Proposals

The proposal overview is the central workspace for creating and managing customer proposals. It lists all proposals and provides tools for creating, editing, searching, filtering, copying, releasing, completing, rejecting and deleting proposals as well as for generating and downloading the associated PDF documents.

Note: The proposal overview is only available if the proposal module is activated for the tenant.

1. Navigation

The proposal overview is accessible via the main menu under Commercial › Proposals.

2. Proposal Overview (Table)

The overview displays all proposals in a configurable table. Each row represents one proposal. The list is paginated (paging) and can be sorted; by default, the most recent proposals are shown at the top.

Standard Columns

Depending on the activated modules, additional columns are displayed:

• Billing location (billing POI): only visible if the invoicing module is active and billing is location-based.
• Billing mandate: only visible if the module for billing mandates is active (hidden by default).

Sorting

Clicking a column header sorts the list in ascending or descending order by that column.

Opening a Proposal

A double-click on a row opens the proposal in the editing dialog (see Section 4). The dialog opens as a freely movable window; several dialogs can be open at the same time (a maximum of five).

Multiple Selection

Several proposals can be selected at the same time. Most toolbar actions (release, complete, reject, delete, download PDF) work on all selected rows. Individual actions (e.g. copy) are only available when exactly one row is selected.

3. Search Filters

The filter area narrows down the displayed proposals specifically. The filters can be combined.

When switching the active group via the group switcher, the table is reloaded automatically. Using "Reset filters", all active filters are removed and the complete list is displayed.

4. Creating and Editing a Proposal

Using the "New proposal" button, an input dialog opens for entering a proposal. You open an existing proposal by double-clicking it in the overview. The dialog is displayed as a freely movable window.

A newly created proposal already contains an initial shipment as well as the current group, the current user and today's date as default values.

In the dialog you enter or edit:

• recipient and orderer as well as the contact person
• the billing location (billing POI)
• the document texts of the proposal
• the shipments with their respective items (see Section 6 and Section 7)
• attachments to the proposal

Save and Preview

Depending on the status, the following actions are available in the footer of the dialog:

• Cancel: Closes the dialog without saving the changes.
• Save: Saves the proposal. When saving, the entries are checked and any attachments are uploaded.
• Save and preview: Saves the proposal and then generates a document preview (only in the "In progress" status).
• Preview: Generates a preview of the proposal document (in all other statuses).

Note: The dialog is only editable in the "In progress" status. In all other statuses, the fields are displayed read-only; only the document preview is then available.

5. Recipient, Orderer and Billing Location

In the proposal dialog you select the recipient (customer) as well as the orderer and the associated contact person via selection fields with suggestion support.

The billing location (billing POI) is suggested automatically where possible:

• All location selection fields are restricted to the locations of the selected recipient or orderer.
• When the billing location is selected, the system adopts the associated reference.
• If the recipient or orderer changes and no billing location has been set yet, the system automatically suggests a suitable billing location.

6. Shipments in the Proposal

A proposal can contain several shipments. Each shipment has a pickup and delivery location as well as locations for price calculation.

• Add shipment: Using the corresponding button, a new shipment is added to the proposal.
• Reorder shipments: The order of the shipments can be adjusted by drag-and-drop.
• Remove shipment: When removing an already saved shipment, the system checks whether deletion is permitted.

Note: If the pickup or delivery location of a shipment is changed, the prices are recalculated and, if applicable, a suitable billing location is suggested.

7. Items in the Proposal

Each shipment contains a list of items. Various item types are supported:

Editing Items

1. Add a new item within a shipment and select the item type.
2. Enter the fields (e.g. description, quantity, price, discount). Changes to price or discount fields trigger an automatic recalculation.
3. The order of the items can be adjusted by drag-and-drop. Items can also be moved between different shipments of the same proposal.

Removing an Item

When removing an already saved item, the system checks whether deletion is permitted and then removes the item from the shipment.

8. Release / Revoke Release

Proposals go through a defined status workflow. Before further processing, they are released.

Release

1. Select one or more proposals in the list.
2. Click the "Release" button in the toolbar.

The system checks whether the status change is permitted. Upon successful release, the status changes from "In progress" to "Released" and the list is updated.

Revoke Release

1. Select one or more released proposals.
2. Click the "Revoke release" button in the toolbar.

After the check, the status is reset to "In progress".

Note: Both actions are only available if at least one proposal is selected. If the status change check fails, a corresponding message is displayed and the status remains unchanged.

9. Complete / Reject

When a proposal has been finally processed, it can be marked as completed or rejected.

Complete

1. Select one or more proposals.
2. Click the "Complete" button in the toolbar.

After a successful check, the status changes to "Completed".

Reject

1. Select one or more proposals.
2. Click the "Reject" button in the toolbar.

After a successful check, the status changes to "Rejected".

Note: Both actions check beforehand whether the desired status change is permitted. If the check fails, an error message is displayed; if successful, the list is reloaded.

10. Copying a Proposal

With "Copy proposal", an existing proposal is duplicated as a template for a new proposal.

1. Select exactly one proposal in the list.
2. Click the "Copy proposal" button in the toolbar.

A copy of the proposal is created, which can then be edited.

Note: The action is only available if exactly one proposal is selected.

11. Deleting a Proposal

Proposals that are no longer needed can be deleted directly from the overview.

1. Select one or more proposals.
2. Click the "Delete" button in the toolbar.
3. Confirm the safety prompt.

The selected proposals are deleted and the deletion is acknowledged with a confirmation message.

12. Proposal Document: Preview and PDF Download

Download PDF

For released or generated proposals, the proposal document is available as a PDF.

1. Select one or more proposals for which a PDF is available.
2. Click the "Download PDF" button in the toolbar.

The PDF documents of the selected proposals are downloaded. If several proposals are selected, the documents are merged into a single file.

Note: The button is only active if the selected proposals have a stored PDF.

Opening a PDF from the Table

In the PDF column of the overview, existing documents are displayed as clickable links. A click opens the respective document directly in the document viewer.

Preview from the Dialog

From the editing dialog, a preview of the proposal document can be generated at any time using the "Preview" or "Save and preview" button (see Section 4).

13. Status Display and Table Tools

Status Display

The status of each proposal is displayed in the Status column as a translated value. The status workflow comprises:

Column and Layout Tools

The toolbar provides the usual tools for adjusting the table:

• Column filters: Individual columns can be filtered to narrow down the list.
• Layout templates: Column and layout settings can be saved as user-specific templates and restored with a single click.
• Clear filters: Removes all active column filters.

The table layout (visible columns, order, sorting) is saved per user and is retained after logging out.

14. Summary: Available Actions