Timber merchant quoting software that keeps lengths, metres and sheets apart

Why timber lists are slow to quote

A timber list is short on words and long on assumptions. "20 of 47x150 C24" assumes a length. "4x2 treated" assumes a grade and a finish. "6 sheets of ply" assumes a thickness, a face and a grade. Your yard staff know what the customer probably means, but each assumption is a phone call or a risk, and a priced quote cannot go out until they are settled.

The work that eats the time is not the judgement. It is finding the right code for each section, size and treatment in a range of hundreds of lines, and copying the account price across. That is the part I take over.

A first fix list, line by line

Take a list for a loft conversion sent by a carpenter:

• "20 x 47x150 C24 4.8": section, grade and length are all there, so it is matched to your 4.8 m length of C24 and priced at the carpenter's account price.
• "30 x 4x2 tanalised": no length and no grade. The line is flagged with both questions; the candidates from your range are shown for your colleague.
• "8 sheets 18mm ply": if your range holds more than one 18 mm sheet, every candidate is listed and the line waits for a choice.
• "25 m skirting, torus": sold by the length in your catalogue but asked for in metres, so the line is flagged instead of quietly divided.
• "box of 90mm screws": matched only if your catalogue description makes it clear; otherwise the options are shown.

The draft keeps the original wording of each line next to the suggested match, so the person approving it can see why a choice was made.

Lengths, metres and sheets

Timber is sold by the length, by the linear metre, by the sheet and sometimes by the pack, and the same product can appear in two of those units in one range. I read the quantity with its unit. When the unit on the list does not match the unit in your catalogue, the line is flagged rather than converted on an assumption. A line priced per metre when the customer meant lengths is the error that costs a yard most, so it is never guessed.

Prices follow your own data: the customer's price first, then the customer group price, then the list price, with any quantity breaks and price dates in the file. A missing or tied price blocks the line.

What I do not do

I do not plan cuts, calculate yield from stock lengths or design a roof or floor. I price the list the customer sent, from your catalogue, and point at the lines that need a person. Machining, cutting or delivery charges appear only where your price data carries them, for example as an explicit surcharge field. Technical choices, such as whether C16 is acceptable where C24 was asked for, stay with your staff and the customer.

From export to approved quote

1. You export your catalogue, customers and prices as CSV, XLSX or TSV from your merchant system, for example Merchanter or Epicor BisTrack. There is no native connection to either.
2. The list arrives as a spreadsheet, a PDF of up to 10 pages, email text or a PNG or JPG photo.
3. I prepare the draft: matched lines priced, uncertain lines flagged.
4. Your colleague answers the flags and approves.
5. The approved quote comes out as an A4 PDF with your logo, plus a UTF-8 CSV of the lines. Whether your system can import that CSV is checked during the pilot.

A cutting list written by hand on site is the hard case. It is read line by line from the photo, and uncertain lines are flagged for a person to check.

Pricing

Starter is £390 a month for up to 20 requests and Team is £790 a month for 3 users and up to 200 requests, both with no setup fee. The full rollout is £1,290 a month for up to 500 requests or £3,900 a month for up to 1,500, plus £5,950 onboarding that includes the £1,490 paid pilot. Annual billing for Starter and Team is 10 monthly fees. How the paid pilot works ↗

Frequently asked questions