Managing Price Book Effective Dates

Overview

Each Price Book has two optional date fields: Effective Start Date and Effective End Date. When set, these dates determine the window during which the Price Book can be applied to quotes, either manually or through quote rules.

A Price Book is considered effective (active) when the current date falls within its effective date range. Price Books without effective dates set are always considered effective.

How Effective Dates Work

Effective dates are evaluated in two places: Quote Rules and the Quote Builder.

Quote Rules

When a “Set Price Book” quote rule runs, it checks whether the designated Price Book is currently within its effective date range. If the Price Book is not effective, the rule is skipped and the next matching rule (by priority) is evaluated instead.

This enables a common pattern for promotional pricing:

1. Create a higher-priority quote rule that sets your promotional Price Book, with effective dates covering the promotion period.
2. Create a lower-priority quote rule that sets your standard Price Book (with no effective dates).
3. Outside the promotion window, the promotional rule is skipped and the standard Price Book is used. During the promotion, the promotional Price Book takes priority.

Quote Builder

When users browse or select Price Books in the quote builder (product library and Price Book sidebar), only currently effective Price Books are shown. Expired or not-yet-active Price Books are automatically filtered out, preventing users from accidentally applying an out-of-date price book.

Setting Effective Dates on a Price Book

To configure effective dates:

1. Navigate to Price Books in Quotivity.
2. Open an existing Price Book or create a new one.
3. In the Price Book form, set the Effective Start Date and/or Effective End Date fields.
4. Save the Price Book.

Both fields are optional. You can set just a start date (effective from that date onward), just an end date (effective until that date), or both (effective only during that window). If neither is set, the Price Book is always effective.

Effective Date Combinations

Example: Seasonal Promotion

A manufacturer wants to offer 15% off all products during a summer promotion running from June 1 through August 31. Here’s how to set this up:

• Create a “Summer 2026 Promo” price book with discounted pricing. Set the Effective Start Date to June 1, 2026 and the Effective End Date to August 31, 2026.
• Create a “Set Price Book” quote rule at priority 1 that assigns the Summer 2026 Promo price book.
• Create a “Set Price Book” quote rule at priority 2 that assigns your standard price book (no effective dates).

Before June 1, the promotional price book is not yet effective, so the priority 1 rule is skipped and quotes use the standard price book. Between June 1 and August 31, the promotional price book is effective and takes priority. After August 31, it expires and quotes revert to the standard price book automatically.

Validation

When setting effective dates, the end date must be after the start date. Quotivity validates this in real time and displays an error if the dates are invalid. You will not be able to save a price book with an end date that precedes its start date.

Tips

• You can prepare promotional price books in advance by setting future effective dates. They won’t be applied until the start date arrives.
• Quote rule priority determines which price book wins when multiple rules match. Use higher priority for time-limited promotions and lower priority for standard/fallback pricing.
• Expired price books are hidden from the quote builder but remain in your price book list for reference. They can be reactivated by updating their effective dates.
• If you need a price book available indefinitely, simply leave both date fields empty.

Availability

Price book effective dates are available on the Enterprise plan.