Table of Contents
Purpose
Having dedicated material items defined in your catalog ensures estimates accurately capture all material needs and costs.
Some common material item examples include:
Raw Materials like concrete, rebar, lumber or mulch for materials utilized on jobs.
Finished Goods like windows, or doors, appliances for materials installed.
Consumables like nails, screws, or caulking.
By building out these material items upfront, you can precisely quote, track, and analyze material expenses.
Key benefits include consistent pricing, efficient estimating, cost monitoring, inventory management, and customer billing.
In this article, we will talk specifically about Material items, which is one of 6 item types you are able to use during the estimating process in Aspire.
Requirements
✅In order to add Items to the Item Catalog, you must have System Admin or Branch Admin permission.
✅If you have Branch Admin permission you’d also need Enhanced Branch Admin Security added to your user role.
Creating a Material Item in the Item Catalog
Before items can be used on estimates, they must first be created in the item catalog. The item catalog is located in the Estimating tab of Administration, and serves as a record of current or past items that have been created for estimating services.
When it comes to organization, your item catalog structures items logically, making it easy to find what you need when estimating. By adding items to your catalog, it becomes an invaluable reference that promotes consistency and standardizes pricing across estimates!
🧠 Some Material item examples include: 65 gal Tree 8’, 7 Gal. Shrub, American Witch- Hazel, 2’’ fittings, stepping stones or decoders .
To add an item to the catalog:
Click your Profile Icon in the blue side menu. Then, select Administration.
Navigate to the Estimating tab and then select the Item Catalog tab.
To create a new item for the item catalog, click the blue New icon and a dropdown menu will appear. Select the New Material item type.
The New Material Item screen will appear.
You can begin to add your Material Item details to get closer to adding it to the Item Catalog!
Type in the material’s Item Name.
This will be the name that is displayed on your customer’s proposal.
The Alternate Name can be the same as the item name, left blank, or updated.
You can edit the alternate name to be a specific name of a product, plant genus, species or other scientific names as needed.
Alternate Name appears in the Item Catalog Search List, when searching in the Purchasing Assistant, is available for use on Purchase Receipt layouts or on estimate sheet layouts.
Select the Category that the Material Item should belong to.
Item categories include Irrigation, Fertilizer, Perennials, Chemical, Soil, Plant, Sod, and Seed.
Item categories can be set up in Lists in Administration.
You can navigate there by selecting your Profile Icon ▶️ Application ▶️ Lists ▶️ Catalog Item Category ▶️ Then, you’d select the New button to create a new category!
📑Learn more about the differences between Item Name vs. Item Alternate Name vs. Item Code by clicking here.
The Item Code field is also available below Item Category.
This is an optional field where you can enter a vendor code or manufacturer code.
This field is also commonly used for irrigation part codes that come from SiteOne!
The Material Item ID 1 and 2 fields are for entering or customizing an identifier of your material item type if you create Plant Tags. These fields can also be used on purchase receipts.
You can not use the material item fields when building Kits.
📑 In this next section, we discuss Purchase Units vs. Allocation Units. For a more detailed explanation of how to set these up, read this article!
Enter in how much the unit cost is from the vendor in the Purchase Unit Cost field.
Select the purchase unit’s measurement which is how the item is ordered or bought.
Select the allocation unit’s measurement in how the item will be allocated to jobs.
If unit measure is different from the Purchase Unit you will need to fill out the conversion factor in the Allocation field.
⚠️Make sure the item catalog’s purchase unit is entered and converted correctly with the correct Allocation Unit. This is important when processing your vendor’s invoices. If the Allocation Unit is entered incorrectly in the purchase receipt, this could cause inaccuracies in your revenue.
📌 Note: The Allocation Item Cost will update once the item has been saved.
The EPA Name and Number fields can be used to enter the item’s Environmental Protection Agency identification details.
These fields are used to help categorize specific chemical material items.
Assign the branch(es) for where the item will be available. This function is available only if the Enhanced Branch Admin Security permission is checked in Administration ➡️ Configuration ➡️ Application.
You can select All Branches so your item is available to all branches, or if your item is specific to a certain branch, you can select the branch from this drop down.
The Takeoff Item drop down is used to allow Aspire to automatically calculate item quantities on estimates.
If desired, select the Takeoff Item from where the calculation on the estimate should happen.
This is mainly used for building kits or when building maintenance contracts and can be added to properties on an individual properties’ detail page.
The Description field provides a more complete description of the item.
This note becomes available when the item is placed onto a service in the estimate.
Add a description here if you need notes to appear on services in your opportunity estimate.
🧠You can also choose to include the item description in a proposal layout to give extra information to your customer.
Checking the Available to bid checkbox will make sure the item can be used when estimating a service that contains the item.
Checking the Inventory item checkbox will make the item available to be received into inventory.
Checking the Allocate from Mobile checkbox allows for items to be added as costs to tickets in Aspire's mobile app.
This box should only be used for items that your crews will be clocking into in Aspire’s mobile app to track the item’s quantities or usage.
The Price List is found at the bottom of the item details screen.
You can select New to create a Allocation item cost different than the original cost by entering the new price list purchase unit cost.
This new cost will be applied to the price list catalog you’ve selected.
🧠Reminder: Price List Catalogs are used for setting up pricing overrides at the branch level for specific items in the catalog. Catalog Price Lists are added to your organization’s Branches on the Branches screen.
When all of your edits to your Material Item have been made, select Save to add your material item to the item catalog.
⚠️ If you want to edit the item name later, after it has been bid, we recommend not changing the name on the original item. Instead, make the item unavailable to bid and create a new item in your item catalog. Update your kits and templates with that item, then deactivate the old item.
Next Steps
Once your item has been saved to the item catalog, you can proceed to learning more about Kits to get you closer to estimating for your customer’s opportunities! Read about Kits here.
📑 If you're looking to use the import spreadsheet to help you import your items with the help of AspireCare, please read this article.