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Quotations | General

The quotation is the starting point of your workflow in Robaws: from quotation to project, order or invoice. In the quotation file you record who the quotation is for, build up the price with items and posts, and create the next step with a single click. The quotations module is included in the Starter, Go and Pro licences.

Navigate quickly to:

the overview of the quotations
creating a new quotation
the quotation file and its fields
the structure of the quotation: lines, calculation and totals
the various tabs
the action buttons

You can find answers to frequently asked questions in the quotations FAQ.

Overview screen

You can adjust the overview of the quotations via the settings: which columns you want, in which order, which quick filters? In addition, every user can create their own overviews and personalise them. All fields of the quotation file, including the date fields and your extra fields, can be added as a column and used to filter or sort.
Via the overview screen you can make bulk changes to several quotations at once.

Analysis view

Besides the table view, the quotation overview has an Analysis view. It shows, per assignee and per status, how many quotations are ongoing and for what amount, and translates that into an expected turnover based on the 'Success %' of each status. The analysis takes into account the filters that are active at that moment. How to read and set up the figures is explained in Quotations | Analysis.

Don't see the Analysis view? Then Hide financial info and analyses is switched on in your user role.

Creating a new quotation

There are two ways to start a new quotation:

from the overview of your quotations, via the Add (+) action button
from another file (a customer or a project, for example), via the plus sign next to 'Quotations'

In both cases you choose a quotation template. If you only have one template, Robaws skips that choice and creates the quotation straight away.

A template is either a simple or a calculated quotation. You determine this when you create the template, and it determines how you build up the quotation and whether you can recalculate later on.

When the quotation is created, Robaws already fills in a number of fields: the Date, the Assignee (the user who creates the quotation), the date fields and, if you have several companies, the Company. Via the settings you determine, among other things, after how many days the due date, the follow up date and the deadline date fall.

Have you received a quotation or bill of quantities in a file? Then you can upload a bill of quantities into your quotation.

Do you want to go step by step from an empty quotation to a document that is ready to send? Then follow Drawing up a quotation: step by step.

The quotation file

At the top you see the number of the quotation, with the action buttons next to it. Robaws assigns the number automatically; you set up how it is built up in the settings.
Below that are the quotation details and the date fields.
Below that you find the tabs, with the content of the quotation in the first tab.
At the bottom right you see the total amount of the quotation.

Changes on a quotation only apply to that quotation. So you can change a description, a post, a price or the financial planning without your template, your items or your posts changing along with it. The same is true the other way round: if you adjust a price or a post in Robaws later on, an existing quotation does not change along with it.

Quotation details

All fields of the quotation file can be used as a replacement code in your texts and PDFs.

Field	Explanation
Date	Date of the quotation. Filled in automatically on creation and can be changed manually. If you change the date, the due date, the follow up date and the deadline date move along with it.
Project	The project linked to the quotation. Filled in automatically as soon as you make a project from the quotation, but you can also choose an existing project yourself. The customer, the end customer, the contact, the customer reference and the company of that project are then taken over.
Customer	The customer in whose name the quotation is: the one who signs and pays. The address of the customer is proposed as the project address.
Contact	Choose one of the contacts of this customer.
Endcustomer	(visible if Endcustomer is switched on in the general settings) The end customer: involved in the quotation, but does not sign and does not pay. Below it you also choose a contact of the end customer.
Customer reference	The customer's reference for this quotation. It is taken over on the project, the order, the subscription and the invoice you make from this quotation.
Company	(visible if you have several companies) Choose which of your companies draws up this quotation.
Kilometers	(visible if Show address is switched on in the quotation settings) The distance between your company address and the project address (one way). Robaws fills this in automatically; you can adjust it manually. In a calculated quotation you can calculate with this field, for example for a travel allowance.
Concerning	A short description of the quotation. If Quotation concern as planningname is switched on in the project settings, this becomes the planning name of the project you make from the quotation.
Status	The status of the quotation. A number of statuses change automatically, for example when you make a project or invoice from the quotation or when the follow up date is reached. Which status follows then is set up in the settings. You can also change the status manually.
Active on project	(visible if a project is linked) Ticked: the quotation counts in the recalculation of the project. This way you can, for example, link several revisions to a project without all of them counting. In the project you see active quotations in blue, inactive ones in orange.
Assignee	Filled in automatically with the user who creates the quotation and can be changed manually.
Time norm	(visible on a calculated quotation if you work with time norms) Choose which time norm the quotation uses.
Currency and Exchange rate	(visible if Use multi currency is switched on in the general settings) The currency of the quotation. If you choose a customer with its own currency, it is taken over.

Date fields

The date fields give you an overview of the timing of the quotation. You can add them as a column in the overview and filter or sort on them.

Field	Explanation
Due date	Until when is this quotation valid? By default 30 days after the quotation date; you change that number via Days before due date in the quotation settings.
Follow up date	When do you follow up this quotation? By default 14 days after creation; you change that number via #days before follow up date in the quotation settings. Once the follow up date is reached and the quotation is in one of the Statuses in which quotation can be followed up, it automatically gets the Follow up status you chose in the settings.
Received	When did you receive the quotation request? Filled in with the day of creation and does not move along if you change the quotation date.
Deadline date	When does the quotation have to go to the customer at the latest? By default 2 days after the quotation date; you change that number via Number of days before deadline in the quotation settings.
Tenderdate	To be filled in yourself if a tender date is known.

Extra fields

As in all modules in Robaws, you can also create extra fields of your choice on the quotation via the settings.

Tip: if you create the same extra fields for quotations and projects, Robaws takes over their content when you make a project from the quotation.

Project address

Robaws calculates the Kilometers based on the project address. If you link a customer or a project to the quotation while the project address is still empty, Robaws takes over the address of the customer or the project respectively. If an address is already there, a pop-up appears at the top right in which you choose whether you want to take over the address of the customer or project you just linked. If the address differs for this quotation, you simply overwrite it.

Overview

If a price request or order is linked to the quotation, the Overview block appears. Click on a module to view the linked files.

Structure of the quotation

You draw up the content of the quotation in the first tab, Quotation. It consists of an introduction, the quotation lines and an end.

Adding quotation lines

On each line you can:

load an item from your item database
load a post from your post database (you recognise a post by the square symbol)
type a free description if you don't have an existing item
import an item from a linked webshop

With the line type in the Line column you determine how a line behaves and looks: a chapter, a title, a text line, a regular line, an option, ... Chapters group the lines below them and show their subtotal.

Press F2 for an overview of all your items and posts: select what you need, click Copy to clipboard and paste everything into your quotation in one go. Use keyboard shortcuts to work even faster.

Selecting items and posts with F2 and copying them to the clipboard

When you hover over a quotation line, a number of symbols appear: at the front a block of dots (drag the line with the left mouse button, add a line with the right mouse button), an arrow to open the line detail, and on the far right a bin to delete the line. A deleted line cannot be recovered.

The quotation line in detail with the symbols that appear on hover

Columns of the quotation lines

You switch some columns on or off via the quotation settings or the general settings.

Column titles of the quotation lines

Field	Explanation
Line	The line type of the line.
No.	(visible if Show line nrs. is switched on in the quotation settings) The line number. Number your lines manually, or let Robaws do it with Automatically number lines in the settings or once via Assign numbers.
Post	(visible if Show post nr. is switched on in the quotation settings) The post number of the line.
Item	Choose an item or a post from your library. You recognise a post by the square symbol.
Equipment	(only on a simple quotation, visible if Show equipment is switched on in the quotation settings) Link equipment to the line.
Description	The text that appears on the PDF. Filled in when you choose an item or post, but you can adjust it. You can use replacement codes in it that refer to the parameters of the post.
Allocation key	(visible if Use of allocation keys is switched on in the progress claims settings) Determines how the amount of the line is divided over several parties when invoicing.
Type	(visible if Show type (eg. SOG) is switched on in the quotation settings) The type of the line, for example SOG, VH or PM.
Quantity	If you choose an item, the minimum quantity from the item file is filled in.
Unit	If you choose an item, the default unit is filled in. Click on it to choose an alternative unit of the item.
Price	The selling price excluding VAT. On a simple quotation you adjust the price here; on a calculated quotation a click on the price opens the line detail. On a calculated quotation the price is shown in your theme colour, and in your accent colour if the line has a Custom price.
Discount	(visible if Discount is switched on in the general settings) A discount percentage per line.
VAT	Filled in automatically: the VAT tariff of the item, otherwise that of the customer, otherwise the default VAT tariff from the customer settings. You can adjust it per line.
Total	Quantity × price, excluding VAT.

The line detail of a line

On a calculated quotation you click on the price (or the arrow) to open the line detail of the line. There you build the line up out of cost lines, each with a quantity, a cost price and a margin. A line can also be built up from composite items or from a post with parameters.

The line detail of a quotation line with cost types, cost prices and margins

Cost type: each cost line gets a cost type: Material (consumables you use in the work), Labor (the hours of your employees), Equipment (durable items and machines, for example a grinding disc), Subcontractor (subcontracting), Composite or Other (costs that fit no other type, such as transport or an insurance). The cost type determines which margin from the Margins tab applies to the line, and in the recalculation your costs are split per cost type.
Activity: link a cost line to an activity, for example 'preparation'. This gives you an analysis per activity on the quotation and in the recalculation.
Totality: tick this for a cost you charge once, regardless of the quantity on the line. Example: a line 'earthworks' contains an extra crane at € 200 per day. With totality the crane is charged once and not multiplied by the number of m³.
Margin: enter a margin in percent per cost line, or fill in the final price. You can read more about this in Setting your margins on a quotation.
Custom price: if you put a custom price on the line, the price is no longer calculated from the line detail. No direct costs are spread over such a line either.

You adjust the layout of your lines (font, bold, ...) with layout styles.

Buttons above the quotation lines

Field	Explanation
Upload	Read in a bill of quantities (Excel, XML, ...). If the quotation already has lines, Robaws first asks whether they may be overwritten.
Update prices	Retrieve the current prices for the selected lines. See Changing the prices on a quotation.
Download	Download the lines as Excel: Simple, Calculated or as Bill of ... (materials, work, machines or subcontractors).
Webshops	Search for items in a linked webshop and add them to the quotation.
...	More actions: Assign posts (link the lines of an imported bill of quantities to your own posts based on the post number; only lines without a post are filled in), Reset posts, Reset composite articles, Reset time norms, Assign numbers (assign line numbers once), Replace article (replace an item with another one on all lines of the quotation) and Change item price. If you work with measurements, you also find Sync measurements here.

Calculation tabs

A calculated quotation has five calculation tabs above the lines. A simple quotation only shows the lines.

Detail: the quotation lines themselves, as described above.
Parameters: formulas that apply to all lines of the quotation, for example entering the number of floors once for the whole quotation. See How do I calculate a quotation with cost types, posts and parameters?.
Direct costs: amounts you incur for this quotation and pass on to your customer without them appearing as a separate line on the quotation, such as a CAR insurance or a safety coordinator. Robaws spreads them over your quotation lines: equally by default, or in proportion to the price of the line if Direct cost sharing depending on price was switched on in the quotation settings when you created the quotation. See Adding direct and indirect costs to your quotation.
Margins: set a commission, pass on your indirect costs with the Indirect cost margin and adjust the margin per cost type for all lines at once with the Default margin (Total or Relative).
Overview: an analysis of the quotation, with a total table and charts per cost type and per activity. Move your mouse over the charts to see the amounts and percentages.

The margins tab: adjusting the margin per cost type for all lines

Totals, surcharges and discounts

At the bottom right of the file you see the total amount of the quotation. Via the Allowances & charges link below the lines you add a discount or surcharge to the entire quotation.

Tabs

Quotation

Here you draw up the content of the quotation: an Introduction, the quotation lines and an End. You open the introduction and the end and write them yourself, or you load a standard text you prepared in the settings via Standard texts. Then you finish off the text with the text editor.

Remarks

You use remarks to communicate internally about this quotation and as a reminder. They are not visible to the customer.

Files

Here you add files that belong to this quotation, such as plans, photos or the specifications. If Move files to project during creation is switched on in the quotation settings, the files move along to the project you make from the quotation.

Tasks

As in all modules, you can also create a task from the quotation.
Example: a task for a colleague to do the measurement on site.

Financial planning

Here you prepare the financial planning of the quotation: in which phases and for which percentage or amount you invoice.

Action buttons

In the overview screen

For most action buttons in the overview, you first tick the quotation(s) on the left on which you want to perform the action.

Action button	Explanation
Add	Create a new quotation, see Creating a new quotation.
Duplicate	Create a new quotation based on the selected quotation, with a new number. Not to be confused with a revision.
E-mail	Send an e-mail to the customers of the selected quotations, based on an email template.
Excel	Export the quotations from the overview to Excel.
Make supply order	(visible if Make supply order is switched on in the quotation settings) Order the material of the selected quotations via Quick order.
Delete, Archive, Lock	See the explanation in the table below.

On the quotation file

At the top of the quotation file there is a row of action buttons. The name of an action button appears as soon as you hover over it with your mouse.

Action button	Explanation
Show PDF	View the PDF of the quotation. Via the drop-down list you choose a specific PDF, for example a Bill of ... or, on a calculated quotation, the Pdf calculation.
E-mail	Send the quotation to the customer by e-mail with an email template. You can also have the quotation signed digitally.
Default documents	Choose which PDF template you use for this quotation.
Measurements	(visible if measurements are activated) Open the measurements of the quotation.
Create revision	Create a new version of the quotation. As soon as revisions exist, this action button is called Revisions.
Make project	Create a project for this quotation.
Make order	(visible if Make order is switched on in the quotation settings) Create an order for this quotation.
Make subscription	(visible if Make subscription is switched on in the quotation settings) Create a subscription for this quotation.
Make invoice	(visible if Make invoice is switched on in the quotation settings) Invoice the quotation in full.
Make supply order	(visible if Make supply order is switched on in the quotation settings) Order the material of the quotation via Quick order. A quick supply order from the quotation does not keep a history: you can order the same material over and over again. It is therefore better to order from the project.
Change number	(visible as long as the quotation is not locked) Change the number of the quotation manually.
Delete	The quotation disappears from the overviews. Use this for a quotation that was created by mistake. More explanation in Archiving and deleting.
Archive	The quotation disappears from the overviews, but stays linked to the project, the invoice, ... More explanation in Archiving and deleting.
Lock	The quotation can no longer be changed. More explanation in Locking documents.
Export	Export the quotation as a file.
Audit log	(visible for administrators) The history of retrieving and saving the quotation. Changes are recorded on the fields, not on the lines.

Don't see Delete, Archive or Lock? Then your user role does not have the right to edit or delete quotations. Archived and deleted quotations can be found again via the advanced filters in the overview.

To the right of the action buttons you see the Next sync: Robaws saves your quotation automatically according to the interval in sync (m) in the quotation settings. Click sync now to save immediately. If the interval is set to 0, the automatic synchronisation is disabled.

If you open a quotation template, you only see the Show PDF, Measurements and Audit log action buttons.

Updated on: 14/10/2026

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