Use this article when you have a calculated quote and need to understand how Estimator built the total — what the materials cost, what each production step cost, how markups and rebates rolled in, and which pricing rules changed the result. After this you will know how to open the breakdown, what each layer of the table means, and how to trace a surprising number back to the setup layer that drives it.
What the price breakdown is
The price breakdown is the audit trail for one quote. It is the modal Estimator opens when you choose See price breakdown on a calculated quote, and it shows every cost line, every markup, every rebate, and every pricing rule that contributed to the final price. The breakdown reads in columns — one column per route option Estimator considered — with the selected route highlighted. The reader's job is to follow the cost from the bottom of the column (materials and step costs) up to the top (the customer-facing final price), and to know which setup surface to open if a line looks wrong.
How the breakdown is structured
The breakdown is a vertical stack of rows grouped into layers. From the bottom up, the layers run in the same order Estimator ran them on the quote:
Layer | Typical rows | What it answers |
Parts | Cover, Text, Insert (multi-part products) | Which part of the product does this cost belong to? |
Steps | Print, Cut, Fold, Bind, Laminate, custom price-model add-ons | Which production step generated this cost? |
Step details | Make-ready cost, Run cost, Substrate cost, Overs, Plate cost (where applicable) | What did the step cost in detail? |
Bucket markups | Substrate, Other Material, Labor, Machine, Outwork, Delivery | What percentage uplift did each bucket receive? |
Adjustment model | VA %, VA per Press Hour, or Gross Profit % headline | What target rolled the marked-up buckets into the final price? |
Pricing rules applied | Rule name and what it changed | Which exceptions fired on this quote? |
Rebate | Final price, Rebate amount | What is the customer-facing price and the rebate component? |
Expanding a step row shows the detail lines for that step. A print step shows make-ready, plates, run, overs, and substrate; a cut step shows cut count and cuts per hour; a fold or bind step shows the configured setup and run characteristics. Not every step shows the same fields — that is by design; the step's price model decides which detail rows exist.
A worked example
Northgate Press quotes a Stitched Book on the XL105 offset path (Silk 100gsm SRA1 cover, A4 portrait, saddle-stitched, 5,000 copies). The estimator opens See price breakdown and reads the breakdown column for the selected route.
Steps: Print on XL105, Cut on Guillotine 1, Fold on Folder 1, Bind on Stitcher 1.
Step details on Print: Make-ready cost, Plate cost, Run cost, Overs, Substrate cost. The shop reads the make-ready row, sees it agrees with the operator-log expectation for XL105 setup time × machine rate, and moves on.
Bucket markups: Substrate 15%, Other Material 30%, Labor 50%, Machine 50%, Outwork 10%, Delivery 0% — the defaults configured on the Stitched Book category.
Adjustment model: VA per Press Hour with a target of €150/h on this quote.
Pricing rules applied: one rule —
Volume Customer 5,000+ VA target— nudged the target from €140/h (the category default) to €150/h.Rebate: the Volume Customer carries a 10% rebate. The breakdown rebate line shows the gross-up: base price €100.00, Final price €111.11, Rebate €11.11. The customer sees €111.11 on the invoice; €11.11 flows back as the rebate payment cycle.
The reader now knows three things: the production route is XL105 offset; the markups and adjustment-model target reflect the Volume Customer pricing rule firing as intended; the rebate is grossed up on top of the marked-up price, not subtracted from it.
Reading the breakdown back to setup
When a row looks wrong, the breakdown points at a specific setup surface to open. Use this table to route a surprise back to the layer that drives it.
Breakdown surprise | The setup surface to open |
Substrate line higher than expected | Estimate Setup → Substrates — check the substrate row's price per ton, and on the quote check that the right substrate is selected. |
Plate cost or print make-ready off | Estimate Setup → Print Machines — read the press's plate cost and make-ready time. |
Cut count or fold time off | Estimate Setup → Finishing Machines — read the cutter's pretrim configuration or the folder's running speed. |
Custom add-on cost wrong | Estimate Setup → Finishing / Binding Machines → Custom (Price Model) — check the rates on the price-model row. See How step price models work. |
Bucket markup wrong | Estimate Setup → Products → Categories — read the bucket-markup percentages on the category row. |
Adjustment-model headline wrong | Estimate Setup → Products → Categories — read the price adjustment model and target. See How price adjustment models work. |
Pricing rule fired unexpectedly (or did not fire) | Estimate Setup → Pricing Rules — read the rule's conditions and actions. See Why a pricing rule did not apply. |
Rebate value looks wrong | Estimate Setup → Customers — read the customer's rebate configuration. |
What this affects
Validation and dispute resolution. The breakdown is the artifact a shop uses to defend a quote price to the customer and to debug a setup issue internally.
Where to make a change. Reading the breakdown tells the implementation lead which setup surface to open; editing the wrong layer is the most common reason a price change does not take effect.
The route comparison. When two routes are visible (offset vs digital, for example), the breakdown shows each column's totals, so the shop can read why Estimator picked the highlighted route.
What this does not affect
The route Estimator picks. Reading the breakdown does not change which press the quote runs on; route selection is decided before the breakdown is rendered.
Live pricing rules. The breakdown reflects which rules fired; it does not enable, disable, or reorder rules. Those changes happen in Pricing Rules.
Setup-time costs. The breakdown reads from the current configured state; if a setup change is still in Pending Changes, it will not be in the breakdown until Apply Changes is run.