Netshine is probably being smarter than me being reserved in giving you advice about development. You can never really know all the complexities of somebody's business to presume to give them really good advice.
How important is this to the business/how much will it change/is it worth spending x to develop the custom system... the list goes on.
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The main important thing i gauged from your response is that if you dont have like a mediumly strong foundation then it is probably more cost efficient to work hours in your own industry and hire somebody to do the work.
As for the specific type of development you will do, as mentioned, you will not be able to perform multiple calculations to the base price without the custom price tutorial shown... you mentioned:
The main product has a base price assigned to it. Then each option has a formula assigned to it (e.g., +2.5, +1, etc.) to adjust the base price. In the example above, "labor only" would be +0 and set to default but "builder-grade" would be +2.5, "mid-grade" would be +5, and high-end would be 7.5. All of these values combine to create a "price per unit", then is multiplied by the quantity (square feet) entered.
So if more than one field is doing 2.5 x base price, then another field doing 1.5 x base price, then unfortunately out of the box nbill does not perform this kind of complex form. Of course you could go completely custom on the form and integrate with nbill some other way, but I would personally consider using nbill in conjunction with javascript to achieve this.
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You are not going to have the neat little backend to adjust your prices, but you will end up with a nice little code area where you can adjust your variables, for instance you could have a bunch of variables at the top of the script.
#### Variables to create the floor tiling script #####
##tilecost###
labor-only=0;
builder-grade=1.5;
mid-grade=5;
high-grade=7.5;
##next variable set###
variable-name=0;
etc... then your javascript function goes below
Function Calculate {
javascript here;
}
Thats a very brief inaccurate demonstration on what your code is going to look like if done by a professional. Once everything is caculated, assuming you can input a manual price through that demo linked then that can be input fine.
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One caveat to consider is that the quotation tool is not automaticlaly going to inherit all the cool javascript function that your form has, especially with consideration to add/remove items. This is going to require a much more lengthy alteration process. So in summary it would be like a few hour job for a programmer to create your form that calculates in the ORDER FORM AREA.
But the way the quotation tool works where you can say yes/no to different items on an invoice is completely incompatible with this. This is because we basically didnt use nbill at all like it is designed to so obviously the quotation tool doesnt understand what is going on. You could again alter the quotation tool, but it is much more lengthy of a job.
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Ultimately, you just need to write up a brief of EXACTLY what it is you want done, and get some quotations on getting it done. If you buy online rather than in person, use an escrow service and only release the funds if the completed job matches your description EXACTLY as you wrote it.
Beware, over my years of writing briefs to freelace mobs like over in India, sometimes I accidentally leave something out in my brief and that means the company isnt obliged to complete that part. So be VERY thorough with your description. Also make sure you pick a reliable person with lots of proven experience.
All the best!
