In continuing with our series of blogs spotlighting new features from our latest SI release, SI v12, this one will focus on “Calculated Items”, specifically in this case – products. 

This is a long sought after feature request from multiple dealers and will no doubt present your team with various possibilities along the lines of product pricing/utilization based on formulas and Project “factors” instead of simply a “fixed” cost/price.

So then let’s review the functionality of how your team can leverage this to your advantage:

(Again, if you have not already done so, please upgrade your SI to version 12: Upgrading to SI v12)

Calculated Items:

Because there are several options for how this “Calculated Items” feature can be utilized, for the sake of this entry, I will focus on a real world actuality I have helped dealers with prior to the availability of this newly released feature, and that is “warranty”. 

Now, prior to this release, “Warranties” or “Service Contract” amounts were something that were not expressly innate within prior releases of SI.  And I, like many users of SI, had to be somewhat creative to facilitate those amounts with the usage of “Miscellaneous Items” or even by combining SI Report exportations with values from other software. 

So, with that in mind, we now can base such “contractual” amounts that users of SI rely on for future reoccurring revenues to be presented to clients in such a way that they can, not only commit to the Project amount presented via an SI Report, but also commit to the “compounded” price for a “service contract” at the time they sign-off on the “quote”.

But, where to start?  As always, allow me to take you through an example of how this could potentially work for your team.

Let’s proceed to the Product Explorer (otherwise known as your Catalog).

This feature will apply to “New” items in your Catalog not existing.  So, our first step will be to either create a new item…

                                                               
…or clone from an existing.
                                                               

We then will need to fill in some details about the item such as naming convention, description, category, etc.

This need is of course somewhat negated if you have chosen to clone a prior item for this process.
From here, I’ll fill out the details and get the new item otherwise prepped for the pricing designation.

Then, it’s on to the “Price tab” where will change the default designation of the item from Standard to Calculated:
                                               

Once that is enabled, the new feature set is accessible…

…and we need now merely determine how best to structure the pricing outcome for Project utilization.
I’ll keep it simple for this example by designating the item’s Total Unit Cost & Total Unit price to be based on the total Project Product Cost/Price and then simply multiplying that amount by a percentage.

A lot of you may realize that this process is very similar to how Price Rules are set in SI for application in Projects or your Catalog.  Once the details are selected, the formula will then appear for your review prior to saving.

Filter options for Project utilization are also available for these Calculated Items should you choose to apply any them.  This will then direct the “Calculated Product” to a functional parameter based upon the filter selected and it will function along that selected executable.

                                                  
From here, we need only add the item to a Project and the results will be compounded automatically.

(For those of you need tips on Creating and Modifying SI Projects, please click here:Projects v12)

Once in a Project, the “Calculated” item will present the values as structured.  The dollar amount you need to capture for a Warranty or Service Plan will then be ready to go as soon as you update all required items to the Project.  This includes Products and items/materials from Packages.  (Labor values have their own designation in the new “Calculated” values feature and will be covered in another article.) 

So in the Project example presented here, we have a “Calculated Warranty” item of $4,581.78…

                               
…sourced from the Products in the Project totaling $20,083.47.

From a Project structure and Report presentation perspective, you may want to consider creating a Location and/or a System for these “warranty” items to reside in within an SI Project.

                                                               
That way, they are organized and will “flow” within your Reports when you run them by the Location or System designations.     

                                          
Further, with a little Customized report magic by our PSG team, you could even add some language to the Summary Section to reflect the inclusion of your warranty amount.
                                 

In closing…

As with many new utilization features within SI, this is just scratching the surface!  Hopefully, this will lead to increased productivity and functionality for your usage of SI v12.

For more information on these and other features of SI, please see this link:    D-Tools SI.

You can also get more detailed information about the latest release via our upcoming webinars or by enrolling in SI training with our PSG team.

And don’t forget, that’s why we’re here…to ensure your success with our product!  Be sure to check back here next month for more on SI!