Variation templates define the workflow for your engineers to follow on-site, allowing for the quick creation and actioning of variations. They establish the rules for pricing extra work, including which labour rates apply, which suppliers they can use, and whether the quote needs office approval.
Key benefits
Standardised pricing: Ensure engineers use the correct labour rates, supplier parts, and markups every time.
Controlled workflows: Prevent engineers from instantly quoting complex or high-value work on-site by routing it for office approval.
Clear boundaries: Assign specific variations only to relevant job types so the engineer's mobile app remains uncluttered.
Before you begin this wizard, ensure you have completed the necessary setup steps.
What plan are variations available on?
What plan are variations available on?
Plan name | Client region | Plan includes variations |
Legacy Plans | All | No |
------------------- | ------------------- | ------------------- |
Go Paperless | UK | Yes |
Customer Journey | UK | Yes |
Automation | UK | Yes |
------------------- | ------------------- | ------------------- |
All-in-One | US | Yes |
Customer Journey | US | Yes |
Field Automation | US | Yes |
How to access variation templates
➡️ Click your Profile icon → Select Settings → Select Opportunities → Click View next to Variation templates
From here, you can see the list of existing variation templates created, reorder the list using the = button and see which opportunity template it’s linked to.
Add a new variation template
To start building a new variation template from scratch:
➡️ Click Add new variation template
Step 1: Basic details
Here, you will link your variation to the correct overarching workflow.
Enter a clear Description for the variation.
This is an internal name to help your team identify the template.
Select the Opportunity template this variation links to.
Click Next.
Step 2: Deflect back to office
Variations will automatically deflect to the office in two scenarios:
Parts are required: If parts need to be ordered (this applies to all variations if your account does not use stock management).
Skipped signatures: If the customer isn't present or needs time to consider the proposal, the technician can tap "Skip".
This step allows you to set up customised reasons for deflection. If your account includes the Sales+ add-on, you can use custom fields to automatically route complex or high-value work to the office for review, rather than letting the technician quote it instantly on-site.
Toggle Deflect back to office to Yes or No.
If No, the technician will always proceed to build the quote on-site.
If Yes, you will need to select the custom field question and the specific answer that triggers the deflection.
Click Next.
Read more: How does deflect to office work?
Step 3: Option template
This step controls how the proposal looks to the customer.
Select the Variation option template you want to use.
Click Next.
Step 4: Onsite workflow
Define exactly what your technicians can sell and charge for when building the quote on their mobile device.
Labour
To make it easy for technicians to quickly price their time on-site, you need to add each possible time increment as an individual option. Create clear, short increments (e.g., "1 hour", "2 hours", "1 day") up to the maximum time you expect this variation to take.
Click Add labour rate.
Enter a short Description (e.g., "1 hour"), up to 10 characters.
Select the appropriate Labour rate from your system.
Fill in the VAT, Quantity, Unit cost rate, and Unit sale rate.
Click Save.
Repeat this process to build out all the required time increments.
Once your options are configured, click Next.
Click here to see labour selection on the mobile app
Click here to see labour selection on the mobile app
Materials
This section allows you to control where technicians source parts and how unexpected material costs are handled.
Supplier: Select one or more approved suppliers from the dropdown.
Tip: If you select more than one supplier here, the technician will be prompted to choose the specific supplier they will use to obtain the part(s) required.
Markup: Set a default markup percentage (e.g., 25%). This protects your profit margins if a technician needs to add a non-standard part that isn't already priced in your database.
Notifications: Under the "Materials unavailability / Stocks check" section, define who in the office should receive an email or internal notification if a technician is unable to find the required part.
Click Next.
If you integrate your City Plumbing or Wolseley accounts, your technicians can perform a stock check at local branches to see if all parts are available for pick up.
Expenses
If your technicians might incur extra costs while completing this variation (like parking or congestion charges), you can prompt them to add these expenses to the proposal.
Toggle Expense required? to Yes.
Click Add new expense question.
Enter the Question the technician will see (e.g., "Is there a parking charge?").
Select the Type of expense format you want to use:
Fixed price: Automatically applies a pre-set amount if the technician answers yes.
Price range: Provides the technician with a few pre-set options to choose from (e.g., 10, 20, 30). This option allows multiple entires for cost and sales price.
Dynamic: Allows the technician to manually type in the exact cost they incurred.
Select the Nominal code and appropriate VAT rate for this expense.
Repeat this process to build out all the required expense questions.
Once your options are configured, click Next.
Tip
If using the fixed price or price range types, the sale price is displayed for the technician to select.
Step 5: Diagnostic fee
Decide whether to display the original job's price on the proposal, alongside the cost of the new variation.
Select Yes or No from the Diagnostic fee dropdown.
If you select Yes, choose whether to enable the Do you want to take money? checkbox:
Checked: The diagnostic fee will be included in the deposit payment.
Unchecked: The diagnostic fee will be invoiced separately and collected after the deposit payment.
Click Next.
The diagnostic fee is automatically calculated by totaling the pricing items on the assigned job description. Enabling this option ensures the customer understands that the variation cost is in addition to their original call-out or job price.
For example, if the original job was £100 and the variation is quoted at £250, the proposal will clearly show the full £350 total.
To use the "Do you want to take money?" option, you must have a deposit configured in your variation option template. If no deposit is set, the technician will not be able to collect the diagnostic fee upfront.
Step 6: Display rules
Control what financial information the technician sees on their device when building a variation. Unchecked prices will be hidden from their view.
Choose which prices to display by checking the relevant boxes:
Cost prices of materials: Displays the buying price of the parts to the technician.
Sales prices: Displays the final selling price to the technician.
Click Next.
Step 7: Assign to
Control which jobs will trigger this variation template to appear for the technician.
Select the Job descriptions where this variation should be available.
Click Next.
When a technician is completing a job linked to this variation, it will automatically be available to select on their job screen.
A job description can only be linked to one variation template. This prevents technicians from having to manually choose between templates on-site, speeding up the quoting process.
Step 8: Notifications
Finally, set up alerts so the right people in the office are automatically informed when a variation is created using this template.
Under Email notification, choose whether to send an email alert to specific Users, whole Roles, Everyone, or None.
Under Notification (internal system alerts), choose whether to notify specific Users, whole Roles, or None.
Click Save to finish the wizard.
Activating the template
After saving, you must choose to activate the template or keep it as a draft:
To activate: Type
Activatein the confirmation box and click Activate.To save as draft: Leave the box empty and click Save as draft.
Next steps
Now that your variation templates are configured and active, your team can start using them to quote and win extra work.
Learn how technicians raise variations on-site: How to create variations on mobile
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