Bundled Cable is one type of "package" in SI, and they are managed in Package Explorer. These behave differently from the three other types of packages in SI: Packages, Allowances, and Solutions.
Bundled Cable packages are intended for "prebundled" cables consisting of multiple wires or cables, similar to the example shown below, which has two CAT5 cables and two RG6 cables.
If you aren't doing schematic drawings in Visio or AutoCAD, you may not need to create bundled cable packages. You could simply create a bulk wire item for the bundled cable product you sell. If you are doing schematic drawings in Visio and want to record the connections of each wire or cable within the bundle, then you will want to create bundled cable packages.
Pricing for the bundled cable and labor is set directly on the bundled cable. Pricing and labor do not come from the items added to the bundled cable package. The items you add to the bundled cable package will primarily be the individual wires in the bundle and possibly terminals and connectors. If the items you add to the bundled cable package contain accessories, you have the option to include or exclude them.
Bundled cable packages 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 packages in your catalog. A package 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.
Bundled cable packages can be added to purchase orders, tasks, service orders, or service plans.
Bundled cable packages can be transferred to QuickBooks on estimates or purchase orders as items to QuickBooks.
The following are the tabs in the Create Bundled Cable form.
General
The General tab displays basic information about the bundled cable package. 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 bundled cable. |
Category | The package category assigned to the bundled cable.
Click the Package Categories button on the ribbon to manage your categories. |
Abbreviation | This allows you to set an abbreviation for the bundled cable that can be used in the component ID format for the bundled cable. |
Description | The description for the bundled cable.
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 bundled cable if desired. |
Image | Here, you can add an image to a bundled cable. You can use the Add, Paste, and Clear features or drag and drop images directly into the field.
The Options section allows you to specify how this package will behave when added to a project. |
Prompt Accessories | This setting applies when adding bundled cables to a project via the Package Explorer within a project.
This will prompt you for any accessories when adding the bundled cable to the project, vs. automatically adding them.
For this feature to work, you must also check "Include Accessories". |
Include Accessories | When checked, the accessories for any item added to the bundled cable will be included in the bundled cable. |
Include in the Service Plan | When this box is checked, you will be prompted to add the product as a project item when creating a service plan.
Within a project, this option will be on the Service Plans tab. |
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 a bundled cable has been approved for use. |
Price
The Price tab is where you will set the pricing for the bundled cable and the pricing for the labor.
Both the product pricing and labor pricing are by the foot or meter. This is determined by your Regional settings in Windows (U.S. vs. Metric).
If the bundled cable you are adding is already a set length (e.g., a pre-terminated bundle cable that is x feet/meters long, you will likely want to add a wire length of 1 and then set the cost and price for the bundled cable as a single unit.
The default wire length is 100 feet (or the value you have set in Wire Settings) when creating a bundled cable in your catalog. This is important, as all pricing below is based on the length of the wire.
The following are the fields in the Product section of the Price tab.
Field | Description |
Unit Cost | Here, you will enter the unit cost (per foot/meter) for the bundled cable. |
Unit Cost (With Tax) | This displays the sum cost with tax if a Use tax is set for the bundled cable. |
Unit Price | Here, you will enter the unit price (per foot/meter) for the bundled cable. |
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 bundled cable. |
Net Unit Price | This field will show the unit price of the bundled cable after the discount is applied. |
You can set your labor pricing for a bundled cable in multiple ways.
Use specific cost and price
With this option chosen, you will manually enter a cost, price, and margin or markup for the hourly rates of labor. 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 labor type
With this option chosen, the Cost, Price, Margin, and Markup fields will gray out, and all pricing will come from the labor types assigned to the bulk cable. The phase pricing will be multiplied by the Hours field*.
*If you do not want to charge labor by the foot/meter, you can untick the "Unit Labor Hours Per Foot/Meter" option and set the hours for "wire drop."
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 labor type for the bundled cable regardless of your pricing choices above. |
Hours | Here, you will enter the number of hours per foot/meter for the bundled cable. All labor pricing is by the hour but is factored by the number of hours entered.
A common value here is .005. For a 100-foot run of the bundled cable, .5 hours of labor will be charged. |
The following are the fields in the Install (Total) section of the Price tab.
Field | Description |
Cost | This displays the total cost of all the products and labor in the bundled cable. Tax is not included in this value. Read-only. |
Price | This displays the sum price of all the products and labor in the bundled cable. 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 bundled cable. |
Use Tax | Here, you apply a Use tax to the cost of the bundled cable.
You may see different fields for taxes depending on your Tax settings.
To see full details of pricing, including taxes, click the Estimated Installation Price link.
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Order
The Order tab allows you to enter fields for use with Purchase Orders.
The following are the fields in the Order tab.
Field | Description |
Preferred Vendor | This field allows you to set a vendor from which you buy the bundled cable, and is used on purchase orders. |
Order this product in a different unit than you sell | This option allows you to identify products in your catalog that are bought in different units than they are sold.
This is useful for creating purchase orders so that accurate quantities are calculated. If you buy the wire in boxes or spools of some length and are selling the bundled cable by the foot/meter, you may want to set this. |
Order UOM | Here, you can enter your unit of measure for the product. |
Number of units in Order UOM | Here, you can enter the number of units in your unit of measure. |
Items
The Items tab allows you to add, edit, and delete products from the bundled cable.
No pricing will come from products added to the bundled cable. All pricing is set on the Price tab, as described above.
Here, you will want to add products for the wires and cables that are part of the bundled cable. You can use any existing wires and cables in your SI Catalog, or you may want to create "generic" wire products.
In the example above, I have created wires using my company name as the manufacturer and filled in the Model field with the type of wire it is. These products are the wires that you will use on Visio and AutoCAD schematic pages to make your wire connections.
Add Products
To add products to the bundled cable, click the Add Products button.
Select the item you want to add to the package. Make multiple selections by holding down Shift (to select a series) or Ctrl (to select outside of a series).
You can also paste products that you've copied and edit or delete products.
Shapes and Blocks
The Shapes and Blocks tab will allow you to assign a specific shape or block to a bundled cable for use on Visio and AutoCAD Line and Plan pages.
Add a shape or block for each package item
This is standard behavior for bundled cables and will drop a shape for every item within the bundled cable when the bundled cable is dragged and dropped onto a Visio or AutoCAD page.
Add a shape or block for specific items in the package
This option will allow you to select which items within the bundled cable will drop shapes when the bundled cable is dragged and dropped onto a Visio or 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 bundled cable for Line or Plan pages in Visio or AutoCAD.
Bundled Cable Categories
The Package Categories button will display your bundled cable categories and allow you to manage them.
Package categories allow you to organize your bundled cables.
Additional Bundled Cable Fields
When a bundled cable has been added to a project, additional fields are added to the bundled cable.
Check out this article for more details.