Soft Costs Library
The Soft Costs Library in Jigawatt Fusion is a powerful tool for managing overhead, commissions, fees, and other indirect costs that affect your solar project profitability. By creating reusable soft cost templates, you can quickly apply consistent overhead structures to every quote while maintaining visibility into your true net income.
What Are Soft Costs?
Soft costs are indirect expenses that don't physically go into the solar installation but are necessary for running your business. Unlike project costs (panels, inverters, labor), soft costs reduce your gross margin to reveal your actual take-home profit. Common examples are commissions, administrative and overhead fees.
The Soft Costs Library
The Soft Costs Library is a company-wide repository of reusable soft cost templates. Think of it as your overhead "catalog" – you create items once, then quickly add them to any quote.
Key Benefits
- Consistency: Apply the same overhead structure across all quotes
- Speed: No need to manually enter commission rates for every quote
- Accuracy: Reduce errors from manual entry
- Team Coordination: Share soft costs across your entire company
- Profitability Tracking: See true net income, not just gross margin
Accessing the Library
Navigate to: Company Settings > Soft Costs (or /manage/soft-costs)
You'll see a searchable list of all soft cost templates created for your company.
Creating Soft Cost Library Items
Soft Cost Pricing Methods
Each soft cost supports one of four pricing methods. Choose the method that best fits how your business calculates that particular cost.
Method 1: Total ($)
What it is: A fixed dollar amount regardless of system size or quote value.
When to use:
- Fixed fees (permit fees, inspection costs)
- Flat-rate services (design packages)
- One-time administrative costs
How it calculates:
Cost = Fixed Amount
Example:
Permit Fee: $500 total
→ Adds exactly $500 to every quote
Method 2: Per Watt ($)
What it is: A rate per watt that scales with system size.
When to use:
- Costs that scale linearly with system size
- Municipal fees charged per kW
- Overhead allocated per watt
How it calculates:
Cost = Rate × System Size (in watts)
Example:
Inspection Fee: $0.25 per watt
10 kW system = 10,000 watts
→ $0.25 × 10,000 = $2,500
Method 3: % of Gross Margin
What it is: A percentage of the project's gross profit (Sales Price - Project Costs).
When to use:
- Sales commissions based on profit
- Performance-based bonuses
- Profit-sharing allocations
How it calculates:
Gross Margin = Sales Price - Project Costs
Cost = Percentage × Gross Margin
Example:
Sales Commission: 5% of gross margin
Quote Details:
- Sales Price: $50,000
- Project Costs: $30,000
- Gross Margin: $20,000
→ 5% × $20,000 = $1,000 commission
Important: This method creates a dependency – if gross margin changes (because you adjusted pricing or costs), the soft cost automatically recalculates.
Method 4: % of Sales Price
What it is: A percentage of the total customer-facing sales price.
When to use:
- Overhead allocation based on revenue
- Taxes or fees calculated as % of contract value
- Company overhead percentages
How it calculates:
Cost = Percentage × Sales Price
Example:
Company Overhead: 8% of sales price
Quote Details:
- Sales Price: $50,000
→ 8% × $50,000 = $4,000 overhead
Important: This recalculates if you change the sales price, even if project costs stay the same.
User Attribution
When creating or editing a soft cost, you can optionally assign it to a team member:
Why attribute soft costs?
- Track person-specific commissions
- Monitor individual overhead contributions
- Generate reports by team member
- Keep sales rep costs separate from designer costs
How attribution works:
- Click in the "Attribute to User" field
- Start typing a team member's name
- Select from the autocomplete dropdown
- Save the soft cost
Display:
- In the library: Shows user name under the soft cost name
- In quotes: Shows user name when soft cost is applied
- Optional: Leave blank for company-wide costs
Example:
Sales Commission (John Smith)
5% of gross margin
Adding Soft Costs to Quotes
Once you've built your library, adding soft costs to individual quotes is fast and easy.
The Process
- Open a quote and click to edit itemization
- Navigate to the Soft Costs section (below project costs)
- Click "Soft Costs Library" button (within a soft cost group)
- Search and select the soft costs you want to apply
- Click "Insert Soft Cost(s)"
Soft Cost Picker Modal
When you click "Soft Costs Library", a modal window opens showing all available soft cost items. Choose one (or many), and click add. Boom, easy!
Custom Soft Costs (Quote-Specific)
You can also create custom soft costs directly in a quote without adding them to the library:
- Click "Custom Soft Cost" button in the quote
- Enter name, method, and rate
- This soft cost exists only in this quote
- Won't appear in the library
- Useful for one-off costs unique to a specific project
