Materials in a project

On the Materials tab of a project you record what goes into the job in terms of supplies, with a running total.

Adding a line

Fill in the row at the top of the table and click the +:

• Description — required, for instance "wall tiles 30×60 white".
• Quantity — may be a decimal, for instance 12.5 metres.
• Unit — free text; "pcs" is filled in by default.
• Price ea. — the price per unit.

Each line's total is calculated, and below the table you'll find the Materials total. That same amount appears in the Materials / Sale value tile at the top of the project.

Editing an existing line isn't possible — delete it with the bin icon and add it again.

Materials from a quote

If a project arises from an approved quote, the materials are already in it: all quote lines are taken over one for one, and any additional costs come along as a separate line. The unit is always set to "pcs" in that process, because a quote has no units. So do check the list if you work in metres or hours.

See Drawing up and sending a quote.

Letting Planny suggest materials

If Planny is switched on in your environment, you'll see the button Let Planny suggest materials. Planny looks at this project's title and description, and at the materials you have used before for this customer. You can add a hint, for example "this is outdoor work".

You get up to eight suggestions with quantity, unit and price. Before anything is saved you can strike out individual lines with the cross; only when you click Add are the remaining lines actually created. They then become ordinary material lines, which you can delete again just the same.

Two things to know about the prices:

• Planny doesn't invent prices. If he finds a comparable material with a known price in your earlier lines for this customer, he takes that price. If there is no precedent, he sets the price to 0 and you fill it in yourself.
• He only looks at this customer, never at what you charged elsewhere.

If there's too little to go on, you get a message that Planny saw insufficient basis for a suggestion. Add lines yourself in that case, or give a clearer hint. Every suggestion uses a little of your Planny credit — see Planny credit: how it works.

Planny can never change or overwrite an existing line; he only adds.

Good to know

• The price you enter is the sale price, so what the customer pays. There is no purchase price or margin display on this tab.
• Every employee who can open the project sees these amounts. There is no setting to hide prices from engineers.
• 4planning has no stock management, no product catalogue and no purchasing. Material lines are free text lines per project; they don't deduct anything anywhere.
• Nothing is invoiced automatically on the basis of these lines.
• Maintenance contracts have no materials list. Material you use up on site is recorded on a work order.

Frequently asked questions

• I mistyped a quantity. Delete the line and add it again; editing lines isn't possible.
• Can I ask Planny in the chat to add material? No, that only works with the button on this tab. In the chat Planny doesn't know your materials.
• Why does a line from the quote say "pcs" when it's metres? When taking lines over from a quote, "pcs" is always filled in. Delete the line and add it again with the right unit.
• Can I export or print a materials list? No, it only lives inside the project.