Why Does My Margin Slider Keep Moving?

Learn why you may be having issues with your margins slider and how to correct them.

The margin slider is usually moving because it can’t find the data it is looking for. In its attempt to complete the calculation without all the necessary data, you end up seeing inconsistent numbers.

In order to diagnose what the issue is, go through each line item and check for any of the following.

Error messages

If the product is no longer linked, then the values are no longer being used to calculate the estimate total correctly. To correct this issue, follow the steps below. 

• Re-add the affected products to your estimate, you may want to consider checking your layouts and templates to makes sure there are no errors on those linked items that will persist in future estimates.

  • Delete the affected item from the estimate once is has been replaced.

Or

• If you have recently hidden items in your Products & Services, this item may no longer be available to use and cannot be relinked.

  • Edit the item in your Products and Services to unhide the item.

Locked Margins

If you have locked margins in your estimate, the margin slider may set itself higher or lower than you anticipate to accommodate for this locked value. If this is the case, you have two options.

• You may decide to unlock the margin on this item to stop the margin from setting itself higher than expected.

Or

• Leave it locked and understand that this will affect what the margin slider says.
  • If the locked margin is 50% and you set the slider to 30%, the margin slider will end up around 40%.
    
    

Out of Date Calculations

Calculations that have been updated through Products and Services will not automatically update on current estimates, but this can throw off the calculations of the margin and quote total.

• To correct this, update your line item calculations on your estimate.

Unsynced Price Fields

When quantities are updated manually and different from what is reflected in the quantity calculation, this can interfere with the margin slider. Check to see if the price and/or quantity reflect what is in the editing modal.  If you manually update the price instead of editing the price, this can also introduce errors into the margin slider calculations.

• To correct this, update your quantities and price fields in the editing modal. It will only affect what is on the current estimate and won’t change what is in the layout for future use. If the calculation is incorrect, correct it so that it is calculating the quantity you need or remove the calculation so you can enter the quantity manually each time.

Lastly, be aware that linked products in your estimate do not follow the estimate settings parameters.

• When you set your minimum margin, this will not change or overwrite what has been entered in as a margin on a linked product.

  • You may need to adjust this manually on the item itself or move the margin slider to reset all of the margins within your estimate (as long as they are not locked).

• When you set the default margin to 25% this affects only ad hoc items.

  • This will not reset your margin on all of your linked products within your estimate, but will apply to any new items you add to the estimate that are not linked.

• The only way to adjust a margin on a linked product is to go to Products & Services in the General Settings menu and edit the individual item. This will adjust the margin on all estimate layouts and templates, but will not update any current estimates you are working on. You will need to update any estimates you are currently working on manually.