Creating and Managing Products

Table of contents:

Adding products to your services helps you manage your product-related costs and quality control, as you know which products were used as part of each service.

You can determine whether you want to enable admins to add products to the booking beforehand when creating a new booking manually, and/or whether you want to enable field workers to be able to add products used once completing a job. The products added will affect the service price according to the cost and markup set for each product.

If your business sells products as a part of its services, you can allow your users to add products to the selected services when creating a new booking. You can also make your products visible to your customers in your emails and attachments, as well as in your Branded App.

You can add extra marketing information and material to your products and attach images and PDF documents that can be shared with your customers. This information can be displayed in your quote/booking/invoice emails, as well as for your customers when placing a booking in the customer portal.

Creating a new product

From the admin user or fieldworker web view, 

1. Go to Settings
2. Click on Services settings 
3. Select Products, from the side menu on the left.

You will be redirected to the products page, click on New product

The new product form will appear so you can fill the following:

1. Name: add your preferred product’s name.

2. Item code: insert your product code, which is the item reference code that is generally used in the operations of a business to call a certain product in production or the early design phase.

3. Tax rate: select the tax ratio applied to the products, which is the percentage of an individual or corporation taxed.

Note that: When adding a tax rate to your product, the tax rate will only be calculated separately if you create a booking/quote and add the product as a separate item; in that case, the product, and service can each can have their own tax rate calculated and added to the total price of the booking. But, if you add products to the service when creating a booking/quote, the GST percentage will come from the service tax rate. So, if you need this tax rate to be calculated separately for the product, then add the product as a separate item in the quote/booking.

4. Unit label: set the base measurement unit for your product. For example liters, Gallon, centimeters, etc. 

5. Supplied by: Select from the dropdown who will supply the product, either the company or your fieldworker.

6. Cost per unit: this is the cost per unit for your business. For example, if you set “Unit label” to be a liter and “Cost per unit” to be 10$, it means that the one liter costs 10$.
When a customer selects a service and selects a product to be used when doing this service, the product price will be added to the service price. This field is optional, if you don’t want the product to affect the service price, you can leave the cost per unit field without any value.

7. Markup per unit: set your percentage or value over the cost. Your markup is on top of the cost. Markup is the ratio between the cost of a product and its selling price, added in order to cover the costs of doing business and create a profit. The price charged to your customers equals the cost per unit + your added markup.

8. Markup type: you can select whether you want to calculate your markup using percentage or value. 

9. Sale price: the sale price will be calculated automatically upon entering the cost per unit and the markup per unit. 

7. Product description: extra details and long description text about your product that you would like to display to your customers.

8. Product visibility: decide if you want this product to be visible to all users (customers, field workers, and office users) or only to your office users and the fieldworker who created it.

9. Add product specification: in addition to the product description, you can also add product specifications. For example, name “size” and value “500ml”.

10. Product image: Upload an image of your product.

11. Attachments: you can upload files related to your product to be attached to; for example,  upload a user manual of your new product or PDFs related to the product.

12. Assign products to services: assign the product to the services related to it. If you added your products without assigning them to any service, they will appear in all services by default. Otherwise, if you assign your product to specific services, then only the products assigned to the service will appear for the user when making a new booking and choosing that service.

13. Then click on Save.

Managing product visibility

You can determine whether you want to enable admins to add products to the booking beforehand when creating a new booking manually, and/or whether you want to enable field workers to be able to add products used once completing a job. The products added will affect the service price according to the cost and markup set for the product.

From the admin user or fieldworker web view:

1. Go to Settings
2. Click on Services settings 
3. Select Products, from the side menu on the left.

Using the toggle buttons as shown below:

1. You can enable admins to add products to the booking when creating a new booking, if the toggle button is disabled, the users won’t be able to add any products when creating a new booking.
2. You can manage whether you want these products to be visible to customers in the branded app, emails, and attachments. 
3. Determine whether you want fieldworkers to be able to add products used once completing a job or not.
4. Select from the dropdown if your products are supplied by your company or fieldworkers, depending on who will be supplying the products. In case you want to update all products to be supplied by your fieldworkers, then you should select “Supplied by fieldworker”
5. Decide whether to show product cost breakdown in quotes and invoices or not.
6. Decide whether to show product thumbnail in estimates or not.

Importing and exporting products

From the admin user or fieldworker web view, go to:

1. Go to Settings
2. Click on Services settings 
3. Select Products, from the side menu on the left.

1. To import products, click on Import Products as shown below:

A pop-up menu will appear.

1. Read the instructions and click on Download template and fill in the information you want to import.
2. Select whether to add header row or not using the toggle button.
3. Click on Upload file and select your products’ file.

2. To export products, click on Export Products as shown below:

The exported file contains all your product records and all their related data. This includes product name, availability, product code or item code, product tax rate, unit label, cost per unit, markup per unit (%), item description, and image URL.

 A pop-up window will appear.

To download your products list click on Download file

How to enable/disable the feature?

To enable/disable the product feature. From the admin web view

1. Go to Settings
2. Click on Company Settings
3. Select Users from the side menu bar on the left of the page. 

1. Click on the Roles tab.
2. Click on Assign Credentials from the account admin perspective.

To enable the product feature, click on the checkbox.

To disable the product feature, untick the checkbox. 

After disabling the product feature, the product icon will disappear from the service settings from the side menu bar on the left side of the page. 

How to sync products with Xero?

To sync products with Xero, from the admin user web view:

1. Go to Settings 
2. Click on Financial settings
3. Select Xero Integration from the side menu on the left.

Click on Connect to Xero Icon  

A pop-up window will appear to either login or sign up.

After logging into your account, you can sync the products with Xero by clicking on Push to Xero as shown below: 

How to sync products with Quickbooks?

To sync products with Quickbooks, from the admin user web view:

1. Go to Settings 
2. Click on Financial settings
3. Select Quickbooks Integration from the side menu on the left.

Click on Connect to Quickbooks

A pop-up window will appear to either sign up or sign in with your account. 

How to add a product and a custom product in the fieldworker’s application?

You have to create a booking to be able to add a product.

To add a product to an existing booking, when logged in as a fieldworker from the mobile app: Click on Bookings > All from the left side menu bar on the top of the page.

To view all options, go to the All Bookings page and click on the Show more icon

Click on Actions to view the whole page’s options to add the required product

Click on +Add so you can select one or more products with additional costs. Then, click on calculate to add the cost of the product.

You can search for a specific product or create a new one, then select the desired product.

Click on Save 

Add the desired quantity of any product with a specific markup or discount, either by percentage or dollar currency.

Then click on Save

You can still add more products in this stage by clicking on the button +Add

Then click on Save.

The product will be shown to the fieldworkers as shown below.

If you need to add a custom product from the fieldworker app,

click on Add +New Custom Product

You will be directed to the next page to add the product name, cost, and the markup.

After that click on Save 

How do admin users add products and new custom products from the booking/quote form?

A custom product is unique, and can only be sold to a single customer or a small number of customers. This product is created to meet a variety of requirements, such as color, cost amount, and so on. 

From the booking form:

To add a new custom product, from the admin user web view,

1. Click on Bookings 
2. Create New from the side menu bar on the left of the page. 

You will be redirected to the new booking page, scroll down to “Services”, then click on Add service

Select the services that you want to add by clicking on the + icon as shown below, or you can add a new service. To create a new service, click on Create a new service, and you will be redirected to the Create a new service page. To learn more about creating new services, click here.

A products tab will appear so you can add your preferred products or create a custom product, click on the Add icon

*Note that: You have to enable admins to add products to the booking beforehand when creating a new booking manually.

A Pop-up window will appear, select a product from the list below, or add a custom product. Only products linked to this service will be listed. 

After selecting one or more of your required products, click Add.

To add a new custom product for this service, click on +Add custom product 

After adding a new custom product, a new section will appear for your custom product, where you can add all the details of the products. 

1. Description: is a statement that gives details about customized items that are made for a specific buyer.
2. Cost Per Unit: This is the cost of the product per unit. For example, if you set “Unit label” to be a liter and “Cost per unit” to be 10$, it means that the one liter costs 10$.
3. Markup Per Unit: Markup is the ratio between the cost of a product and its selling price, added in order to cover the costs of doing business and create a profit. The price charged to your customers equals the cost per unit + your added markup. The Markup Per Unit is autogenerated upon entering the Cost Per Unit and the Sale Price Per Unit. 
4. Sale Price Per Unit: The sale price is the price you are going to sell the product for per unit. 
5. Discount: you can choose whether you want to add a discount to the product price either by percentage or value. 
6. Subtotal: It is auto-generated, and calculates the cost of the product that the customer should pay which is added to the markup.
7. Supplied by: Select from the dropdown who will supply the product, either the company or fieldworker.

From the quote form:

The admin users can add new custom products in another way,

1. Go to Quotes
2. Click on Create New from the side menu bar on the left of the page.

You will be redirected to the new quote page, scroll down the Services tab, click on Add service

Select the services that you want to add by clicking on the + icon as shown below, or you can add a new service. To create a new service, click on Create a new service, and you will be redirected to the Create a new service page. To learn more about creating new services, click here

A products tab will appear so you can add your preferred products or create a custom product, click on  Add.

*Note that: You have to enable admins to add products to the booking beforehand when creating a new booking manually.

A Pop-up window will appear, select a product from the list below, or add a custom product. Only products linked to this service will be listed. 

After selecting one or more of your required products, click Add.

To add a new custom product for this service, click on +Add custom product 

After adding a new custom product, a new section will appear for your custom product, where you can add all the details of the products. 

1. Description: is a statement that gives details about customized items that are made for a specific buyer.
2. Cost Per Unit: This is the cost of the product per unit. For example, if you set “Unit label” to be a liter and “Cost per unit” to be 10$, it means that the one liter costs 10$.
3. Markup Per Unit: Markup is the ratio between the cost of a product and its selling price, added in order to cover the costs of doing business and create a profit. The price charged to your customers equals the cost per unit + your added markup. The Markup Per Unit is autogenerated upon entering the Cost Per Unit and the Sale Price Per Unit. 
4. Sale Price Per Unit: The sale price is the price you are going to sell the product for per unit. 
5. Discount: you can choose whether you want to add a discount to the product price either by percentage or value. 
6. Subtotal: It is auto-generated, and calculates the cost of the product that the customer should pay which is added to the markup.
7. Supplied by: Select from the dropdown who will supply the product, either the company or fieldworker.

How do fieldworkers add products and new custom products from the booking/quote form?

A custom product has sufficiently unique characteristics and can only be sold to a single customer or a small number of customers. This product is created to meet a variety of requirements, such as color, size, and so on. 

From the booking form

To add a new custom product, from the fieldworker’s web view, 

1. Go to Bookings 
2. Click on Create New from the side menu bar on the left of the page

You will be redirected to the new booking page, scroll down the Services tab, then click on Add service

Select the services that you want to add by clicking on the + icon as shown below, or you can add a new service. To create a new service, click on Create a new service, and you will be redirected to the Create a new service page. To learn more about creating new services, click here

A products tab will appear so you can add your preferred products or create a custom product, click on the Add icon

*Note that: You have to enable admins to add products to the booking beforehand when creating a new booking manually.

A Pop-up window will appear, select a product from the list below, or add a custom product. Only products linked to this service will be listed. 

After selecting one or more of your required products, click Add.

To add a new custom product for this service, click on +Add custom product 

After adding a new custom product, a new section will appear for your custom product, where you can add all the details of the products. 

1. Description: is a statement that gives details about customized items that are made for a specific buyer.
2. Cost Per Unit: This is the cost of the product per unit. For example, if you set “Unit label” to be a liter and “Cost per unit” to be 10$, it means that the one liter costs 10$.
3. Markup Per Unit: Markup is the ratio between the cost of a product and its selling price, added in order to cover the costs of doing business and create a profit. The price charged to your customers equals the cost per unit + your added markup. The Markup Per Unit is autogenerated upon entering the Cost Per Unit and the Sale Price Per Unit. 
4. Sale Price Per Unit: The sale price is the price you are going to sell the product for per unit. 
5. Discount: you can choose whether you want to add a discount to the product price either by percentage or value. 
6. Subtotal: It is auto-generated, and calculates the cost of the product that the customer should pay which is added to the markup.
7. Supplied by: Select from the dropdown who will supply the product, either the company or fieldworker.

From the quote form

The fieldworkers can add new custom products in another way

1. Go to Quotes
2. Click on Create New from the side menu bar on the left of the page. 

You will be redirected to the new quote page, scroll down to the Services tab, then click on Add service

Select the services that you want to add by clicking on the + icon as shown below, or you can add a new service. To create a new service, click on Create a new service, and you will be redirected to the Create a new service page. To learn more about creating new services, click here

A products tab will appear so you can add your preferred products or create a custom product, click on the Add icon

*Note that: You have to enable admins to add products to the booking beforehand when creating a new booking manually.

A Pop-up window will appear, select a product from the list below, or add a custom product. Only products linked to this service will be listed. 

After selecting one or more of your required products, click Add.

To add a new custom product for this service, click on +Add custom product 

After adding a new custom product, a new section will appear for your custom product, where you can add all the details of the products. 

1. Description: is a statement that gives details about customized items that are made for a specific buyer.
2. Cost Per Unit: This is the cost of the product per unit. For example, if you set “Unit label” to be a liter and “Cost per unit” to be 10$, it means that the one liter costs 10$.
3. Markup Per Unit: Markup is the ratio between the cost of a product and its selling price, added in order to cover the costs of doing business and create a profit. The price charged to your customers equals the cost per unit + your added markup. The Markup Per Unit is autogenerated upon entering the Cost Per Unit and the Sale Price Per Unit. 
4. Sale Price Per Unit: The sale price is the price you are going to sell the product for per unit. 
5. Discount: you can choose whether you want to add a discount to the product price either by percentage or value. 
6. Subtotal: It is auto-generated, and calculates the cost of the product that the customer should pay which is added to the markup.
7. Supplied by: Select from the dropdown who will supply the product, either the company or fieldworker.

How do products appear in bookings/invoices/quotes PDFs?

Bookings:

To view the products PDF from the admin web view, from the side menu bar on the left of the page navigate to 

1. Bookings 
2. All Bookings

From the All Bookings page click on:

1. Actions 
2. View booking 

To preview the product in PDF, navigate to  

1. Customer
2. Preview Booking

A PDF will appear showing the booking preview and the products used.

To print the PDF, go to 

1. Click on Actions 
2. Print PDF 

Invoices:

To view the products PDF from the admin web view, from the side menu bar on the left of the page navigate to 

1. Invoices 
2. All Invoices 

From the Invoices list page, on the invoice you wish to view

1. Click on Actions
2. Select Preview invoices  

Admin users will be able to view the product PDF through the preview Invoice as shown below.

Quotes:

You have to create new Quotes then Add Service>Add the product needed then to view the products PDF.

On the admin web view, from the side menu bar on the left of the page navigate to 

1. Quotes
2. All Quotes

 From the All Quotes page, on the quote, you wish to view

1. Click on Actions
2. Select Preview PDF

Admin users will be able to view the product PDF through the preview Quote shown below. 

How do products appear in Email attachments?

• Booking attachment:

This is how a product appears in the booking PDF attached to the email sent to the customer. Showing the product name, quantity, and total price. To know how to Email a booking to a customer click here.

• Invoice attachment:

This is how a product appears in the invoice PDF attached to the email sent to the customer. Showing the unit price, quantity, and total price. To know how to Email an invoice to a customer click here.

Product: Use Cases

Discover the potential of the Product feature in OctopusPro across various industries. This guide offers valuable insights and examples that can inspire business owners to develop their own unique products and services using OctopusPro, while emphasizing the ease of the process and the satisfaction of their customers. Follow the step-by-step instructions below to create diverse products for different industries.

Example: Beauty Care Salon – Beauty & More

To effectively utilize the Product feature in OctopusPro, begin by creating a service that the product will be associated with. In this example, Beauty & More can create a hair treatment service that includes options such as keratin and protein treatments. The custom product, in this case, could be a unique blend of Brazilian oils designed to provide heat protection during the treatments.

To create and add the product, follow these steps:

Access the admin user or fieldworker web view and navigate to:

• Settings
• Services Settings
• Products

You will be directed to the Products Settings page. To add a new product, click on ‘New product.’

Complete all the required fields to add the product, such as:

• Product name
• Item code
• Tax rate
• Unit label
• Supplied by
• Cost per unit
• Markup per unit
• Sale price
• Product description
• Product visibility
• Product image, and more.

To create and add custom products directly from the booking or quote form:

• Click on ‘Bookings’ in the main menu.

• Select ‘Create New’ from the side menu bar on the left side of the page.

You will be redirected to the new booking page, scroll down the Services tab, and click on Add service.

Select the services that you want to be added by clicking on the + icon as shown below, or you can add a new service. Click on Create a new service it will redirect you to the Create a new service page, to learn more about creating new services, click here. 

A products tab will appear so you can add your preferred products or create a custom product, click on Add.

A Pop-up window will appear, select a product from the list below, or add a custom product. Only products linked to this service will be listed. 

After selecting one or more of your required products, click Add.

To add a new custom product for this service, click on +Add custom product 

After successfully adding a new custom product, a dedicated section for your custom product will be available for you to input all the necessary details. This section helps you describe, price, and manage the product efficiently. Here’s an overview of each field and its purpose:

• Description: Provide a comprehensive statement about the custom product, outlining its unique features and specifications tailored to specific buyers.

• Cost Per Unit: Indicate the cost of the product per unit. For instance, if the Unit Label is set as “liter” and the Cost Per Unit is $10, it implies that one liter of the product costs $10.

• Markup Per Unit: Markup is the proportion between a product’s cost and its selling price, factoring in the expenses of doing business and generating a profit. The price charged to customers equals the Cost Per Unit plus the added Markup. The Markup Per Unit is auto-generated when you enter the Cost Per Unit and the Sale Price Per Unit.

• Sale Price Per Unit: Specify the price at which the product will be sold per unit.

• Discount: Determine whether to apply a discount to the product price, either as a percentage or a fixed value.

• Subtotal: This auto-generated value calculates the cost of the product that the customer should pay, which includes the markup.

• Supplied by: Choose who will supply the product from the dropdown menu, either the company or the fieldworker.

 For more information please visit Octopuspro user guide, and subscribe to our youtube channel.