Supplier Catalogs and Price Lists as Files for Estimators
“Prices in files” lets a supplier publish a document in BEEMESTA as is, without splitting it into lines: a catalog, price list, specification or certificate. The file is linked to resource classes, so an estimator finds it right from the estimate and can send the supplier a “Price request”.
What documents can be published, and in which formats?
On the “Prices in files” tab, the supplier clicks “Upload file” and goes through three steps: “File and description”, “Resource classes”, “Visibility”. The document type — “Catalog”, “Price list”, “Technical description” (specifications, installation conditions, instructions) or “Certificate” — tells the estimator what’s inside. PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX and CSV files up to 25 MB are accepted; the file is stored without being split into lines.
An uploaded file can’t be replaced — only its name, type, classes and visibility can be changed, and the same document can’t be uploaded twice. A certificate has a validity period: once it ends, the file is marked as expired.
Linking a file to resource classes
Each file is linked to the resource classes the company has declared on the “Resource Classes” tab. The class is how an estimator finds the document: the file appears under the classes it’s assigned to. Without classes, a file can only be a “Draft” — only the supplier can see it, and it doesn’t appear in estimators’ searches.
“Public” visibility opens the file to estimators under its assigned classes. Classes your files belong to but that you haven’t declared yet are suggested by BEEMESTA on the “Resource Classes” tab — it’s worth reviewing and confirming them.
How an estimator opens a file and sends a “Price request”
An estimator comes across the file right from the estimate: in the “Select Alternative Resource” dialog, next to resources with prices, there is a “Prices in files” tab. Each file there offers “Request price”, if the supplier has allowed requests for that class, or “View”. PDFs open on screen; other formats are downloaded.
The request names the class, the project and the ask — to add the needed item to a price list; no quantity is required. The reply arrives by email: the supplier responds with resources from a public price list, and that price list is immediately assigned to the estimator’s company. The supplier sees unanswered requests as a counter on the “Prices in files” tab.
Do prices from a file go into the estimate?
No. Prices from a file never enter formulas automatically: a person reads the document, and the estimate is calculated only from price list prices. A file is a source of information and a reason to send a request, not a price on an estimate line.
For items to be costed, the supplier adds them to a price list — item by item, by Excel import, or through parsing, where AI breaks the price list down into items that the supplier reviews and approves. A file can be deleted only while it has no requests, or once it has expired.