Examples of posts and formulas
Posts make for a smooth calculation in Robaws. You use them in calculated quotations and change orders.
Below we explain a number of examples of formulas that you can use in posts, and how best to set them up.
- Rounding a quantity to a different unit
- Rounding a quantity to an exact number of decimals
- Rounding a quantity to a multiple
- Dividing a quantity across several items
- Adding up all the working hours from the quotation and calculating on from there (also works for total surface areas, perimeters, and so on)
Rounding a quantity to a different unit
Example: in a quotation I calculate the tile battens per running metre, but I buy the tile battens per piece of 2.40 m long. So the quantity has to be rounded to a number of battens of 2.40 m. Below you see the result for 12 running metres of tile battens and for 100 running metres.
How the formula is built up | Explanation | Ex. 12m | Ex. 100m |
|---|---|---|---|
Q/2,4 | Q refers to the quantity that is filled in on the quotation line; we divide it by 2,4 to know how many battens of 2.40 m are needed | 12/2,4 = 5 | 100/2,4 = 41,67 |
Math.ceil (Q/2,4) | To avoid ending up with a decimal number, we round up to know how many complete battens of 2.40 m are needed | Math.ceil (12/2,4) = 5 | Math.ceil (100/2,4) = 42 |
You enter this formula at the quantity of the tile battens. | 5 battens of 2.40 m will be charged in the quotation | 42 battens of 2.40 m will be charged in the quotation |
- Attention: if you work with Q in a formula, you have to tick 'Totality' so that the quantity is not multiplied by Q again in the quotation
Rounding a quantity to an exact number of decimals
Example: I have calculated the volume of the prefab concrete columns that are needed. The volume works out at 0.54869 per column. It is not possible to calculate with that and to work with it in practice. That is why I want it to be rounded to 3 decimal places.
How the formula is built up | Explanation | Example 3 decimals |
|---|---|---|
Q*10 (multiple of 10) | Q is the base number and you multiply it by a multiple of 10 depending on how many decimals you want | 0,54869*1000=548,69 |
Math.round (Q*1000) | Use the Math.round function to round the number. | Math.round (0,54869*1000) |
Math.round (Q*1000) / 1000 | Divide the rounded amount by the number by which you multiplied the original base amount. | Math.round (0,54869*1000) / 1000 |
Rounding a quantity to a multiple
Example: in a quotation I calculate the tile battens per running metre, and I buy them per running metre as well, but in pieces of 2.40 m long. So the quantity has to be rounded to a multiple of 2.40 m. Below you see the result for 12 running metres of tile battens and for 100 running metres.
How the formula is built up | Explanation | Ex. 12m | Ex. 100m |
|---|---|---|---|
Q/2,4 | Q refers to the quantity that is filled in on the quotation line; we divide it by 2,4 to know how many battens of 2.40 m are needed | 12/2,4 = 5 | 100/2,4 = 41,67 |
Math.ceil (Q/2,4) | To avoid ending up with a decimal number, we round up to know how many battens of 2.40 m are needed | Math.ceil (12/2,4) = 5 | Math.ceil (100/2,4) = 42 |
Math.ceil (Q/2,4) * 2,4 | We multiply this rounded quantity by the length (2.40 m) again, so that we end up with a multiple of 2.40 m | Math.ceil (12/2,4) * 2,4 = 12 | Math.ceil (100/2,4) = |
You enter this formula at the quantity of the tile battens. | 12 running metres (= 5 pieces of 2.40 m) will be charged in the quotation | 100.8 running metres (= 42 pieces of 2.40 m) will be charged in the quotation |
- Attention: if you work with Q in a formula, you have to tick 'Totality' so that the quantity is not multiplied by Q again in the quotation
Dividing a quantity across several items
Example: I am a painter, and on the basis of the surface area I would like to know how many pots of paint of 10l, 5l and 1l I need. So I do not want to charge a pot of 10l if I only need 4l. Below is the explanation for painting 50m² and 335m².
- create the 3 pots of paint in Robaws as 3 items
- add these 3 items to the post
- the post unit is m²: I charge painting work per m²
- determine the number of litres of paint that is needed per m²: below, 8m² per litre is used
Parameter | Formula | Explanation | Ex. 50m² | Ex. 335m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|
liter | Math.ceil (Q/8) | Q refers to the quantity that is filled in on the quotation line; we divide it by 8 to know how many litres of paint we need and we round this up with Math.ceil. | Math.ceil (50/8) = 7 | Math.ceil (335/8) = 42 |
pot10 | liter/10 | To know how many pots of 10l we need, we divide the parameter 'liter' by 10 | 7/10 = 0,7 | 42/10 = 4,2 |
pot10q | Math.floor (pot10) | With Math.floor we round this number down, so that we know the number of full pots of 10l. You put this parameter at the 'quantity' of the item 'Paint - pot of 10l' | Math.floor (0,7) = 0 | Math.floor (4,2) = 4 |
So we need 0 pots of 10l | So we need 4 pots of 10l | |||
rest | (pot10 - pot10q) * 10 | Calculate how many litres are left over now; you do this by taking the difference between 'pot10' and 'pot10q', and multiplying this by 10 again | (0,7-0)*10 = 7 | (4,2-4)*10 = 2 |
There are still 7 litres left to divide | There are still 2 litres left to divide | |||
pot5 | rest/5 | To know how many pots of 5l we need, we divide the parameter 'rest1' by 5 | 7/5 = 1,4 | 2/5 = 0,4 |
pot5q | Math.floor (pot5) | With Math.floor we round this number down, so that we know the number of full pots of 5l. You put this parameter at the 'quantity' of the item 'Paint - pot of 5l' | Math.floor (1,4) = 1 | Math.floor (0,4) = 0 |
So we need 1 pot of 5l | So we need 0 pots of 5l | |||
pot1l | (pot5 - pot5q) * 5 . | Calculate how many litres are left over now; you do this by taking the difference between 'pot5' and 'pot5q', and multiplying this by 5 again. You put this parameter at the 'quantity' of the item 'Paint - pot of 1l' | (1,4-1)*5 = 2 | (0,4-0)*5 = 2 |
So we need 2 pots of 1l | So we need 2 pots of 1l |
- Attention: if you work with Q in a formula, you have to tick 'Totality' so that the quantity is not multiplied by Q again in the quotation
Adding up all the working hours from the quotation and calculating on from there
Example: on the basis of the total number of working hours from the quotation I want to calculate how many days I will have to go on site, and so charge my travel costs. Per 8 hours of work I want to charge 2 journeys (there and back).
To set this up you work in 2 steps:
- in the post parameters:
This method is only possible if you set the number of working hours in the posts via a parameter. The parameter then contains the number of working hours of this post. In every post with working hours, you give this parameter the same name.
Call this parameter 'werkuren', for example.
- in the quotation parameters:
You define the quotation parameters in your quotation template. Add a quotation parameter with the following formula:
name of the quotation parameter | formula | explanation |
|---|---|---|
totaalwerkuren | SUM (werkuren) | The formula SUM (name of the post parameter) makes sure that all the quantities from the post parameters of this quotation are added up. |
- from now on you can carry on calculating with the parameter 'totaalwerkuren'. You can, for example, have it come back in a post to calculate the travel allowance:
parameter name | formula | explanation |
|---|---|---|
werkdagen | totaalwerkuren / 8 | calculates the number of days (8h = 1 day) |
verplaatsing | werkdagen * DISTANCE_KM * 2 | number of working days * the distance from your company address to the project address * 2 (there and back) |
So you can use this not only for working hours, but also for surface areas, perimeters, and so on. Of course this only works with parameters whose value is a quantity (a number).
Updated on: 04/09/2026
Thank you!