Quoting in Multiple Currencies From One 3D Quoting Tool
By Facundo Campo, 3D quoting tool developer
In short: A quoting tool can calculate the price in one base currency and display it in another using an exchange rate the manufacturer sets, with a clear expiry date. The same configuration can then be quoted in dollars, pesos or the buyer's local currency without rebuilding the quote.
Quoting in multiple currencies from one tool works when the price is calculated in a base currency and converted with an exchange rate the manufacturer sets, not whatever rate each sales rep happens to look up that day. The same approach lets you quote in another country's currency: the configuration stays the same, only the way the price is expressed changes.
Why so many manufacturers quote in two currencies
I work from Argentina, where this is everyday life. A steel fabricator or a prefab home builder thinks about a lot of its inputs in US dollars: steel, sheeting, some profiles, certain equipment. But the buyer often pays in Argentine pesos. So the quote lives in two currencies at once, even if the paper only shows one.
Manufacturers handle that in very different ways:
- Quote in dollars and let the customer convert.
- Quote in pesos at an exchange rate the rep picks.
- Quote in pesos with a short validity and an adjustment clause.
- Split it: materials in dollars, labor and delivery in pesos.
None is better in the abstract; it depends on how the company buys and how it prefers to sell. The trouble starts when every rep does it differently, or when the spreadsheet carries an exchange rate from three weeks ago that nobody updated.
The same problem shows up elsewhere. A Canadian builder pricing steel bought in US dollars, a European manufacturer selling outside the eurozone, a US company quoting a buyer in Mexico. Different currencies, same headache.
How a quoting tool handles it
The core idea is to separate two things a spreadsheet mixes together: how the price is calculated and how it's displayed.
- The price is calculated from the manufacturer's price table, in the currency the company thinks about its costs in.
- The manufacturer enters a reference exchange rate, updates it whenever it wants, and every rep uses the same one.
- The quote is shown in the right currency: dollars, pesos, euros or both, with the applied rate visible.
- The quote has an expiry date: how long that number holds.
If you want, some parts of the price can stay in one currency and others in another, like materials in dollars and installation in local currency. It's just another rule, set up for each manufacturer.
This sits on the same foundation as a price table the factory manages itself: values live in one place, the right person changes them, and every quote goes out with the current version.
Expiry dates matter as much as currency
When prices move a lot, the number on the quote matters as much as the date it's good until. A quote for a 66 × 130 ft building sent a month ago that the customer accepts today can be good news or a problem, depending on how much everything moved in between.
With a quoting tool, validity is set once (say, a short window for local-currency quotes and a longer one for dollar quotes) and it prints on every quote. When the customer comes back, the rep sees whether the quote is still valid or needs recalculating, and recalculating takes one click because the configuration is saved. More on that in following up on quotes.
Quoting in each country's currency
The same logic works for a manufacturer that sells abroad. A modular home builder shipping units to a neighboring country, or a steel fabricator quoting buildings for another market, needs the buyer to see a price in a currency they understand.
The quoting tool can be in the buyer's language, with their currency and their units. The Estructuras 3D site and configurators are already in English and Spanish; the currency and language of each quoting tool are set as part of the custom build for each manufacturer.
There's one thing the quoting tool doesn't decide: each country's taxes, duties and conditions. You work those out with your accountant or customs broker, and the tool applies what you tell it. If this is your situation, I go deeper in exporting with a 3D configurator and the multilingual 3D configurator article.
What the customer sees and what the rep sees
At EQUIBOX, a horse stall manufacturer in Berazategui, Buenos Aires, where I built the quoting tool and the sales dashboard, prices only appear when a rep is logged in. The customer builds their barn in 3D on the website and asks for a quote; the rep then works out the price from the dashboard, with delivery, payment plans and installments.
That split helps when there are two currencies: the rep can choose how to present the quote for each customer, and the public tool doesn't have to show a price that keeps changing. If you'd rather show a ballpark price on your website, that works too, in the right currency and with a note on how long it's valid.
What to decide before you start
For the quoting tool to handle currencies well, it helps to answer a few questions:
- What currency do you think about your costs in? All of them, or just some?
- Who updates the exchange rate, and how often?
- How long is a quote valid in each currency?
- Does the customer pick the currency, or the rep?
- Do you sell abroad? To which countries, and in what currency?
You don't need all of it figured out. Most answers come out of the first conversation, and some get adjusted with use.
I'm Facundo Campo, a software developer in Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and I build 3D quoting tools for manufacturers that sell to order, at home and abroad. I work remotely on Argentina time (UTC−3), which overlaps with most of the US workday and with the European afternoon. If you want a quoting tool that handles two currencies without relying on each rep's spreadsheet, message me on WhatsApp at +54 9 11 6193-3176 or email facundocampo100@gmail.com. I answer in English and Spanish. Or read about custom 3D quoting software.
Frequently asked questions
Does the quoting tool pull the exchange rate automatically?
It can be built that way, but many manufacturers prefer to enter it by hand, because the rate they quote with isn't always a published one. What matters is having one value that every rep uses.
Can I quote materials in dollars and labor in local currency?
Yes. Each part of the price can have its own currency, and the quote shows the total however you prefer: split out, converted or both.
Can the tool show prices in another country's currency?
Yes, as part of the custom build. You set the currency, language and units for each market. Taxes and local conditions are defined by you with a local professional.
What happens to an expired quote?
The rep sees it flagged as expired and recalculates it with current values. The configuration is saved, so nothing has to be rebuilt.
