Creating a Hardwood Selection Item – Pricing Based On Model Home Area
In Part 2 of the ‘Color Chart Item’ “How-To” series, learn how to create a room-based price in HomeBuilder.
This video demonstrates creating a hardwood selection item whose price is based on the model home area.
What You’ll Learn
This video walks you through creating color chart items that are priced per room instead of by square footage. You’ll see how to copy existing items, set up house areas, push items to models, and use Excel to manage costs efficiently.
Key Concepts Covered
Creating a New Upgrade Level
You can quickly create additional upgrade levels by copying an existing color chart item. The copy function duplicates your house areas and basic settings, so you only need to adjust the specifics for your new level.
Setting Up House Areas
Your color chart item needs to know which rooms it can appear in. You’ll define these house areas on the item card, and the system will only make the item available for selection in those specific rooms.
Pushing Items to Models
Once you’ve set up your color chart item, you’ll push it to your active models. You can select which models receive the item and set your markup percentage all at once—the system calculates your profit margin automatically.
Managing Costs with Excel
Instead of entering costs room-by-room in Business Central, you can export to Excel, use filtering and sorting to organize your data, enter your vendor pricing, and import everything back. This saves significant time when you’re pricing multiple models and house areas.
Step-by-Step Process
1. Copy an Existing Item
- Navigate to your color items list
- Find a similar item to use as your template
- Use “Copy to New Item” function
- Name your new upgrade level
2. Review Your Setup
- Check category code (determines where item appears)
- Verify house areas (removes any rooms you don’t want)
- Confirm it’s set as “color chart” and “upgrade”
- Add default vendor and contract number (optional but saves time later)
3. Push to Models
- Select which models should receive this item
- Set your markup percentage (example in video: 2x markup = 50% margin)
- System creates all necessary records across models and house areas
4. Enter Costs
- Navigate to your vendor contract
- Find “Current Prices” for your new item
- Either enter costs directly in Business Central, or:
- Export to Excel
- Filter to your specific item
- Enter vendor pricing by house area
- Import back to Business Central
5. Process Selections
- Go to your lot and selection package
- Navigate to the house area (example: primary bedroom)
- Your new upgrade appears with pricing
- Select it for the customer
Important Notes
Pricing Method
This approach prices per room, not per measurement. Your vendor gives you a fixed price per house area regardless of room size. (This differs from the method shown in Video 1, which priced per square foot.)
House Area Logic
The system compares house areas on your item card with house areas on your model. Your item only appears where both match. For example, if your model has three bedrooms but your item allows four bedrooms, the item still only appears in the three existing bedrooms.
Markup Calculations
When you set a 2x markup, you’re creating a 50% profit margin. The system handles this math automatically once you enter your vendor costs.
Time-Saving Tips
Use the Copy Function
Don’t create items from scratch when you can copy similar ones. You’ll maintain consistency and save setup time.
Set Default Vendors
Adding vendor and contract information on the item card automatically creates the contract structure. You can add it later on the phase item list, but doing it upfront is faster.
Export to Excel for Bulk Pricing
When you’re pricing multiple models and house areas, Excel’s filtering and copying functions are much faster than entering costs one line at a time.
Format as Table in Excel
Use Excel’s “Format as Table” feature to enable easy filtering and sorting. Just don’t modify the column structure—the import function needs to recognize your file.
What Happens Next
After you’ve selected an item in the selection package:
- The line turns black (indicating complete information)
- Pricing flows through to customer documentation
- When you create work orders, your trade contractor sees the selection details
- The item appears in task management for your site superintendent
Related Topics
From Video 1: Creating color chart items priced per square foot
Next Steps: Adding variants for color selections (mentioned but not demonstrated in this video)
Questions This Video Answers
- How do I create upgrade levels quickly?
- What’s the difference between pricing per room vs. per square foot?
- How do I control which rooms show my color chart items?
- Can I use Excel to manage my pricing?
- How does markup percentage translate to profit margin?
This summary provides a reference guide after watching the video. For hands-on practice, follow along with the demonstration in your own HomeBuilder environment.
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