From hindsight to foresight: EndtoEnd IT explains integrate’s role in profit forecasting

The difference between knowing where you’ve been and seeing where you’re heading

 Ask most window and door business owners about their profit margins, and they’ll probably tell you last month’s figures. But what if you could see next month’s potential profit – before the orders even come in?

That’s exactly what integrate does differently. Instead of waiting for your accountant to tell you how you performed, integrate provides real-time visibility into your projected profitability. It’s the difference between driving while looking in the rear-view mirror and actually seeing the road ahead.

Real-time profit visibility

When you create a quote in integrate, you’re not just putting together a price for your customer – you’re also helping your business plan ahead. integrate instantly shows you the projected production cost alongside the quoted price, giving an immediate view of your expected profit margin for every job.

This isn’t complicated financial wizardry. It’s simple: here’s what it costs to make, here’s what you’re charging, here’s your margin.

The Price Breakdown feature takes this further, showing you the detailed cost of each element – timber, labour, hardware and everything else that goes into a quote. You can even see a breakdown for individual items, complete with cost, selling price and markup.

No more guessing whether that bespoke casement window is actually profitable – now you’ll know.

TIP: View what your quote could look like with integrateCONNECT.

From quotes to strategic decisions

Here’s where things get interesting for growing businesses. The Quote List function lets you view all quotes over any given period, showing both price and cost data. Export this to CSV or Excel, and you can calculate the overall quoted margin for that timeframe.

But this isn’t just about numbers in a spreadsheet. You can filter by job type, salesperson, or customer type – whatever matters to your business. Suddenly, you can see which types of quotes deliver the best potential returns.

Maybe your conservation work has higher margins than your new-build projects. Maybe certain team members consistently quote more profitably. The data tells the story.

One such EndtoEnd IT customer uses this daily. They’ll email the company asking for very specific pricing adjustments – “add £50 to fit this type of frame” or “adjust the labour cost for this glazing specification.” They know exactly which elements of their pricing need tweaking because they can see the breakdown instantly.

Fig. 1 Quote List function in integrate

Fig. 2 Quote List data exported to CSV with added calculations

 Why this matters for growing window & door companies 

Growing businesses face a unique challenge. When you’re small, you might personally oversee every quote and instinctively know which jobs are worth pursuing. But as you scale, that level of oversight becomes impossible. You need systems that provide the same insight across dozens – or hundreds – of quotes.

integrate helps you identify the types of jobs with the highest potential returns. Instead of chasing every enquiry, you can focus on the work that genuinely grows your business profitably.

For example: your Quote List shows £200,000 worth of potential orders this month with a projected profit of £60,000. That’s useful. But when you filter the data and discover heritage restoration quotes have 35% margins while commercial work delivers just 12%, you suddenly have actionable intelligence.

Connecting projections to reality

Projecting profit is only half the story. The real power comes when you connect those projections with what actually happens.

This is where integrate’s integration with accounting tools like Xero is invaluable. You can:

• See projected margins when you quote

• Track which quotes convert to orders

• Monitor payments as work progresses

Maybe your highest projected profit comes from commercial jobs, but most of your orders are domestic. That insight helps you refine your marketing and sales strategy.

In short, the system bridges the gap between “what we think we’ll make” and “what we actually made” – giving you the data to fine-tune pricing and improve processes continuously.

Understanding financial data

A common concern EndtoEnd hears is: “This sounds great, but I’m not an accountant. Will I actually understand it?”

The beauty of integrate is its simplicity. You don’t need a finance degree to understand that a job costing £2,000 to produce and quoted at £3,000 gives you a £1,000 margin.

The system presents this information clearly, without jargon or complicated formulas:

• Price Breakdown shows costs and margins in plain language

• Quote List presents data in a simple, business-friendly format

• Exported data can be analysed however you prefer

The bottom line

To sum up the value of integrate’s profit prediction capabilities in one sentence: integrate transforms your quoting process from hopeful guesswork into strategic decision-making, giving you the visibility to focus on profitable work before you commit time and resources.

It’s not about turning you into an accountant; it’s about giving you the information required to make better business decisions. Whether you’re adjusting prices, prioritising certain types of work or planning growth strategy, accurate profit projections change everything.

After all, turnover might make headlines – but profit pays the bills. integrate doesn’t only allow you to see where your profit has been, but where it’s coming from next.

If you’d like to see how integrate can transform your profit visibility, visit www.endtoendit.com or to arrange a tailored demonstration, email Gareth O’Brien – gareth@endtoendit.com