Margin before the freight bill
The excavator was priced on its ex-works cost. Freight, duty and clearing arrived later, and the margin everyone celebrated was half that.
Heavy Equipment
A machine sold once, supported for ten years.
A heavy equipment dealer sells few units, at high value, after a long negotiation, and then supplies parts for that machine for a decade. OrbitWix keeps each machine by its serial, lands it at its full imported cost, takes deposits against the order, and keeps the customer’s fleet on record so the parts conversation starts from the right model.
The problem
Where a high-value sale leaks.
Every machine is a large number. A small error on it is still a large number.
Deposits in a spreadsheet
A customer paid 30% six weeks ago. Nobody at the counter can see it against the order, so they ask for it again.
Who owns which machine?
The customer calls for a filter. Which model is it, which year, which serial? The answer is in an old invoice somewhere.
Parts held for models nobody runs
Spares are bought by habit, not by the fleet in the field, so the shelf holds parts for machines retired years ago.
Typical workflow
How a machine sale runs.
Months from first quotation to handover. The order holds the machine, the money and the cost the whole way through.
A machine sale moves through six stages: quotation, order confirmed with a deposit, the machine imported and landed at full cost, reserved by serial, delivered and handed over, and the balance invoiced.
-
01 Quotation
SO-2026-0571
Sent
-
02 Order
SO-2026-0571
30% deposit
-
03 Import
SO-2026-0571
Landed
-
04 Machine
SO-2026-0571
Serial reserved
-
05 Handover
SO-2026-0571
Delivered
-
06 Balance
SO-2026-0571
Paid
The solution
What OrbitWix puts in place.
Six parts for a business that sells few machines and supports many.
Machines by serial
Each machine received with its serial, so stock is a list of named units with their specification and year.
Landed at full cost
Freight, duty and clearing added to the machine as they arrive, so its cost is the real one before it is priced.
Deposits against the order
Advances recorded against the sales order and set off against the final invoice, visible to anyone who opens it.
Long quotations
Quotations with options, validity dates and revisions, kept as one history from the first price to the signed order.
The customer’s fleet
Every machine a customer has bought, by model, serial and delivery date, found from the customer or the serial.
Parts bought for the fleet
Spares grouped by the models they fit, and bought against what is actually running in the field.
Example
One excavator, one quarter.
An illustration of one machine sale from first price to handover. The names are made up; the sequence is the ordinary one.
- July A contractor, Ridgeline Civil, asks for a 20-tonne excavator. Three revisions of the quotation later, they sign. SO-2026-0571 is confirmed with a 30% deposit, recorded against it.
- August The machine is shipped from the factory. Freight, duty and clearing are added as each invoice arrives, so its cost is the landed one.
- September It is received under serial EX200-71946 and reserved for Ridgeline. The order shows the machine, the deposit and the balance due.
- Handover Delivered to site. The final invoice sets off the deposit and asks for the balance, and the machine joins Ridgeline’s fleet on record.
- Next March Ridgeline calls for filters. Their fleet shows an EX200 delivered in September, so the counter quotes the parts for that model.
Visibility
Reports you read, and work you stop doing.
Both read the same records the work is done on, so neither needs an export to stay current.
Reports
- Margin after landed costBy machine, by model and by salesperson.
- Machines in stock by ageEvery unit on the yard, how long it has sat and what it cost to land.
- Customer fleetsWhich machines each customer runs, by model and year.
- Deposits and balancesAdvances held against open orders, and what is still to collect.
- Parts sales by modelWhich models in the field are buying parts, and which have gone quiet.
Automation
- Landed cost is spread onto the machine as each freight and duty invoice is booked
- A deposit on the order is set off against its final invoice
- A watch on machines that have sat on the yard longer than 120 days Early access
Items marked early access run on Watcher, which is still being finished.
Recommended apps
Where to start.
Equipment dealers usually start with these four on the Core OS. Purchase follows when the parts business needs buying against the fleet.
Sales
Long quotations with revisions, options and validity.
Inventory
Machines by serial and every customer’s fleet.
Trade
Imported machines landed at their full cost.
Finance
Deposits against the order and the balance on handover.
FAQ
Questions from heavy equipment dealers.
Can every machine be tracked by its serial?
Yes. Machines are serialised items: each one is received, reserved, delivered and returned by its serial, and its history stays on that serial.
How is landed cost worked out on an imported machine?
Freight, duty, insurance and clearing are booked as they arrive and added to the machine’s cost, so the margin is reported on what it actually cost to put on the yard.
Can we take a deposit before the machine arrives?
Yes. An advance is recorded against the sales order and shown on it, and set off against the final invoice when the machine is delivered.
Do you handle rentals and service contracts?
Not as a packaged feature. Machines, serials and customer fleets are on the record, which rental and service build on, but how they run differs between dealers, so talk to us about yours.
Have a different question? Talk to us.
See one of your machines, landed and sold.
Bring a machine you sold last year, with its freight and duty invoices. We will show its margin once every cost is on it.