Custom distributors: add an expiry date with automatic fallback to standard pricing

Summary

Custom distributors in Salesbuildr allow users to define special pricing outside the standard distributor network, but lack expiry date functionality. When special pricing agreements end, the system continues using custom distributor rates instead of reverting to standard distributor pricing based on cost. This forces manual intervention to remove expired custom distributor assignments and prevents time-limited pricing agreements from expiring automatically.

Background

MSPs and IT resellers frequently negotiate limited-time special pricing with distributors or direct vendors. Today they add these rates as custom distributors in Salesbuildr. However, once the special pricing period ends, there is no way to mark the custom distributor as expired. The user must manually remove or disable the custom distributor assignment, or the system will continue quoting at the expired rate. This creates operational risk: quotes may include outdated pricing, and manual tracking of expiry dates is error-prone.

What Was Investigated

The Pricing Books feature already supports expiry dates on product-level pricing for specific customers. This capability exists in the codebase and functions as intended for that use case. Custom distributors do not expose this same expiry mechanism, even though the underlying infrastructure may support it.

The Gap

Custom distributors lack an optional expiry date field and automatic fallback logic. When an expiry date is set on a custom distributor, the system should stop applying that distributor's pricing after the specified date and revert to the next-best-cost distributor (e.g., Ingram, TD Synnex) based on standard pricing rules.

Requested Feature

• Add an optional "Expiry Date" field to the custom distributor setup form

• When a custom distributor has an expiry date, display it clearly (e.g., in the distributor list and in quote context)

• After the expiry date passes, automatically exclude that custom distributor from quote pricing logic

• Revert to standard distributor selection (lowest cost among active distributors) for any quotes created after the expiry date

• Do not retroactively change pricing on existing quotes; only affect new quotes and opportunities created after expiry

• Optionally show a warning or indicator in the UI when a custom distributor is nearing or past expiry

Why This Matters

Users who rely on limited-time special pricing (such as volume discounts, end-of-quarter promos, or vendor-specific deals) currently have no way to automate the expiry of these rates. Manual removal creates compliance and accuracy risks. Without this feature, Salesbuildr cannot serve as a reliable system of record for time-bound pricing, and users must maintain parallel tracking outside the platform.

Proposed Priority

Medium

One-line justification: Addresses a real operational gap for MSPs using frequent limited-time pricing, and the capability already exists in the codebase for Pricing Books; however, the impact is narrower than core quoting or pipeline features.

Keywords

custom distributor, expiry date, special pricing, limited-time pricing, fallback pricing, revert to standard distributor, promo pricing