← Al Davies, 250 High Street

Quote tracker in SharePoint

Short answer: a quote tracker is one SharePoint list with a row per quote. Give it a customer, an amount, a status and a follow-up date, then save one view for open quotes and one each for won and lost. I describe the columns below, so you build it in a few minutes with no file to open first.

Excel or a list?

If one person keeps the quotes, Excel is fine. A list suits a team, because each row has its own history and two people can edit different rows at once. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: switch when a second person starts editing. See "SharePoint list vs Excel".

The columns

Create a list called Quotes. Add these columns.

  1. Title: use it for the quote number, such as Q-2041. Rename it if you like.
  2. Customer: single line of text.
  3. Amount: currency.
  4. Status: Choice, with the values 1 Draft, 2 Sent, 3 Won, 4 Lost.
  5. Follow-up date: date.
  6. Owner: person.
  7. Lost reason: single line of text.
  8. Reminder sent: Yes/No, with its default value set to No.

Exact names may differ on your screen. The Reminder sent column only matters if you add the flow further down.

Three views

A view is a saved way of looking at the same rows. Microsoft's filtering page says: "Click on the heading of the column you wish to filter and choose Filter by from the menu options."

For the sort, Microsoft says the quick sort from a column header goes away unless you save the view: "When you close the list or library, the column will return to its default view order unless you save the view." Save the view so the order stays. In the view settings, Microsoft's page says the sort you select "is saved with the view."

A view of your own quotes

Use [Me] in a filter on Owner. Microsoft says: "You must use the classic view editor to filter columns using these keywords." Open the view settings in the classic editor to set it. See "Show each person only their own items in a SharePoint list view".

Quotes with a date in the past

Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: add a second filter on the Open view, Follow-up date earlier than today, and save it as "Chase now". Microsoft's page says the [Today] keyword works on date-based columns, and it also needs the classic view editor.

A flow that confirms a sent quote

Power Automate has a SharePoint trigger called When an item is created or modified. Microsoft describes it as: "Triggers when an item is created, and also each time it is modified." That is the catch. The flow runs on every edit, including edits the flow makes itself.

Two guards keep it from sending twice. Both are our advice, not a Microsoft rule.

  1. Sent flag guard: set the Reminder sent column's default value to No. The flow checks that it is No, sends the email, then sets it to Yes.
  2. Loop guard: because the flow's own update counts as a modification, the Yes value stops a second run from acting. See "Power Automate flow triggers itself".

The steps:

  1. Create a flow with the trigger When an item is created or modified. Pick your site and the Quotes list.
  2. Add a Condition: Status equals 2 Sent, and Reminder sent equals No.
  3. In the Yes branch, send an email to the Owner with the customer and the follow-up date.
  4. Then use Update item to set Reminder sent to Yes.

If you want an email on the follow-up date itself, an edit-based trigger will not do it, because nothing is edited on that day. See "Send a reminder before a due date".

Reading the list in a flow

When a flow reads many quotes, note that Microsoft gives the Get items action a default limit of 100 items. Set Top Count, up to 5,000, and turn Pagination on. See "Power Automate Get items only returns 100".

What to avoid

When to get help

You can build all of this yourself in Microsoft 365. If you would rather have it built and tested for your team, I do that. A tracker like this is a fixed price: $5,000 for one, built in 2 weeks. See "What a SharePoint tracker costs to build". Bring one example of the problem to a free call.

Tell me what's still manual

I am Al Davies. I run 250 High Street LLC and build SharePoint trackers and Power Automate flows for operations teams. I work remotely. The first call is free, and I will not try to sell you anything.

See trackers I built: Tools I built

FAQ

Is there a free quote tracker template for Excel?

There is no file to download here. I give the columns in text, so you can type them into Excel or a SharePoint list.

What columns should a quote tracker have?

A quote number, customer, amount, status, follow-up date and owner. A lost reason helps once quotes start to close.

Should I track quotes in Excel or in a SharePoint list?

Excel works for one person. A list suits a team that edits at the same time.

How do I see only open quotes in SharePoint?

Save a view that filters Status to 1 Draft and 2 Sent, and sort it by follow-up date.

How do I stop a flow from emailing twice on every edit?

Add a Yes/No column and set its default value to No. The flow checks it is No, sends, then sets it to Yes.

Sources