Variations and change orders on simPRO jobs
Price the change, send it as its own variation document and get it signed before the work goes ahead. A Zap finds the running job in simPRO by its contract reference and files the signed variation there.
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- Building QuoteCloud since 2013
Send each variation from a QuoteCloud variation template, signed by the client before the changed work starts. A Zap with QuoteCloud's Zapier app, on Essentials and up, runs on Document Signing Complete, finds the simPRO job with Find Job on the contract reference, and attaches the signed PDF with Generate or Fetch Document PDF Link and Attach File to Job.
Last reviewed by the QuoteCloud team
Two overlapping panels with sample data. Behind, Corbel Building Co.'s variation V-02 to contract CB-C-0412 for Fernmoor Dental: eight extra data points, a solid-surface reception top, moisture-resistant ceiling tiles and a credit for the staff-room basin, plus $5,621.00, taking the contract sum from $364,221.00 to $369,842.00 and adding three working days, signed by Dr Anika Shah. In front, an illustration of simPRO job 28817 with the signed contract and variations V-01 and V-02 attached by a Zap.
Why send variations from QuoteCloud?
Corbel Building Co. is five weeks into a dental surgery fit-out for Fernmoor Dental, run as job 28817 in simPRO. With the partitions up, the practice wants more data points and a better reception top, and drops a basin it will buy itself. On a commercial job, that change needs a price, a time impact and a signature before anyone picks up a tool.
Tessa Gray sends it as variation V-02 from Corbel's QuoteCloud variation template: each change as contracted and as varied, the price, the running contract sum and the extra days. Dr Anika Shah signs it on her phone. A Zap files the signed PDF on job 28817, beside the contract and V-01, so the site team and the next progress claim work from the same papers.
- Each variation is a separate, numbered QuoteCloud document with its own signature and audit trail.
- The Zap finds the job by the contract reference, which the tender-to-job Zap put in its order number.
- Pricing the change and adding it to a claim stays with your team in simPRO.
How does a signed variation reach the simPRO job?
A filter, one search and the file. Every name is the exact event you pick in Zapier.
ZapVariation signed: file it on the simPRO job
-
When
QuoteCloudTriggerDocument Signing CompleteFires once every signer has signed.Passes on
- Reference
- Title
- Contract
- Variation no.
- Only if Filter by ZapierFilterOnly documents made from your variation template.
-
Then
simPROSearchFind JobFinds the running job by the contract reference in its order number.Searches on
- Order Number
-
Then
QuoteCloudActionGenerate or Fetch Document PDF LinkThe link is short-lived, so the next step uses it straight away.Mapped in
- Document
-
Then
simPROActionAttach File to JobMapped in
- Job
- File (the PDF link)
- Filename
-
Or
SlackAction · optionalSend Channel MessageTell the project's channel the variation is signed.Mapped in
- Channel
- Message
If Find Job finds nothing, set the step to stop the Zap so you see it in Zapier's history. When the Zap finds no job. The same job can be built in Make, bring your own.
Dr Anika Shah signs V-02 at 9:40 am on Thursday. At 9:41 CB-C-0412-V02 signed.pdf is on job 28817 in simPRO, and the fit-out channel knows the joinery can be ordered.
Result
Every signed variation sits on the simPRO job it changes, a minute after the client signs, without anyone downloading and uploading PDFs.
QuoteCloud's Zapier app: Essentials and up
How builders write variations in QuoteCloudThe contract sum, one signed variation at a time
Every change on the Fernmoor fit-out went out as its own numbered document. Each one states the sum before and after, so the next progress claim starts from a figure both sides signed.
-
Thu 23 Apr
CB-C-0412
Signed contract
Contract signed
Both directors signed CB-C-0412; a Zap filed it on job 28817.
Contract sum$362,076.00 -
Tue 12 May
V-01
+$2,145.00
Extra power to the OPG room
V-01, priced and signed before the electrician came back.
Contract sum after V-01$364,221.00 -
Thu 28 May
V-02
+$5,621.00
Data, reception top, ceiling, basin
V-02: four changes from one site walk, one document.
Contract sum after V-02$369,842.00 -
Next claim
Revised
+$7,766.00 since signing
Where the next claim starts
Add the signed variations to the stage you claim next, from the job in simPRO.
Revised contract sum inc tax$369,842.00
Each variation is a separate QuoteCloud document made from your variation template. Your team writes the sums into it: QuoteCloud doesn't total variations across documents or add them to claims by itself.
What lands on the simPRO job
The job's attachments now hold the contract and every signed variation, each filed by a Zap the minute it was signed. Corbel's progress claims, costs and schedule stay in simPRO, where they were.
- Filed by the job's order number, so the right job gets the right papers.
- The PDF carries the signature certificate and the audit trail.
- Big variations can wait for a director's approval before they go out: approval workflow, on Business.
Job · ID 28817Dental surgery fit-out, Level 1Fernmoor Dental · 18 Mercer Street
- Pending
- Progress
- Complete
- Invoiced
- Customer
- Fernmoor Dental
- Site
- Level 1, 18 Mercer Street
- Order no.
- CB-C-0412
- Project manager
- Tessa Gray
- Attachments
- 3 signed PDFs
Activity timeline
- File attached: CB-C-0412-V02 signed.pdfVariation V-02, +$5,621.00Thu 28 May · 9:41 am · Added by a Zap
- File attached: CB-C-0412-V01 signed.pdfVariation V-01, +$2,145.00Tue 12 May · 11:48 am · Added by a Zap
- File attached: CB-C-0412 signed.pdfThe signed contractThu 23 Apr · 10:02 am · Added by a Zap
Illustration with sample data: a generic job record, not simPRO’s screen.
What does the variation Zap map?
Three values do the work, with the sample values from V-02.
| QuoteCloud: QuoteCloud field | Direction | simPRO: simPRO field | Goes into | Example (sample data) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Find the job (Find Job) | |||||
| Contract (data item) | QuoteCloud to simPRO | Order Number | Search value | CB-C-0412 |
The job's order number, set when it was opened. |
| File the PDF (Attach File to Job) | |||||
| ID (from Find Job) | QuoteCloud to simPRO | Job | Job field | 28817 |
|
| PDF link (Generate or Fetch Document PDF Link) | QuoteCloud to simPRO | File | The signed PDF |
Short-lived: attach it in the same Zap. | |
| Reference + " signed.pdf" | QuoteCloud to simPRO | Filename | CB-C-0412-V02 signed.pdf |
||
Data item names are the ones in your template. All values are sample data.
Variations on the variation Zap
Other ways contractors run it, and the Make route.
A separate job for the extra work
If your team books variation work as its own job, use simPRO's Create Service Job instead of Attach File to Job, with the variation number as the order number.
Approve big variations first
QuoteCloud's approval workflow, on Business, holds a variation over a value you set until a director approves it, before it can be sent.
Paid on signing, if you choose
A variation can ask for payment on signing through Stripe or PayPal, or say it will be added to the next progress claim, as Corbel's does.
Build it in Make instead
Bring your own: a scenario starts from QuoteCloud's API through Make's built-in OAuth connection and files the PDF with Make's own tools for simPRO or simPRO's API.
Build it with a free trial
QuoteCloud's Zapier app is on the Essentials plan and up. Start a free 14-day trial, set up a variation template and test the Zap on a test job.
Build the variation Zap in four steps
Make a variation template
Add Contract and Variation no. data items to your QuoteCloud variation template, and give every job its contract reference as its simPRO order number.
Trigger and filter
In Zapier, choose QuoteCloud's Document Signing Complete, then a Filter by Zapier step for the variation template.
Find the job, file the PDF
Add simPRO's Find Job on Order Number, then Generate or Fetch Document PDF Link and Attach File to Job with the job's ID.
Test, then turn it on
Sign a test variation against a test job, check the attachment in simPRO, then switch the Zap on.
Questions about variations and simPRO
How does the Zap know which simPRO job a variation belongs to?
By the contract reference. Give each job its signed proposal's reference as its simPRO order number, put the same reference in the variation's Contract data item, and simPRO's Find Job searches on it. Find Job can also search by the job's ID or name.
Does QuoteCloud keep a running total of the variations?
No. Each variation is its own document, and your team writes the sum before and after into it, as Corbel's template does. QuoteCloud doesn't total variations across documents or add them to progress claims; claims stay with simPRO.
Can the Zap change the job's value or cost centres in simPRO?
No. simPRO's Update Job on Zapier takes fields such as the name, description, notes, stage, status and dates, not the job's costs or value. Add the variation's work to the job in simPRO as you do now; the Zap files the signed proposal of it.
Does filing a variation carry the per-document fee?
No. The variation is a document your team creates in QuoteCloud, and the Zap only fetches its PDF and writes to simPRO. The fee applies to documents created through Zapier or the API.
More on QuoteCloud and simPRO
Five use cases with the exact Zapier steps, then how to connect, test and what it costs.
- Turn a signed tender into a simPRO jobWhen every signer has signed, a Zap finds the customer and site in simPRO, opens the job and attaches the signed PDF.
- Turn simPRO estimates into client proposalsEstimate in simPRO, then a Zap drafts the client-facing proposal in QuoteCloud with the quote's details filled in.
- Renew maintenance contracts with simPROThe renewal agreement is signed in QuoteCloud; a Zap opens the new term's first service job in simPRO.
- Multi-site clients in simPRO and QuoteCloudOne agreement per building, each signed on its own, and each one opens a job at the right simPRO site.
- Connect simPRO to QuoteCloud, step by stepCheck the plan, connect QuoteCloud and simPRO in Zapier, build the first Zap and test it. Or build it in Make.
- simPRO to QuoteCloud field mapEvery field the simPRO Zaps on this site pass, which way it travels and a sample value.
- Test and troubleshoot the simPRO ZapsTest with a sample customer and site, then fix the usual problems: duplicate sites, no job found, expired PDF links.
- What QuoteCloud with simPRO can and can't doWhat the Zaps do, where they stop (service jobs only, no quote status), Zapier or Make, and what isn't confirmed.
- What the simPRO connection costsEssentials and up for Zapier, plus a fee per document a Zap or the API creates.
- FAQAnswers to the questions contractors ask before connecting QuoteCloud and simPRO.
Signed before the work. Filed on the job.
Start a free 14-day trial, set up your variation template and build the Zap with a test simPRO job.