Chargebee CPQ: Streamline Your Quote-to-Revenue Process
What Chargebee CPQ does
Chargebee CPQ (configure, price, quote) is the sales-led quoting module in Chargebee Billing. Your sales team builds a quote from the same product catalog you bill from, routes out-of-policy discounts for approval, sends the quote to the customer to accept, and converts the accepted quote into a subscription or a one-time charge without re-entering the deal. Use it for new deals, mid-term upsells and cross-sells, contract renewals, and one-time fees.
Why use Chargebee CPQ
Without a quoting tool, a deal is usually priced in a spreadsheet, negotiated over email, and then typed into Chargebee by someone in finance. Every handoff is a chance for the price in the contract to drift from the price on the invoice. Chargebee CPQ removes those handoffs:
- The price you quote is the price you bill. Quote totals, prorations, discounts, and taxes are calculated with the same billing logic that generates the invoice, so the subscription or one-time charge matches what the customer accepted.
- Discounts stay within policy without slowing every deal. Approval rules send only the quotes that cross your thresholds, such as a high discount percentage or nonstandard payment terms, to the right approvers. Reps send every other quote to the customer without waiting.
- Customers accept online, and can pay in the same step. An acceptance link or eSignature lets the customer review and accept the quote instead of printing, signing, and emailing it back. With the eSign and Pay acceptance method, they sign and pay in one flow.
- Accepted quotes become billing records without data entry. Converting a quote creates the subscription for a new deal, or updates the existing subscription for an amendment or renewal, and links the subscription to the quote. A one-time charge quote becomes a one-time invoice, or a one-time charge associated with a subscription.
Who uses Chargebee CPQ
| Role | What they do in Chargebee CPQ | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| Admin, RevOps, or Sales Operations | Sets up the quote form, approval rules, and eSignature once for the whole sales team. | Chargebee CPQ Configuration |
| Sales representative or account manager | Creates quotes, submits them for approval, sends them to customers, and converts accepted quotes into subscriptions or one-time charges. | Chargebee CPQ Quote Generation |
| Approver, such as a sales manager or finance manager | Reviews the quotes that match an approval rule, then approves or rejects them. | Manage approval requests |
Choose between Chargebee CPQ and Chargebee CPQ for a CRM
Chargebee CPQ also runs inside Salesforce and HubSpot. Use Chargebee CPQ in Chargebee Billing when your sales team has no CRM, uses more than one CRM, or prefers to quote from Chargebee. If your reps work from Salesforce opportunities or HubSpot deals, use Chargebee CPQ for Salesforce or Chargebee CPQ for HubSpot so they can quote from the CRM record.
Prerequisites for Chargebee CPQ
Before your team creates its first quote, make sure that:
- Chargebee CPQ is enabled on your site. Availability depends on when your account was created; see Chargebee CPQ Configuration for how to enable it on your test and live sites.
- Your site uses the Latest Product Catalog. Chargebee CPQ isn't available on sites that use the Legacy Product Catalog.
- The plans, addons, and charges your team sells exist in your product catalog. Quotes are built from these items.
Key concepts in Chargebee CPQ
- Quote: A priced proposal for one customer. It holds the contract terms, line items, discounts, billing and payment terms, and notes.
- Quote type: What the quote changes. A new business quote creates a subscription, an amendment or renewal quote changes an existing subscription, and a one-time charge quote bills a one-time fee as its own invoice or as a one-time charge on a subscription.
- Contract term: The start and end dates of the agreement. The quote summary uses the term to show the Total Contract Value.
- Ramp: A scheduled change in price, quantity, or discount at a future date within the contract, such as a lower price in the first year.
- Quote form: The fields your reps fill in when they create a quote. Admins choose which fields appear, which are mandatory, and which pricing fields reps can edit.
- Approval rule: A set of conditions, such as a discount percentage or payment terms, that sends a quote to named approvers before a rep can send it to the customer.
- Acceptance link: A link the customer opens to review and accept the quote, and pay when your acceptance method includes payment.
Chargebee CPQ quote statuses
A quote's status shows where the deal stands. A typical quote moves from Open to Proposed to Accepted to Invoiced. Sending the quote does not change its status. The quote stays Proposed when you send it to the customer, and changes to Accepted when the customer completes the eSignature. A quote that matches an approval rule moves to Pending Approval when the rep submits it, and returns to Open after it's approved. Reps can also change the status from the status menu on the quote details page, for example to select Accepted after the customer confirms by email, or to void it with Mark as Void.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Open | The quote is created, or approved, and hasn't been sent to the customer. On the quote details page, this status appears as Ready for Proposal. |
| Pending Approval | The quote is waiting for approvers. Editing the quote in this status cancels the approval request. |
| Approval Rejected | An approver rejected the quote, usually with comments. The rep revises the quote and submits it again. |
| Proposed | The quote is ready for the customer. Sending the quote leaves this status unchanged until the customer responds. |
| Accepted | The customer completed the eSignature, which sets this status. A rep can also select Accepted from the status menu when the customer confirms another way, such as by email. The quote is ready to convert into a subscription, a one-time invoice, or a one-time charge on a subscription. |
| Declined | The customer rejected the quote or chose not to proceed. |
| Invoiced | The accepted quote is converted in Chargebee. A new business quote creates a subscription, and an amendment or renewal quote updates the existing subscription. A one-time charge quote creates a one-time invoice, or associates the charge with a subscription as a one-time charge. |
| Voided | The quote is invalidated and can no longer be acted on. |
| Expired | The quote passed its expiry date without being accepted. |
Set up and use Chargebee CPQ
An admin completes the setup once. Sales reps then repeat the quoting steps for every deal.
Set up Chargebee CPQ for your sales team
- Design the quote form. Use the Quote Form Builder to choose which fields reps see, which fields are mandatory, and which pricing fields reps can edit.
- Create approval rules (optional). Set up approval rules if some quotes, such as heavily discounted ones, need sign-off before they reach the customer. Without approval rules, reps send quotes directly.
- Set up eSignature (optional). Turn on eSignature if you want customers to sign the quote, and optionally pay, in one flow.
Quote a deal with Chargebee CPQ
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Create the quote. Choose the quote type that matches the deal:
Quote type Use it when Example New business You're selling a new subscription to a new or existing customer. A first annual contract. Amendment You're changing an active subscription before its contract ends. Adding seats or an addon mid-term. Renewal You're proposing the next contract term for an existing subscription. A price increase for the second year. One-time charge You're billing a one-time fee as its own invoice, or as a one-time charge on a subscription. An implementation or onboarding fee. -
Submit the quote for approval, if required. When a quote matches an approval rule, submit it for approval before you send it.
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Send the quote to the customer. Share the quote through an acceptance link, PandaDoc, Chargebee email, or a PDF. Sending leaves the status as Proposed. When eSignature is turned on, the status changes to Accepted after the customer signs.
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Convert the accepted quote. Convert the quote to create the subscription, update the existing one for an amendment or renewal, or create a one-time invoice. A one-time charge can also be associated with a subscription, and it stays a one-time charge.