Estimates & contracts

Give the customer a reviewable offer

Quotes bring customer contacts, prices, payment terms and the proposed delivery or project scope together. Revisions preserve the earlier offer and identify what changed. The accepted version supplies the commercial basis for the work that follows.

For goods sales, the approved sales order connects the offered lines to fulfillment and billing allocations. Standalone goods sales also carry a reviewed contract and performance basis, with a project linked only when the sale belongs to one. For project work, the accepted contract sets the supported fixed-price milestones, measured progress or unit-rate basis. The selected route determines which actual work and acceptance evidence can support a bill.

Independent Commercial Manager approval binds the current scope and financial exposure. Customer acceptance remains its own evidence: an internal approval does not stand in for the customer’s agreement.

Make the contract useful to delivery teams

A project contract connects agreed scope to the project and responsible company. Payment terms, progress measurement, advance recovery and retention conditions give site and finance teams a shared starting point.

The contract also keeps the financial performance obligations and allocated consideration used by Finance. These support a separately reviewed revenue assessment. The amount invoiced, the customer’s certificate and the amount earned can be different at a given date.

Keep changes connected to the original promise

A variation starts with a clear description of the requested work, its price and cost effects, and the affected contract lines. Proposed changes remain available to the team while the required decisions are pending.

Approved changes create a new authorized basis for remaining work. Earlier acceptance, cost, certification and billing history stay attached to their original scope. A reduction must account for work already performed or amounts already committed rather than hide them in a new total.

Review includes the effect of gross increases and new scope. Offsetting a price increase with an unrelated reduction does not erase the decision that the increase needs. The project budget and forecast can then be revised from the accepted change instead of relying on an informal note.

Connect the offer to project economics

The estimate explains the planned cost of the offer. The approved budget establishes the delivery baseline, and the current forecast explains the expected result using actual work and the remaining plan. Keeping these versions separate makes it possible to see whether a change arose from the customer’s scope or the team’s delivery expectations.

Customer credit and payment arrangements remain relevant to goods orders and project billing. Each company retains its own exposure and authority. Approved terms travel with the transaction, including the currency and the evidence used for a decision.

Use Estimate to contract to follow the handoff, or Projects & costs to see how accepted work becomes the delivery baseline.