotation workflow and PDF export

Quotation Builder is a quotation workflow system that converts client, project, labor, and equipment cost inputs into a structured quotation and client-ready PDF. It is a document workflow system that turns manually entered client and project costs into a structured, client-ready quotation.

Class
Document Workflow
Built with
Next.js · Supabase · Tailwind CSS · shadcn/ui · Netlify
Walkthrough
None recorded
The New Quotation screen in Quotation Builder, showing a Client Information section with client name, title and company fields, a Project Details section, a Line Items bill of quantities table with columns for unit, quantity, unit price, material cost, labor percentage, labor cost and total amount, an Additional Fees row offering contingency, mobilisation and custom fee, a grand total panel with material and labor subtotals, a quote validity period with an automatic expiry date, and Save, PDF and Excel actions in the header.
The New Quotation screen, where the quotation is assembled. Client information, project details, the bill of quantities, additional fees, totals and the validity period all sit on one form, and the header carries the Save, PDF and Excel actions.1438 × 889 · 73 KB

The work

Before this system, quotations were created manually in Excel. The person had to prepare the quote line by line, organise costs, and manually turn the file into something presentable enough to share with a client.

The friction

The repetitive part was not just typing the numbers. The difficult part was cleaning the quotation and preparing it as a PDF that looked professional enough to present. Excel could hold the numbers, but it was not always clean enough as a final client document.

The system

One pass through the form produces both the saved quotation record and the client-ready export.

  1. Enter client information
  2. Enter project details
  3. Add line items
  4. Add material, labor, and equipment costs
  5. Apply additional fees when needed
  6. Calculate totals
  7. Set quotation validity
  8. Save the quotation
  9. Export a client-ready PDF

What it handles

  • Client information
  • Quotation structure
  • Project details
  • Line items
  • Labor, material, and equipment cost organisation
  • Additional fees
  • Total calculation
  • Quotation status tracking
  • PDF export
  • Quotation records and overview inside the dashboard

What stays human

Every figure in the quotation is entered and checked by a person before it goes out.

  • Entering the client information
  • Entering the correct project details
  • Entering the correct material, labor, and equipment costs
  • Checking the quotation before export
  • Deciding when the quotation is ready to send to the client

Supporting surfaces

Demo state shown without live client data. Business identifiers redacted.

  • The Quotation Builder dashboard, showing counters for total, active, approved and declined quotations, a recent quotations panel in its empty state, and shortcut links to all quotations, sent to client, approved and analytics.
    DashboardQuotation records and status counts at a glance.Open at full size
  • The Quotation Builder analytics screen, showing quotes this month, total quotation value, average quote value and approval rate, alongside a quotes by status panel, a six month monthly quote value chart and a top clients by quote value panel.
    AnalyticsWhere quotation activity is summarised once quotes exist.Open at full size
  • The Quotation Builder clients screen, showing a client list in its empty state with an add client action.
    ClientsThe client records that quotations are attached to.Open at full size

The principle

The system structures the quotation. The numbers, and the decision to send it, stay with a person.

Exceptions

The main correction point is input accuracy. If the client details, line items, or cost values are entered incorrectly, the quotation needs to be corrected before it is saved or exported. The system organises the quotation, but it still depends on correct numbers being entered.

  • Incorrect client details
  • Incorrect line items
  • Incorrect cost values

How it improves the workflow

Instead of manually creating quotations in Excel and cleaning them up for presentation, the user enters the required information once and the system prepares a cleaner, more consistent quotation workflow with a client-ready PDF output.