Setting Up Your Price Book

system · March 3, 2026, 3:48am

A well-organized price book ensures consistent pricing across your team and speeds up job creation, estimates, and invoicing. Exoserva lets you define services with standardized prices, durations, and descriptions that your team can select when creating jobs and invoices. This guide shows you how to build and manage your price book.

Estimated time: 8 minutes

Before You Begin

An active Exoserva account with Owner or Manager role
Understanding of your service offerings and pricing structure

Step 1: Navigate to the Price Book

Click “Price Book” in the sidebar under Financials. The page loads the Price Book view with a sticky header bar showing a dollar icon, the page title, and inline stats badges displaying the total number of services, average margin percentage (color-coded green for healthy, amber for moderate, red for low), and a count of AI-ready items with a sparkles icon.

If you are just starting and have no services yet, the page shows an empty state with a clipboard icon and a prompt reading “No services found” along with buttons to “Download Template” and “Import CSV” to help you bulk-load your price book. Below the header, industry filter buttons let you narrow the view by trade (e.g. HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical), each showing a service count and a color-coded margin indicator dot.

Tip: If you already have pricing data in a spreadsheet, use the “Template” button in the header to download a pre-formatted CSV template. Fill it in with your services and use the “Import” button to upload it. This is the fastest way to populate your price book with dozens or hundreds of services at once.

Step 2: Browse Service Categories

Services are organized into collapsible industry sections (e.g. HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, General Maintenance). Click any industry header to expand or collapse it. Each header shows an icon, the industry name, a badge with the total service count, and summary statistics including average price, average margin (color-coded: green for 40%+, amber for 20-39%, orange for 1-19%, red for 0%), and an active/total ratio.

Inside each industry section, services are displayed in a table with columns: Service (name and description), Price (formatted in your currency), Margin (shown as a percentage with a colored progress bar), Duration (estimated time in hours and minutes), Features (icons for AI-ready, online booking, taxable), and Actions (edit and delete buttons). Click any row to open the service editor.

Tip: Set up industries that match your business specialties. Good industry organization makes the price book much faster to use during customer calls. Use the industry filter buttons in the header to quickly switch between trades when you need to find a specific service.

Warning: Services with a 0% margin are highlighted in red. Review these items to ensure your pricing covers costs. A healthy service business typically targets 40% or higher gross margin on labor-inclusive services.

Step 3: Add a New Service

Click the “Add Service” button (plus icon) in the top-right corner of the header bar. A full-screen editor modal opens with tabs for different configuration areas. Fill in the following fields in the main service form:

Name (text, required) – the service name displayed on invoices and job forms
Description (textarea) – explains what is included so customers and technicians have clear expectations
Industry (dropdown) – assigns the service to an industry category
Item Type (dropdown: Service, Equipment, Material) – determines how the item appears in job creation
Price (currency) – the customer-facing price in cents
Cost (currency) – your internal cost for margin calculations
Unit of Measure (dropdown: Each, Hour, Linear Foot, Square Foot, etc.) – how the service is billed
Taxable (toggle) – whether sales tax applies to this service
Active (toggle) – whether the service appears in job creation and invoicing dropdowns

Tip: Add a detailed description for every service. When technicians select a service from the price book during job creation, the description helps them confirm they are choosing the right service and sets clear customer expectations.

Warning: The service name is what appears on customer invoices. Use professional, customer-friendly names rather than internal codes. For example, use “AC System Tune-Up” instead of “HVAC-TU-001”.

Step 4: Configure Service Pricing

In the service editor, the pricing section lets you configure detailed cost and revenue breakdowns. The editor shows a real-time Totals panel at the bottom that automatically calculates your Labor Cost, Labor Price, Materials Cost, Materials Price, Total Cost, Total Price, Markup %, and Gross Margin % as you make changes.

Use the Labor Rates section to add labor line items. Click “Add Labor Rate” to create a new entry with fields: Name (text, e.g. “Standard Labor Rate”), Hours (number), Hourly Cost (currency), and Hourly Price (currency). You can add multiple labor rates for services requiring different skill levels or overtime rates.

Use the Materials section to add parts and supplies. Click “Add Material” to create an entry with fields: Name (text), SKU (text, optional), Quantity (number), Unit Cost (currency), Unit Price (currency), Unit of Measure (dropdown), Optional (toggle for optional add-ons), and Taxable (toggle). Each material row shows the extended cost and price automatically.

Tip: Consider creating both “standard” and “after-hours” versions of popular services to handle different pricing tiers without manual adjustments. Set different hourly rates in the labor section to reflect overtime or weekend premiums.

Warning: When the Margin column shows red or orange, your pricing may not cover costs adequately. Target a minimum 40% gross margin on service calls. The real-time Totals panel updates as you type, so keep an eye on the Gross Margin % while configuring prices.

Step 5: Configure Duration and Booking Settings

Scroll down in the service editor to find the duration and booking configuration fields:

Min Duration (minutes) – the shortest expected time for this service
Avg Duration (minutes) – the typical completion time, used for scheduling estimates
Max Duration (minutes) – the longest expected time for complex situations
Min Technicians (number, default 1) – how many technicians are required
Requires Two Techs (toggle) – flag services needing a two-person crew
Two Tech Reason (text) – explains why two technicians are needed (e.g. “Heavy equipment lift”)
Online Booking Enabled (toggle) – makes this service available for customer self-scheduling
Book As Type (dropdown: Job, Estimate) – determines whether online bookings create a job or estimate

Tip: Setting accurate duration estimates is critical for scheduling. The Avg Duration value is used by the schedule board and dispatch AI to calculate time blocks and prevent double-booking. Review actual job completion times after a few weeks and adjust your estimates accordingly.

Warning: Enabling “Online Booking” makes the service visible on your public booking page. Ensure the price and description are customer-appropriate before toggling this on. Services with very high minimum hours or requiring site visits should typically not be bookable online.

Step 6: Add AI Notes and Warranty Information

In the service editor, two additional configuration areas help with AI-powered features and service guarantees:

Notes for AI (textarea) – provide context that Exoserva’s AI agents use when discussing this service with customers in chat or on the phone. Include selling points, common questions, and upsell suggestions. Services with AI notes display a sparkles icon badge in the price book table.
Internal Notes (textarea) – private notes visible only to your team, useful for technician instructions or special procedures
Warranty Months (number) – the warranty duration for the service
Warranty Description (text) – details of what the warranty covers
Manufacturer (text) – the equipment manufacturer, if applicable
Model Number (text) – specific model reference for parts and equipment
Image (file upload, max 2MB) – a photo of the service or equipment for visual reference

Tip: AI Notes directly improve your AI sales agent’s ability to recommend and explain services to customers. The more detail you provide here – common customer questions, comparison to competitors, seasonal relevance – the more effectively the AI represents your business. The header badge shows how many of your services are “AI-ready.”

Warning: Deleting a service from the price book does not affect existing invoices or completed jobs that used it, but it prevents the service from being selected on future jobs and invoices. Consider setting a service to inactive (toggle off “Active”) instead of deleting it to preserve it for historical reference.

Step 7: Search and Filter Services

Use the search bar in the top-right area of the header (with a magnifying glass icon) to quickly find any service by name or description. As you type, the list filters in real time. Click the X icon inside the search field to clear it.

Use the industry filter buttons below the header to narrow the view to a specific trade. Each button shows the industry icon, name, service count, and a color-coded margin indicator dot. Click “All” to reset the filter. A “Show archived” checkbox below the filters lets you toggle visibility of inactive services that have been archived.

The price book also includes enterprise tabs for advanced features: Bundles (group services together), Tiers (volume pricing), Good-Better-Best (tiered service options), Vendors (supplier management), Price Lists (custom pricing for service agreement customers), Pricing Rules (automated adjustments), and Approvals (discount authorization workflows).

Tip: Regularly review your price book to update prices, remove discontinued services, and add new offerings. Use the “Export” button in the header to download your entire price book as a CSV file for offline review or backup. An up-to-date price book prevents pricing errors and ensures your team always quotes current rates.

What’s Next?

Now that you’ve completed this guide, check out:

Need help? Post in the Tech Support category or contact support@exoserva.com.