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Price Lists and Quantity Breaks

A price list is a set of item prices that applies in a context: one customer, a customer class or everyone; sales, purchases or both; one currency; a date range. Each item on it can have quantity breaks. The Sales console, quotes and orders price every line from these lists, and the price simulator shows exactly which list and which break were used.

Where to find it

Admin Panel → Sales:

  • Pricing — the Pricing & Commission console: price lists and their item prices, rules, the price simulator and commission

Architect Panel → ERP - Trading & Analytics:

  • Pricing — the same console for architects
  • Price Lists — the lists as a datastore

Who can change prices

Holders of ERP: Sales create and edit price lists and rules. ERP: Reporting can open the console read-only. Finance and ERP administration can open it to pay commission but see prices read-only. The Company selector at the top decides which company's lists you are working on.

Creating a price list

  1. On the Price lists tab press New price list.
  2. Give it a Name.
  3. Direction: sale, purchase, or Both sale and purchase. Purchase lists price requisition and order lines and are what a PunchOut basket is compared with.
  4. Scope it: a Customer class (or Any class), or one Customer for a customer-specific list.
  5. Currency: blank prices any currency, but a list for one currency is clearer.
  6. Priority breaks ties between equally specific lists; higher wins. Set Valid from and Valid to for seasonal lists.
  7. Tick Prices include tax if the prices already include tax, and For every company in the group to share the list with every company.
  8. Save, then open the list's Prices to fill in the item grid.

Item prices and quantity breaks

Each grid row has Item, Unit, From quantity and either a Price or a Discount %. Several rows for the same item form the breaks: one from 1, one from 10, one from 100. The row with the highest From quantity that the line's quantity reaches is used. A row with a unit applies only to lines in that unit; Any unit applies to all. Press Save prices when done.

Which list wins

  1. Only lists in the right direction, currency and date range are considered.
  2. A list for this customer beats one for their class, which beats a general list.
  3. At the same level, a company's own list beats a group-wide one.
  4. Priority breaks any remaining tie.

Discount rules then adjust the list price (see Discount Rules and Stacking in this section).

Set the tax flag deliberately

A list marked as including tax and one marked as excluding it are both normal; a list marked wrongly puts every price out by the tax rate, uniformly enough to look like a pricing decision. Check it on every list.

A separate list per currency

Hold a euro list rather than relying on converted sterling prices. A separate list is a commercial decision made once; a converted price changes with the exchange rate every day.

What goes wrong

  • A line has no price: no list covers that item, direction, currency and date. Run the price simulator with the same customer and date.
  • The wrong list is used: a more specific list (a customer list, or the company's own) is winning. The simulator names the list.
  • Quantities of 1 to 4 have no price: the breaks start at 5. Start every break structure at 1.

Worked example

A wholesaler has a general Trade list in sterling: a cable kit at 4.80 from 1, 4.35 from 24 and 3.95 from 240. Its largest customer has agreed 3.80 from 1 on a customer-specific list. An order for 30 kits from an ordinary trade customer takes 4.35; the same order from the large customer takes 3.80, because a customer list beats a class or general list. The simulator shows both, list by list.

Recommendations

  • Use customer lists for contract prices rather than rules.
  • Start breaks at 1 and leave no gaps.
  • Use validity dates instead of editing prices back and forth.
  • Prove changes in the simulator before the first order.