📌 Before you start: This guide explains how to edit the activities of a quote that has already been created. If you still need to create your first quote, start here: Create a quote in Pillar
‼️ Important: you can only edit a quote when it is in Draft status. Change the quote status, make your changes, then restore the correct status.
Quotes already linked to a construction site cannot be edited: to make changes, duplicate the quote from the menu (⋯) and work on the copy.
Adding an activity
To add a new item to the quote:
Open the quote in Draft status from the Projects > Quotes section.
Click "+ Add" in the top right.
The "New activity" section opens, where you can specify:
Super category (e.g. Building works)
Category (e.g. Measured works)
Sub category
Description of the activity
Click "Save" to add the item to the quote
You can also add items directly within an existing category by clicking the "+" next to the category name (e.g. "General +").
Searching and filtering items within the quote
When the quote contains many activities, you can use the search tools in the top bar of the "Works and prices" page:
Search item — The search bar to find an activity by description.
Filters — To filter items by specific criteria, such as Category, VAT and Price.
Settings icon (⚙️) — To configure the Categories.
In the top left you find the total count of activities (e.g. "Activities 50"), and below it, for each category, you can see how many activities it includes (e.g. "General 25").
Detail of a single item
Clicking on an activity opens the detail panel on the right.
Main information
At the top of the panel you find the item's editable data:
Total price — Visible in the top right with +VAT next to it.
Quantity — With unit of measure.
Unit price
Tariff — if present, the reference to the tariff of the price list used.
Categories — The tags of the assigned categories. Click "×" to remove one, or "+" to add a new one.
Description — The text field with the detailed description of the activity, editable directly.
Price analysis
The "Price analysis" table shows the details of the cost items that contribute to calculating the activity total. Here you can manage the individual costs per category planned for the single activity.
Cost categories
Costs are organized into several categories, each with a distinctive icon. You add them with the "+ Plan cost" button by choosing the desired category:
Material — Costs for materials and supplies
Labor — Costs for labor
Subcontract — Costs for subcontracted work
Rentals — Costs for renting equipment or tools
Equipment and tools — Costs for equipment and tools
Leasing — Costs for leasing
Waste disposal — Costs for waste disposal
Security — Costs for security
Uncategorized — Unclassified costs
For each cost item you see the columns:
U.M. (unit of measure)
Qty. (quantity)
Unit cost
Total cost (calculated by Pillar)
Margin %
Margin € (calculated by Pillar)
VAT %
Tot. (VAT excl.) (total VAT excluded)
Adding a cost item
To add a new cost item to the activity:
Click "+ Plan cost" in the top right of the Price analysis table, and choose a category. You can select the "Uncategorized" category for generic items.
Enter the details: description, unit of measure, quantity and unit cost
ℹ️ The total costs and the activity price update automatically based on the margin set.
To disable or delete an existing cost item, click the three dots (⋯) next to the item. When you disable an item, its costs are no longer considered in the total calculation.
Measurements
The "Measurements" table (next to the price analysis) lets you calculate the activity quantity from real dimensions.
At the top you find the Total of the measurements with the selected unit of measure (e.g. "306.78 m²"). This value automatically updates the quantity related to the activity in the quote.
You can select the unit of measure directly above the table.
The measurements table has the following columns:
Column | What it's for |
Description | A name to identify the measurement (e.g. "North wall", "Ground floor slab") |
Equal parts | Number of equal parts — multiplies the measurement by this value (e.g. 2 identical windows) |
Length | Length |
Width | Width |
H/weight | Height or weight, depending on the activity |
Quantity | The result calculated automatically (Equal parts × Length × Width × H/weight). The measurement quantities are summed to obtain the activity quantity. |
Adding a measurement
Click "+ Add measurement" in the top right of the Measurements tab
Fill in the Description to identify the measurement
Enter the dimensions in the required fields: Length, Width, Height/weight and/or Equal parts
The Quantity is calculated automatically
You can add multiple measurement rows: the Total at the top sums all the quantities and directly updates the activity quantity in the quote.
To disable or delete a row, click the three dots (⋯) next to the measurement description. If you disable a measurement, it is not included in the count of the activity quantities.
📄 Example
You need to demolish the false ceilings of 3 rooms. Instead of calculating the total area by hand, create 3 measurement rows:
• Room A: Length 5.00 × Width 4.00 = 20.00 m²
• Room B: Length 6.50 × Width 3.80 = 24.70 m²
• Hallway: Length 8.00 × Width 1.20 = 9.60 m²
Total → 54.30 m² = activity quantity.
Checking margins and discount
In the section on the right within the quote you always have the overall financial summary visible:
Costs — The total costs, broken down by category.
Overhead — to add fixed costs to all the activities of the quote.
Margin — The overall margin percentage and the corresponding amount, broken down by category.
Discount — You can apply a global discount by entering the value and choosing between % (percentage) or € (fixed amount).
Total + VAT
Price — The final price for the client.
At the bottom of the page you also find the legend: Costs / Price with colored indicators for positive margin (green) and negative margin (red).
💡 Margin per item vs. global margin
The margin can be displayed at two levels:
Per single price analysis item — In the Price analysis table of each activity, you can set a different margin for each price item or for all the price items of the activity.
Global — In the summary on the right you see the overall margin that sums all those of the single items.
Managing the categories of activities
Activities can be grouped by super categories, categories and sub categories. Each category shows the number of items it contains (e.g. "Faucets 25").
For each category level you can:
Add items — By clicking the "+" next to the category name
Open the menu — By clicking the three dots (⋯) to access the category options
Expand/collapse — By clicking the arrow to the left of the name
💡 To edit quotes at their best
Use Measurements instead of calculating quantities by hand: enter the real dimensions and Pillar does the calculation for you.
Fill in the Price analysis for each item, splitting the costs across the different cost categories — it will help you get precise margins.
Set the margin % item by item to control the profitability of each activity.
Use the search bar to quickly find items in quotes with many activities.
Add attachments to single items to document specific activities (photos, technical sheets, measurements).