Video Tutorial:
Overview
The Price Lock feature gives you full control over who can view and edit pricing information in Ply. You decide which team roles Managers, Members, or Technicians can access the Cost of Business, the Cost to Customer, or both.
This helps maintain pricing accuracy, prevent unauthorized edits, and keep sensitive cost data private.
| 💰 Cost of Business | 🧾 Cost to Customer |
What it is | What you paid to acquire the material from your supplier | What you charge your customer for the material |
Purpose | Your internal cost — the number that determines your margin | The sell price shown on invoices and job estimates |
Visibility | Typically private — most companies don't want techs to see what they pay for parts | Often visible to techs — they may need to quote or confirm pricing with customers in the field |
Example | You pay $45.00 for a compressor from Carrier | You charge $125.00 for that same compressor |
The gap between these two numbers is your margin. Keeping Cost of Business private from techs prevents them from calculating or questioning your markup, while still letting them see what customers are being charged.
How It Works
Price Lock settings let you customize pricing permissions per role:
View access: choose who can see the Cost of Business or Cost to Customer
Edit access: choose who can modify these prices
Users without permission will see blank fields or restricted pricing areas wherever those values appear (Catalog, Purchase Orders, Jobs, etc.).
Every combination of visibility and permission is supported for example, managers can see and edit both prices, while technicians only view Cost to Customer.
Example: Manager (Full Access) vs. Technician (Customer Price Only)
Material | 👔 Manager (Full Access) | 🔧 Technician (Customer Price Only) |
AC Filter 16x25x1 | $8.50 (cost) + $18.99 (customer) | 🔒 $18.99 only |
Capacitor 45/5 MFD | $22.00 (cost) + $54.00 (customer) | 🔒 $54.00 only |
Contactor 30A 24V | $14.00 (cost) + $35.00 (customer) | 🔒 $35.00 only |
Visibility | ✅ Cost of Business + ✅ Cost to Customer | 🔒 Cost of Business hidden · ✅ Cost to Customer only |
How to Configure Price Lock
Go to Settings → Procurement & Purchasing → Price Locking Settings
Under each role, select whether users can view or edit:
Cost of Business
Cost to Customer
Click Save Changes to apply your settings
When to Use Price Lock
Use this feature if:
You want to keep business cost information private
You need to prevent technicians or members from editing pricing
You're standardizing pricing permissions across multiple teams or branches
📍 Affected Areas
Price Lock applies everywhere these values appear:
Area | What's Shown |
📚 Catalog | Material detail views and price fields in the catalog |
📦 Purchase Orders | Unit cost fields on PO line items and totals |
🔧 Jobs | Material pricing shown when assigning items to jobs |
📱 Mobile App | Price fields visible to techs in the field |
📊 Reports | Cost and margin data in any reporting views |
📋 RFQs | Pricing visible when reviewing supplier offers |
Notes
Price Lock affects visibility and permissions only — it doesn't change pricing values or history
You can adjust these permissions at any time in Settings → Procurement & Purchasing → Price Locking Settings
The feature applies across all modules where pricing appears
Still need help? Contact Support!