How to Stay Within Quoted Pricing on Long-Term Projects

When you start a large HVAC or mechanical project, your supplier quote is your anchor. It defines your cost structure, your margin, and your confidence in the bid you just won.

But nine months later — after dozens of change orders, catalog updates, and PO revisions — that original quoted pricing doesn’t always match what you’re billed.

And it’s not because anyone’s being dishonest. It’s because supplier systems are complex, constantly changing, and rarely aligned.

Where the Drift Begins

Supplier catalogs are living databases. Prices adjust for materials like copper, steel, and refrigerant components. Even small updates — a fractional markup or a new part number — can shift a project’s baseline.

On a long-term commercial HVAC installation, for example, one quote might list coils at $1,075 each. Six months later, the invoice shows $1,105.

It’s not enough to trigger suspicion… but enough to chip away at margin. Multiply that across hundreds of parts and multiple phases, and a project that started tight ends with quiet cost creep.

Why “Quoted vs. Billed” Discrepancies Happen

Most suppliers operate with several internal systems:

• A quoting engine for bids and project estimates

• An ERP or billing platform for invoices

• A product database that updates pricing continuously

When those systems don’t sync perfectly — even by a few days — invoices can reflect updated list prices instead of the quoted project rates.

And because most contractors focus on completing the job, not auditing line items, the issue slips through unnoticed.

The Real Cost of Invisible Overruns

Let’s say a mechanical contractor buys $1.2M in materials across a long project. If quiet billing drift averages just 2%, that’s $24,000 gone — unnoticed, unbudgeted, unrecoverable.

That’s not supplier fraud. That’s system friction.

How to Protect Your Quoted Pricing

1. Centralize Your Quotes and Invoices Keep all supplier quotes, POs, and invoices in a single digital repository. This allows you to compare line items, not just totals.

2. Audit by Line, Not by Invoice Don’t just verify the grand total. Check each part number, description, and price extension against the quoted document.

3. Automate the Process Manual checks don’t scale — and they eat time your team doesn’t have. That’s why 3rd Armor exists. Our platform automatically compares supplier invoices to your quoted or special pricing, identifies mismatches, and provides visibility before payment is made.

4. Turn Visibility into Leverage When you can see exactly where price drift occurs, conversations with suppliers stay professional, factual, and fast. It’s not about blame — it’s about alignment.

Visibility Creates Control

Control doesn’t come from checking everything manually. It comes from knowing your data is clean, your invoices are accurate, and your pricing integrity is protected.

That’s what “Visibility > Chaos” means — replacing uncertainty with proof.

Because every contractor deserves to finish a job as strong as they started it.

👉 See How Much You Could Save https://www.3rd-armor.com/get-started

---