How to Use Archive Reasons

Overview

If you set up archive reasons, when you archive a lead, quote or job in Simpro Premium, you are prompted to select the reason why. By creating standard archive reasons to select from, such as 'Lost to competitor' or 'Response time too slow', you can easily create reports on archived leads, quotes or jobs to analyse why your company might not be following through with certain opportunities.

In order to view content or perform actions referred to in this article you need to have the appropriate permissions enabled in your security group. Go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > Security Groups and access your security group to update your permissions. The relevant security group tab and specific permissions for this article can be found here:

Archive Reasons

A screenshot of an archive reason being created.

To create an archive reason:

  1. Go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > System Setup.
  2. Hover over Archive Reasons, and click the option you wish to create an archive reason for (Leads, Quotes or Jobs).
  3. Click Create Archive Reason.
  4. Enter a Name.
  5. Click Create.

To edit an archive reason:

  1. Go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > System Setup > Archive Reasons > Leads / Quotes / Jobs.
  2. Click the archive reason you wish to edit.
  3. Change the Name as required.
  4. Click Save.

Use the drag handles to reposition archive reasons. You may wish to place frequently used reasons at the top of the list so they appear first when archiving.

To delete an archive reason:

  1. Go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > System Setup > Archive Reasons > Leads / Quotes / Jobs.
  2. Click the A delete icon with a red circle and a white minus symbol. icon on the archive reason you wish to delete.
  3. Click OK.

To delete multiple archive reasons at once:

  1. Go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > System Setup > Archive Reasons > Leads / Quotes / Jobs.
  2. Select the archive reasons you want to delete, or click Select All.
  3. Click Delete.
  4. Click OK.

Deleting an archive reason does not remove it from the record of archived projects it was selected for.

You can choose to automatically archive quotes and jobs after a set period of inactivity

To set up automatic archiving:

  1. Go to System A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Setup > System Setup > Archive Reasons > Quotes / Jobs.
  2. Under Automatically Archive Expired Quotes / Invoiced Jobs: select After.
  3. Enter the number of days, and quotes / jobs will be archived after they have no activity for the set number of days.
  4. Under Set Reasons select the default archive reason to be applied.
  5. Click Save.

You are prompted to select an archive reason when archiving a project.

A screenshot of the Reason drop-down when archiving.

To select an archive reason when archiving:

  1. Go to Leads A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow., Quotes A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. or Jobs A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Open Leads / Quotes / Jobs.
  2. On the lead, quote or job you wish to archive, click Options > Archive Lead / Quote / Job.
  3. Select a Reason from the drop-down list.
  4. Click Archive.

Learn more in How to Close a Lead, How to View Quotes and How to Manage Existing Jobs.

View a closed project's archive reason

If you wish to know why an individual quote or job was archived, you can view its archive reason in its log.

A screenshot of an archive reason in a quote log.

To view a closed project's archive reason:

  1. Go to Quotes A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Closed / Archived or Jobs A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Archived.
  2. Click the quote or job.
  3. Go to Details > Logs.
  4. In the Message column, look for 'Archived'. The reason is written in the same line, such as 'Archived Quote - Lost to Competitor'.

Create a report on archive reasons

Report on archived reasons for leads and quotes in Simpro Premium. Select Archived Reasons when creating a Lead / Quote Activity report for a better understanding of why opportunities were not converted to jobs. Create this report through Reports A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > View Reports > Leads / Quotes > Activity.

To report on archived reasons for jobs, you can create a custom report in BI Reporting using the jobs table and a variety of filters and groupings for archived reasons. Learn more in How to Use BI Reporting.

Need additional help?

Try Walk Me Through, our step-by-step guidance tool, to set up archive reasons.

In Simpro Premium, go to Help A screenshot of a schedule icon with a grey calendar icon and an arrow. > Walk Me Through and search Archive Reasons.

Learn more in How to Use Walk Me Through in Simpro Premium.