Associate custom object with the Products object

[JustinLuster]

Hi,

I want to add some more information to the Products object (the built in one where I have my line items).  I've created a custom object, but when I try to associate it with the Products object it will not let me, it is not an option.

Is it not possible to associate custom objects with the Product object?  If not possible, any work arounds?

[Enginerd]

It is unfortunate that custom objects cannot be associated with Products. I have a design and engineering firm and would like to have one object for Resources and fees (e.g., Principal Engineer $300/hr, Project Manager $225/hr, Project Engineer etc.) Then I would have an Assemblies object to document all of our standard Services (e.g., "Import and cleanup site plan from client" 2 hours Project Engineer, "Outline all retaining walls with elevations noted" 1 hour Project Engineer, etc.) The Assembly would be associated with a Product (Service) and the sum of the fees would be the Product's Unit Price.

Now, if I bump up the hourly rates I only need to change them in one spot (Resources). And, as we track time and audit our performance we would fine tune the Assemblies (e.g., "this step takes 2.5 hours instead of 2 hours" or "add a new 0.5 hour step for the Project Manager to verify the soils parameters"). Our pricing would always be accurate and reflective of actual Resource fees and their tasks.

Of course, all of that can (and is) done in separate spreadsheets but if it was in a custom object, we could report on the specific tasks that need to be done for any closed deal. In other words, our Assemblies become detailed instructions and checklists for the team to execute and they could be pushed to Slack for tracking. It's like a bill of materials for services and would have very useful benefits downstream of the Deal.

[Josh · Accepted solution]

Hi @JustinLuster,

At this time, it is only possible to associate products/line items with the deal object. Depending on your objectives, you could create another custom object for your products and associate that way, but you wouldn't be able to use them as line items. However, you could use these to understand general product association and use for reports.

Josh