An Allowance is one type of "package" in SI, managed in the Package Explorer. These behave differently from the three other types of packages in SI: Packages, Bundled Cable, and Solutions.
Allowances are intended to allow you to set an estimated value for "future items" to be added to the project later. For example, you might want to add TV allowances or a Wiring allowance to a project. You want to use these while bidding on a job if some products are "to be determined".
Pricing for products and labor for allowances is set directly on the allowance. Pricing does not come from the items added to the allowance. The pricing of the items that you add to the allowance will be compared against the pricing set on the allowance to show you your balance.
Allowances cannot be added to purchase orders, tasks, service orders, or service plans. The individual Items within the package can be added to these "entities."
Allowances can be transferred to QuickBooks on estimates as items. Items within the allowance can also be transferred to QuickBooks on estimates and purchase orders.
Allowances can be created in your catalog, or they can be created "on the fly" within a project. The Package Explorer allows you to manage the allowances in your catalog. An allowance created within a project is not stored in the catalog. It will only exist in the project in which it was created unless you use the Update to Catalog feature.
The following are the tabs in the Create Allowance form.
General
The General tab displays basic information about the Allowance. This includes a name, group, description, image, and options.
The following are the fields in the General tab.
Field | Description |
Name | The name of the allowance. |
Category | The package category assigned to the allowance.
Click the Package Categories button on the ribbon to manage your categories. |
Abbreviation | This allows you to set an abbreviation for the allowance that can be used in the component ID format for the allowance. |
Description | The description for the allowance.
Click the Check Spelling button to check the spelling and add to the dictionary:
You can change the case of one or multiple words at a time. Make multiple selections by holding down Shift (to select a series) or Ctrl (to select outside of a series). Your options are Upper, Lower, Title, and Sentence.
You can also insert an existing Snippet or add a new Snippet. |
Part Number | Here, you can enter a part number for the allowance if desired. |
Image | Here, you can add an image to an allowance. You can use the Add, Paste, and Clear functions or drag and drop images directly into the field.
The Options section allows you to specify how this allowance will behave when added to a project. |
Prompt Accessories | This setting applies when adding allowances to a project via the Package Explorer within a project.
This will prompt you for any accessories when adding the allowance to the project, vs. automatically adding them.
For this feature to work, you must also check "Include Accessories." |
Summarize in client reports | This will hide all details for the allowance in Client reports.
All that will display by default are the name, description, and price for the allowance. |
Include Accessories | When checked, the accessories for any item added to the allowance will be included in the allowance. |
Accounting Item Name | This field will display the QuickBooks item number when using our QuickBooks integration.
You can also manually enter an "accounting ID" from your own accounting software. |
Approved | Indicates whether an allowance has been approved for use. |
Price
Here, you can use the Standard (see below) or Calculated option to set your cost and price for both the product and labor for the allowance.
Once an allowance is created, you cannot change the Standard or Calculated option.
If you choose the wrong option, clone the allowance and choose the correct setting, then delete the old one.
Product section
The following are the fields in the Product section of the Price tab.
Field | Description |
Unit Cost | Here, you will enter the unit cost for the allowance.
You must uncheck the "Use Cost from Items" option to enter a value manually; see below. |
Unit Cost (With Tax) | This displays the sum cost with tax if a Use tax is set for the allowance. |
Unit Price | Here, you will enter the unit price (per foot/meter) for the allowance. |
Margin | Margin =(1 - (Unit Cost / Unit Price)) x 100.
This field is calculated automatically based on the unit cost and unit price.
This behavior varies based on your Price Settings. |
Markup | Markup = (Selling Price - Product Cost) / Product Cost * 100%.
This field is calculated automatically based on the unit cost and unit price.
This behavior varies based on your Price Settings. |
Discount | Here, you can enter a discount percentage for the price of the allowance. |
Net Unit Price | This field will show the unit price of the allowance after the discount is applied. |
Use Cost from Items
This option is selected by default when creating a new allowance. This option will use the cost of all the items added to the allowance vs. you manually entering a value for the cost. Things to consider when using this option:
Items for allowances are often added to the allowance after the project has been approved, so your projected margin and markup will be skewed. For example, the allowance will have a zero value in the cost to calculate as 100% profit.
You may want to uncheck this box and enter a "best guess" value in the Unit Cost field for an allowance (base this guess on your usual profit margins) before approving the project.
Once you've added all the items to the allowance within the approved project, select this option if you want your actual costs from the items to populate this field to more accurately view your actual margin and markup for the project.
Labor section
There are two ways you can set your labor pricing for an allowance when using the "Standard (Hourly)" option.
Use specific cost and price
With this option chosen, you will manually enter a cost, price, and margin or markup for the hourly labor rates. This pricing will be multiplied by the Hours field. You can select a phase with this option, but no pricing will come from the phase.
Use cost and price from phase
With this option chosen, the Cost, Price, Margin, and Markup fields will gray out, and all pricing will come from the phase assigned to the bulk cable. The phase pricing will be multiplied by the Hours field.
The following are the fields in the Labor section of the Price tab.
Field | Description |
Cost | When using the "Use specific cost and price" option, you will enter the cost per hour for the labor.
When using the "Use cost and price from phase" option, this field will be grayed out. |
Price | When using the "Use specific cost and price" option, you will enter the price per hour for the labor.
When using the "Use cost and price from phase" option, this field will be grayed out. |
Margin | Margin =(1 - (Unit Cost / Unit Price)) x 100.
This field is calculated automatically based on the unit cost and unit price. |
Markup | Markup = (Selling Price - Product Cost) / Product Cost * 100%.
This field is calculated automatically based on the unit cost and unit price. |
Labor Type | Here, you can set a phase for the allowance regardless of your pricing choices above. |
Hours | Here, you will enter the number of hours for the allowance.
All labor pricing is by the hour, but is factored by the number of hours entered. |
Install section
The following are the fields in the Install (Total) section of the Price tab.
Field | Description |
Cost | This displays the sum cost of all the products and labor in the allowance.
Tax is not included in this value. Read-only. |
Price | This displays the sum price of all the products and labor in the allowance.
Tax is not included in this value. Read-only. |
Margin | Margin =(1 - (Unit Cost / Unit Price)) x 100.
This field is calculated automatically based on the unit cost and unit price. Read-only. |
Markup | Markup = (Selling Price - Product Cost) / Product Cost * 100%.
This field is calculated automatically based on the unit cost and unit price. See "Pricing Settings" below. Read-only. |
Taxable? | Here, you can choose a tax value to apply to the allowance. |
Use Tax | Here, you apply a use tax to the cost of the allowance.
You may see different fields for taxes depending on your Tax settings. |
To see full pricing details, including taxes, click the Estimated Installation Price link.
On the Price tab is also a View Balance link.
This will compare the pricing you've set for the allowance with the items added to the Items tab (see below).
Items
The Items tab allows you to add, edit, and delete products from the allowance.
Price Type
The radio buttons will allow you to choose a price type for the allowance that is different from that set for the project.
Add Items
The items added to an allowance do not change the price of the allowance set on the Price tab. The pricing of the items is only compared against the pricing set on the Pricer tab to give you a balance of how much money you've added in items vs. what you've set on the allowance.
Also, you may not add items to an allowance until the allowance is in an approved project.
To add products and or labor items to the allowance, use the buttons on the Items tab.
Shapes and Blocks
The Shapes and Blocks tab will allow you to assign a specific shape or block to an allowance for use on Visio and AutoCAD Line and Plan pages.
Add a shape or block for each package item
This is standard behavior for allowances and will drop a shape for every item within the allowance when the allowance is dragged and dropped onto a Visio/AutoCAD page.
Add a shape or block for specific items in the package
This option will allow you to select which items within the allowance will drop shapes when the allowance is dragged and dropped onto a Visio/AutoCAD page.
Add a single shape or block for this package on Line and Plan views
This will allow you to select a shape for just the allowance for Line or Plan pages in Visio or AutoCAD. You likely won't be dropping shapes or blocks for the allowance itself.
Allowance Categories
The Package Categories button will display your Allowance Categories and allow you to manage them.
Allowance Categories allow you to organize your Allowances.
Additional Allowance Fields
When an Allowance is added to the Project, some additional fields are added for the Allowance.
Check out this article for more details.