Quotes — where the figures come from
A Draftly quote reads like a builder's quote: the costs are grouped into labelled sections, and anything that isn't confirmed is clearly marked rather than guessed.
Where the figures come from
- Materials and labour come from the take-off — the measured quantities from your design and engineering work — priced from confirmed prices you or your suppliers have set. Draftly never invents a price to fill a gap.
- Indirect costs — preliminaries (site setup, temporary fencing and facilities), plant and equipment hire, waste removal, travel, insurance, council and certification fees, and soil tests — are optional toggles. They appear on the quote in their own sections marked optional, and they are not included in the total until you accept them.
- Location allowance — work outside the capital cities can cost more. Where an allowance applies it appears as its own labelled line, so the base figures are never silently inflated.
- Margin — the markup on each section is shown as its own labelled section, so you can see exactly what is costs and what is margin.
Each section has its own subtotal, and the sections plus the margin add up to the quote subtotal — nothing is hidden inside another figure.
What "indicative" means
Items marked INDICATIVE (shown in amber) are placeholder allowances that haven't been confirmed yet — for example an allowance range that hasn't been checked against a real supplier, hire company or council figure. They are honest placeholders, not confirmed pricing, and a site-specific figure is available on request. Confirmed prices you or your suppliers have set are shown plainly, so the two can never be confused.
Items marked TBC have no confirmed price on file at all. They are counted and excluded from the totals rather than silently treated as zero — a total that excludes unpriced items always says so.
Sending a quote to Xero
In the Engineering app, next to the submission-PDF export, the "Generate quote → push to Xero" button opens the quote panel. The flow is:
- Generate — Draftly builds the quote from your take-off (the measured materials), plus any indirect-cost toggles you switch on, plus the location allowance when one applies. Your client's name comes from the project if it carries one; otherwise you type it in — Draftly never invents a contact.
- Preview — the full quote renders in the panel exactly as it would print: grouped sections, indicative labels, TBC lines excluded and disclosed.
- Push — creates a DRAFT quote in your own Xero account. Nothing is sent to your client. Reviewing, sending and accepting the quote all happen inside Xero, by you.
If any line can't be mapped to your Xero accounts, Draftly refuses to push the quote at all — it shows you exactly which lines and why, rather than sending a partial or guessed one. Pushing to Xero requires a plan that includes quoting; if yours doesn't, the button tells you which plan does.
The honesty rule
The same principle runs through every quote: if a figure can't be confirmed, Draftly marks it or leaves it out — it never guesses. See Data and accuracy — where the facts come from.