Set up Salesbuildr in this order

Connect your PSA, map categories, add distributors, then catalog, pricing, templates, and users — each step depends on the one before it.

Written By Mike Forte

Last updated About 3 hours ago

Set up a new Salesbuildr workspace in this order. Each step gives the next one something to attach to. Shuffle them and you import products with no category, match distributor costs against a messy catalog, or let new quoters send proposals from leftover Professional Services Automation (PSA) prices.

This is the sequence for a PSA-connected workspace — Autotask, ConnectWise, or HaloPSA. You can only have one PSA connected at a time.

When the sequence is done, a new quote is: pick a template, add listed catalog items, check the margin, send. The quote editor is designed for that loop — press Q, choose a template, add products, send.

If you invite the team first, every deal encodes a one-off decision. Pricing drifts, names collide, and the next hire has to reverse-engineer last month's quotes.

Do this in order

Do the setup before anyone except the admin sends a live proposal. Each step depends on the one before it.

Connect the PSA — companies, contacts, and products have nowhere to come from until this is on.
Map categories — unmapped PSA categories skip products on import; a product with no Salesbuildr category cannot go on a quote.
Connect distributors — feeds match catalog items by manufacturer part number (MPN); marketplace import needs a Salesbuildr category to land in.
Clean the catalog — after PSA import and distributor matching you will have duplicates, missing MPNs, and leftover prices.
Set pricing rules — a clean catalog with no markup defaults still lets a line go out under cost.
Build templates — a priced catalog with no template still leaves every rep rebuilding the proposal from scratch.
Add users — invite the team only when the building blocks exist, so they assemble instead of invent.
Send the first quote — new quoters only assemble what you already approved.

1. Connect the PSA

The PSA is the source of companies, contacts, opportunities, and the first product list. Until it is connected, category mapping has nothing to map, distributor feeds have no catalog to match, and the company contact list you pick from when you invite users is still empty.

On the Dashboard, admins see a Configure your PSA Integration tile. Click it (or go to Settings → Integrations → Manage), choose Autotask, ConnectWise, or HaloPSA, and enter the API credentials from the matching setup guide:

Save and wait for the first sync to finish. You should see companies and contacts in Salesbuildr before you move on. Product import is the next step — it does not finish until categories are mapped.

You cannot create a new root category under Products → Categories until a PSA is connected. That is why this step is first, not optional housekeeping.

To replace expired credentials later without turning the integration off, see Update your PSA connection.

2. Map categories

Product import works through category mapping. You map each PSA product group — or, on Autotask, each role, non-recurring product category, and recurring service — to a Salesbuildr category. Only items in mapped categories are imported. An unmapped Autotask product, service, or labor item is skipped — it never appears in the catalog. Autotask services also need their billing code mapped; otherwise the service never gets a Salesbuildr category.

A product that is imported still cannot go on a quote if it has no category. Category is what Salesbuildr uses to apply markup, tax, discount-group rules, and which product table the line lands in.

Map, then run the initial product sync:

PSA	Where to map
Autotask	Settings → Integrations → Autotask → Products — three tables: Roles → Categories, Non-recurring Products → Categories, Recurring Services → Categories. Then use Import All Mapped Categories Products and Services.
ConnectWise	Settings → Integrations → ConnectWise → Products — Map Categories tab.
HaloPSA	Settings → Integrations → Halo → Products — Categories tab. Click Import and map all categories, then assign each Halo product group to a Salesbuildr category.

Map both sides of an acquisition into one Salesbuildr tree. Do not import two parallel "Hardware / Hardware" structures and leave quoters to guess.

Full mapping and import detail: Importing Products. If an Autotask item fails with no category mapped, see Cannot import Autotask product — no category mapped.

3. Connect distributors

Distributor feeds supply live cost, stock, and (for many hardware SKUs) recommended retail price. Salesbuildr matches those feeds to catalog products by MPN. If you connect feeds before the PSA catalog exists, there is nothing to match. If you connect them before categories are mapped, marketplace import has no Salesbuildr category to put new products into.

Go to Settings → Distributors → Connections and click Add Connection. Choose the country, pick the distributor, enter credentials, and save. Feeds can take up to 24 hours to appear.

Then set Priority so that when several distributors carry the same MPN, Salesbuildr knows which cost to prefer.

You can also import products from a connected distributor on the Marketplace. That import asks you to pick a Salesbuildr category — another reason mapping comes first.

Connection and priority detail: Distributors.

4. Clean the catalog

PSA import plus distributor matching almost always produces duplicates, missing MPNs, and leftover PSA sell prices. Quoting from that mix is how the wrong SKU and an underpriced line reach the customer.

Keep this pass short: one listed product per sellable item, every keeper in a category, MPN filled in on distributor hardware, Listed off on the extras.

Do not invite quoters yet. Unlisted products stay in history and in your PSA link, but they will not appear in everyday catalog search and cannot be added to a new quote.

The full cleanup order, acquisition duplicates, bundles, and what new quoters must not create in the picker: Quoting best practices for new quoters.

5. Set pricing rules

Pricing belongs in Settings → Financial → Pricing Rules and on categories, not typed onto each quote line.

A sell price is copied onto a quote line when the product is added. Changing the tenant strategy later does not rewrite lines that are already on a draft, a sent quote, or a template. Get the rules right, then add products to templates.

On the Dashboard, after the PSA is connected, admins also see a Configure dynamic pricing tile. For hardware with an MPN, choosing Yes, I want my prices to be dynamic (best practice) clears leftover explicit costs and sell prices so cost follows the distributor feed and sell price follows your markup.

Set tenant defaults, then override the families that are not the catch-all (hardware, professional services, cloud licenses) on the category.

The full pricing pass — markup vs margin, floor and ceiling strategies, pricing books, discount groups, and approval rules as the underpricing tripwire: Quoting best practices for new quoters. Strategy options: Pricing strategy. Tenant defaults: Financial.

6. Build templates

A template is the layout, styling, default settings, and product tables you always need for that kind of deal. Build it after the catalog is listed and priced, because products you drop into a template take the sell price that is in force at that moment.

Do not start from an empty quote and rebuild the sections on every deal. On New Quote, pick a template.

Keep the library small: templates for the 90% and widgets for the 10%. Typical starter set: a short hardware quote, a recurring services proposal, a project proposal, a renewal. Create them at Quotes → Templates, or open a quote you already like and use Create template from this quote. A new tenant also receives starter templates — treat those as a draft, then replace the sample products with your listed catalog items.

Review templates when the catalog or pricing changes. A template is only as current as the products sitting in it.

Library, locking, and the settings cascade: Quote Templates.

7. Add users

Invite the team after catalog, pricing, and templates exist. New quoters should assemble approved blocks, not invent products, prices, or layouts on each deal.

Go to Settings → Users & Access → Users and click Invite User. Pick a contact from your company list (those contacts arrived with the PSA sync), confirm the email, assign roles, and send. The user gets an activation link.

Before you invite staff, set MSP Domains under Settings → Platform → Authentication so people on your company email cannot sign in without an invitation.

Assign quote-manager access to people who will send proposals, and keep product-management access with the people who own the catalog. Admins see setup tiles on the Dashboard; everyone else should land in a workspace that is already ready to quote.

Invites, roles, and permissions: Users & Access.

8. Send the first quote

Once the seven steps above are in place, the job on a live deal is narrow:

Press Q, or click New Quote on the Dashboard, an opportunity, or the Quotes list.
Pick the template for that deal type. Do not create a blank quote.
Add listed catalog products or bundles. Search by name or MPN. Do not create a product in the picker.
Set quantities. Leave cost and sell price alone unless a manager already put the exception in a pricing book.
Glance at markup / margin. If a line looks thin, stop — do not type a lower sell price to "make it work."
Preview presentation view and send.

Walkthrough: Your First Quote. Everyday loop: Quote Editor. What new quoters should and should not do: Quoting best practices for new quoters.