Certified quote
A certified quote is a quote priced from your approved pricing rules. Every number comes from rules you loaded, not estimates or guesses. In custom-product quoting, a certified quote means the buyer can rely on the price because it came from your book.
What makes a quote certified
In configure-to-order manufacturing (furniture, cabinetry, textiles, signage, industrial equipment) buyers configure options like finish, size, grade and hardware. A certified quote means the price came from your approved rules for that exact configuration.
A quote is certified when every component, option, finish, size and surcharge is priced from a rule you loaded into the system. The buyer sees a number you can fulfill at the price shown. No room for error, no manual rebuilds, no “we will confirm that later.”
When a requested configuration falls outside your rule book (a size you have not priced, a finish you have not added) the system returns price on request instead of guessing. Certified pricing only applies to combinations you approved, so the buyer never holds a number you cannot fulfill.
Certified quote vs other pricing methods
Certified quote
Priced from your approved rules. The buyer receives a number that came from your book. If the configuration is outside your rules, the system returns price on request. No guesses, no rebuilds.
Price on request
Returned when a configuration has no approved pricing rule. The buyer sees the configuration they selected and knows the price will come from your team. Honest signal that this combination needs a conversation.
Spreadsheet-based quote
Built in Excel after buyer inquiry. Sales rep finds the base price, adds finish upcharge, calculates COM grade, applies quantity breaks, and emails the result. One typo or missed cell changes the number.
Trust and fulfillment in custom products
Certified pricing means the buyer can show the quote to their client, order from it, and expect delivery at that number. For the maker, it means no surprises in the shop and no money lost to a quoting error. It also means no call that starts with “we need to adjust that price.”
Buyer confidence
The buyer knows the price came from your book, not an estimate. They can commit to their client without waiting for confirmation.
Fulfillment certainty
Your production and procurement teams can build to the quoted price. No hidden costs discovered during fulfillment.
No quoting too low
Certified rules close the “quote it now, catch it later” trap. The price shown is the price you can deliver.
Audit trail
Every certified quote ties back to a specific rule. You can see which pricing logic generated the number and update it if market conditions change.
How certified quoting works
Poly9 AI loads your pricing rules: base prices, finish matrices, COM/grade pricing, quantity breaks, FOB zones, surcharges. When a buyer or sales rep configures a product, the AI applies the rules that match the selected options and returns the certified price.
If the buyer asks for a configuration your rules do not cover, the system returns price on request instead of guessing. You see the request in your dashboard. Add the rule if it is repeatable, or quote it manually if it is one-off.
Every quote links back to the rules that generated it. When you update a rule, future quotes reflect the new pricing. Past quotes remain unchanged so the buyer number stays valid.
Terms a certified quote depends on
Cost recipe
The rule that builds a price from parts, labor, finish and options. Cost recipes are what certifies a made-to-order price.
Grade matrix
The table mapping fabric or finish grades to price bands. A certified quote for a graded product reads its number from this table.
COM
Customer’s Own Material: the buyer supplies the fabric. Certified only when your grade matrix covers the grade they picked.
Configure-to-order
Products built from predefined options to a buyer spec. Certified quoting is what makes configure-to-order sellable in a conversation.
Questions about certified quotes
How is a certified quote different from an estimate?
What happens when the buyer asks for something outside my rules?
Can I update a certified pricing rule after quotes go out?
Does certified pricing work for COM, grade matrices and quantity breaks?
Why not just estimate the price if the rule is missing?
Quote from your certified rules
Poly9 AI configures products, applies your approved pricing rules, and returns certified quotes. When a rule is missing, it returns price on request, never a guess. See how manufacturers use it, or start your free account with 250 sales actions.