Configuring a Book
A book (business unit) is the container that decides how your quotes price out — labour, margin, markups, commission, finance, GST, and progress payments all live on the book. Each trade or division (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, service vs install) usually has its own book.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”Decide one thing before you create the book — its Calculation type:
- Margin — Cost-up. Enter your costs and a target margin; brix calculates the sell price.
- Billable — Price-up. Use markup rules on materials/equipment/assets and a billable labour rate; brix uses those prices directly.
Step 1 — Create the book
Section titled “Step 1 — Create the book”-
Go to Manage → Business Units.
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Click Add business unit.
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Pick the Calculation type — Margin or Billable. This choice is permanent.
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Enter the Name (e.g. “HVAC”, “Electrical — Service”, “Plumbing — New Builds”).
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(Optional) Enter an Account code — used to map this book to an accounting code in your finance system. Max 10 characters.
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Pick a Colour — used for the book chip throughout brix.
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(Optional) Enter a Description for your team.
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(Optional) Upload a Logo for the book.
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Click Save.
You now have a book — but it has no pricing rules yet. Open the new book and fill in the Summary tab.
Step 2 — Fill in the Summary tab
Section titled “Step 2 — Fill in the Summary tab”The Summary tab is where the book’s pricing settings live. Fields shown depend on the calculation type.
Margin-only fields
Section titled “Margin-only fields”| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Desired Margin | Target gross margin (%). brix calculates the sell price as cost / (1 − desiredMargin/100). Example: 50% margin on $100 cost = $200 sell. |
| Minimum Gross Margin | The lowest margin a quote builder is allowed to go down to. Must be lower than Desired Margin. Used as a guardrail when a tech overrides pricing on a quote. |
Billable-only fields
Section titled “Billable-only fields”| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Markup Rule | Pick the markup rule to apply to materials, equipment, and assets. Markup rules are stepped (e.g. 0–50 = 150%, 50–200 = 80%, etc.) — see Discounts & Markups. |
| Billable Labour Rate ($/hour) | The hourly rate brix bills customers for labour. Includes your overhead and profit. Use the brix Bill Rate Calculator or your accountant’s number. |
| Direct Labour Cost ($/hour) | The hourly cost your best technician costs you. Used to calculate projected margin when building services and quote options. |
Shared fields (both types)
Section titled “Shared fields (both types)”| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Premium Discount (%) | Discount applied to the “premium” option of a quote, so you can offer Premium vs Standard side by side. |
| Discount Allowed (%) | The maximum discount % a tech can apply when overriding pricing on a quote. |
| Commission (%) | Default commission rate baked into the sell price. Adds to the base price. |
| Finance (%) | Default finance rate baked into the sell price (covers the cost of customer financing). |
| Tax / GST Rate (%) | The tax rate applied when calculating the inc-GST total. Usually 10 for Australia, 0 if your business is not registered. |
| Max Complimentary Service Percentage | The cap on what % of a quote total can be marked as complimentary (giveaways). When building a quote, brix blocks the tech from going over this cap. |
| Financial Institution (optional) | The default finance provider for quotes in this book. Picks up the institution’s finance schedules so customers can choose payment terms. |
| Progress Payments (optional) | Template for staged customer payments (e.g. 30% deposit / 40% on site / 30% on completion). Percentages must sum to 100. |
Click Save at the bottom of the Summary tab when you’re done.
Step 3 — Configure labour rates (Margin books only)
Section titled “Step 3 — Configure labour rates (Margin books only)”If you chose Margin, a Labour Costs tab appears next to Summary. Add the labour rates you charge — standard, after-hours, apprentice, etc. See Labours for the field-by-field walkthrough.
If you chose Billable, there is no Labour Costs tab — the billable labour rate set in Step 2 is the single rate brix uses.
Step 4 — Configure markup rules (Billable books)
Section titled “Step 4 — Configure markup rules (Billable books)”If you chose Billable, set up a Markup Rule under Manage → Business Units → Markup Rules before opening the book. The rule defines how brix marks up materials, equipment, and assets from cost to sell price (stepped tiers). Then pick the rule on the book’s Summary tab. See Discounts & Markups for setup.
Step 5 — Configure discounts and finance schedules (optional)
Section titled “Step 5 — Configure discounts and finance schedules (optional)”- Discounts — Add quote-level discounts available in this book under the Discounts tab. See Discounts & Markups.
- Finance schedules — If you selected a Financial Institution in Step 2, enable the schedules customers can choose from. Each schedule comes from the institution.
- Progress payments — Already covered in Step 2. Customers see these on the quote and pay in stages.
Step 6 — Add services to the book
Section titled “Step 6 — Add services to the book”Once pricing is configured, add services that quote builders will use. See Services — services can be created from scratch or downloaded from a Catalogue that brix provides.
What to do if you picked the wrong calculation type
Section titled “What to do if you picked the wrong calculation type”You can’t switch the type. Options:
- Archive the book and create a new one with the right type. Existing quotes that reference the old book are unaffected.
- Duplicate the book if brix offers it — note that duplicated books still carry the same calculation type.
The safer path is always to read Calculation types first.
Frequently asked questions
Section titled “Frequently asked questions”Can I change the calculation type later?
No. The radio buttons are disabled after the book is saved. Archive the book and create a new one if you need to change.
Do all books need the same GST rate?
No — each book has its own GST rate. Set it to 0 for books that quote GST-free work, and to your country’s rate (e.g. 10 in Australia) for everything else.
What’s the difference between Discount Allowed and a Discount rule?
Discount Allowed is a single percentage that caps how far down a tech can move the price when overriding it on a quote. A Discount rule is a named, reusable discount (e.g. “Pensioner 10%”) added under the book’s Discounts tab — see Discounts & Markups.
What is the Premium Discount for?
Premium Discount lets you present Premium and Standard versions of the same quote option side by side. The Premium price is the Standard price minus this percentage. Use it when you want to offer a discounted variant (e.g. “Standard $5,000 / Premium $4,500 if you sign today”).
Why are commission and finance baked into the sell price?
They are operating costs you need to cover even on a margin-target quote. brix adds them on top of the base price so the gross margin you specified is calculated after those costs, not before.
Things to check
Section titled “Things to check”Sell prices look too low
Check the Desired Margin (Margin books) or the Markup Rule (Billable books). The first sets the % markup over cost; the second sets the marked-up unit price. Also verify Commission and Finance are configured if they apply.
”Minimum Gross Margin must be lower than Desired Margin” error
The Minimum is a floor and the Desired is your target — the floor must be below the target. Lower the Minimum until it’s below the Desired and save.
Progress payments error: total must equal 100%
The percentages on all progress payment rows must add up to exactly 100. Adjust one of the rows so the total is 100.
The Labour Costs tab is missing
The Labour Costs tab only appears on Margin books. If you have a Billable book, the labour rate lives on the Summary tab as Billable Labour Rate.