Method Community

I made some changes to the EstimateLine field. Not sure what I did, but now when I'm on our Estimate screen, I can't click on a field and edit it. For example, under the column "Description", I can't click on one of the descriptions and be able to edit the text. The original Estimate screen allows you to do this. Not sure what I did to make that flexibility go away. Please advise. Thanks.

Please disregard this request. Found it in step 5 of grid wizard.

Actually, all the grids are editable except the ones in the column for Sales Price. What do I need to do so that users can edit the grids in this column as well?

Hi Andy,

Based on your comments it could be that the field (column on grid) is set to be read-only.

1. Edit the grid and navigate to step 2 of the wizard.
2. Click on the advanced option for that field.
3. Make sure the option for 'Make Read Only' is not checked.

Let us know if that helps. Thanks.

I double checked and the Make Read Only box was already unchecked for this column. But I did go back and compare my Estimate screen to the original Method Estimate Screen and noticed that ours doesn't have the "New Line Item" option under the grid. I must have done something to it. Is this related to my problem?

Andy - yes, if you edit the grid wizard it sounds like you are not allowing user to add directly from the grid. Make sure you double check steps 5 & 6 in wizard.

Thanks. However, I still can't edit directly in the grid for the "sales price" column. I made a copy of the original Estimate screen and added the sales price column in there as well just to test without any other changes to the screen, and I have the same result where I can't edit any grids in that column, but can for every other column. Can you try it on your end to see if you are experiencing the same thing?

Andy - can you please do the following.

1. Within your account enable the MethodSupport user by going to Customize>>>Users and placing a checkmark beside this user.
2. Email (do not post to this forum) your exact Method account name and Method screen name. Please be sure to include the url of this forum thread in the email to help me track it.

Andy - figured it out.

The field you are referring to 'SalesPrice' on the EstimateLine table is a custom field which is set up as a linked field referencing the Item. You cannot change the value of a linked field the way you are trying to. Do you know why this was added as a linked field? Why not use a regular custom field?

Depending on what you want to do, add a new field to replace this one. Set up actions on the grid when the item changes to capture the current sales price based on the item that was selected. Then allow the user to make changes on the fly. If you would like additional support it can be set up through consulting. Consider booking something with one of our consultant guru's on this if you'd like to learn more.

Thanks, I see what you mean. I guess when I created the "SalesPrice" field, I wanted it to act like the "Rate" field, where it is auto-populated from the default value price in "Item", while still maintaining the flexibility to change it right in the grid if needed.

Let me ask you this, as I think it is the easiest way to solve my problem. Is there a way to include InvoiceLine into the Estimate screen. When it comes down to it, this is all I'm really trying to do. I want the EstimateLine to mirror the InvoiceLine in it's capabilities. Right now EstimateLine multiplies cost (Rate) x quantity to come up with Total Amount. What we really need when producing an estimate for a customer is sales price x quantity, like how it is in InvoiceLine. I just can't wrap my head around the need for a company's cost to be included in an estimate, but maybe that is a requirement for some industries. Or I'm misinterpreting the intent of the Estimate screen.

I started down the path of adding a grid in the Estimate screen for InvoiceLine by using Detached Table in Step 1 of the Grid Wizard. I think I am going down the correct path for adding InvoiceLine into the Estimate screen, but this requires me to build it from scratch to try to match a lot of the characteristics that were defaults in the InvoiceLine as it appears in the Invoice screen. Is there an easier way to copy a table from one existing screen to another?

Andy,

This is a good question, believe it or not cost is important to a lot of companies when doing estimates since estimates by nature may go up, down and are negotiated. Having the cost is important and allows for proper estimating for a lot of companies.

If you try to create an estimate in QB (try it out) you will notice there are fields for Qty, Cost, Amount, Markup and Total. It's important to realize that the Method estimate screen works the same way as the QB estimates in this regard. My guess is you are more interested in the column for Total which should represent the bottom line the customer is interested in for each line item?

Consider adding a new custom field to the EstimateLine called 'SalesPrice' and have actions on the grid for that column (probably on lose focus) so that when you change the so called sales price it will re-calculate the cost so that Method and QB can still calculate the Amount with the traditional formula. I would also have it auto-populate the sales price when the item is first selected which are actions on text change for the item column.

You're correct. We just want to see the total bottom line the customer is interested in for each line item. I took a couple days to review some of the webinars as it's been a while since I've had to do any customization. I understand what you are proposing as the solution, but it is out of my league in terms of what I can customize on my own.

One thing I should probably mention is that for this screen, we don't need anything to revert back to QB accurately. Since Estimates aren't important for us in terms of bookkeeping, we do them strictly in Method just so we can generate a PDF for our customers.

So I thought the simplest solution would be to create custom fields for salesprice and Total Amount (salesprice x quantity). It doesn't matter to us if these don't pull into QB. My two problems I'm facing when trying to do it this way.

1. I created a new custom salesprice field that isn't a linked field like you recommended a few posts up. But I can't get the Actions in the grid correct so that it's pulling the number automatically from the Item table. I'm replicating the Actions from the default InvoiceLine grid to try to recreate the same actions that happen on that grid, but I'm sure I'm missing something.

2. I'm stuck on how to do basic math actions so that I can get a Total Amount (salesprice x quantity) column to work. I looked over the webinars and can't find one that deals with Basic Math in a grid situation where we're multiplying one column by another. If it exists, can you point me to that webinar?

Andy,

I understand you may not care about estimates lines properly syncing to QB but just be sure this won't affect any business changes or requests in the future. Now, enough with the lecture…if you want to make the changes your suggesting yes you could get away with two new custom files for SalesPrice and Amount.

Andy K:

I can't get the Actions in the grid correct so that it's pulling the number automatically from the Item table.

Take a look at the actions that are currently on the grid for the Item column on text change. You can probably reverse engineer this and copy the action that grabs the description or currents sales price and just modify it to use your new field (grid column). 

Andy K:

I looked over the webinars and can't find one that deals with Basic Math in a grid situation where we're multiplying one column by another.

Hint, use basic math and then use the option that says value from screen, the trick is you are looking for the option that starts with the grid name followed by the column name. Example, EstimateLine:Amount or EstimateLine:YourNewFieldNameHere

Finally, it might be worth it to schedule just half an hour with our consultants, have them do the work and explain while you watch them. Often times half hour will pay off and save you lots of time. 

I'm open to consulting. Tell me more about how I can set it up.

Andy,

I'll have a member of our consulting team contact you to schedule and arrange for this to happen. In addition, you always have the option to work with any member of our Method Solution Provider (MSP) program that can assist as well. Click here for that list.