Do I have to enter a cost on every line?

No, but a line without one is left out of the opportunity's Estimated cost, which makes the margin look better than it is. Under a Margin below approval rule, a line with a price and no cost holds the quotation.

Should my costs include GST?

Enter them before any GST you can claim back. The margin compares them with your price before tax, and claimable input tax costs you nothing in the end.

Can I see the margin of a deal after the work is done?

Yes. Once the deal has invoiced revenue and a purchase order or supplier invoice, the Profit section shows the Actual margin. See Cost and gross margin.

Check your margin before you quote

Copy for AI

A price that looks fine can leave nothing once materials and subcontractors are paid. Type your cost on each quotation line and you see what you keep before the customer sees the price.

How to do it

Open the quotation and select Edit. Under each line’s unit price, type your cost in the Cost box. Picking a product fills in its list price, not its cost; the Cost on the product’s page is the figure to copy.
Under the totals, Internal figures — not printed shows Cost: each line’s quantity times its cost, added up. The customer never sees it, on screen or on the PDF.
Work out the margin: (Subtotal − Cost) ÷ Subtotal. If it is below what you need, change the price now, before you select Finalise.
Once the customer accepts, the opportunity’s Profit section shows the Expected margin from those costs, and the Gross margin % column on the Opportunities list compares your deals.
If your company uses document approval, a Margin below rule holds a low-margin quotation for a second person before it takes its number. See Document approval.

Why it helps

Margin, not price, pays your rent and wages. Seeing the cost beside the price while you quote catches a job priced too low at the moment changing it costs nothing. Margin is profit divided by the selling price, the same way your profit and loss statement measures it, so the figure compares directly with your accounts.

Example

Mei Tan quotes Harbour Café a new counter: joinery at SGD 6,000.00 with a cost of SGD 4,800.00, and installation at SGD 2,000.00 with a cost of SGD 1,600.00. Subtotal is SGD 8,000.00 and Cost SGD 6,400.00, a margin of (8,000.00 − 6,400.00) ÷ 8,000.00 = 20%.

Lim & Co aims for at least 30%, so Mei raises the joinery to SGD 7,150.00. The subtotal becomes SGD 9,150.00 and the margin (9,150.00 − 6,400.00) ÷ 9,150.00 = 2,750.00 ÷ 9,150.00 = 30.05%. With GST 9% of SGD 823.50, the quotation totals SGD 9,973.50.

Common questions

Do I have to enter a cost on every line? No, but a line without one is left out of the opportunity’s Estimated cost, which makes the margin look better than it is. Under a Margin below approval rule, a line with a price and no cost holds the quotation.
Should my costs include GST? Enter them before any GST you can claim back. The margin compares them with your price before tax, and claimable input tax costs you nothing in the end.
Can I see the margin of a deal after the work is done? Yes. Once the deal has invoiced revenue and a purchase order or supplier invoice, the Profit section shows the Actual margin. See Cost and gross margin.