🚀 SuiteCRM 8 Line Items: Why Are Quotes, Invoices, and Contracts Still Not Fully Compatible?

Show and Tell
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Looking at the screenshot below, you might notice something interesting.

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SuiteCRM v8 already introduced a field type related to Line Items, but surprisingly… it’s currently empty and not implemented yet in the core UI.

That raises a big question:

When will the team officially make Line Items fully compatible with SuiteCRM v8 for modules like Quotes, Invoices, and Contracts?

Because right now, many of us are still relying on the legacy v7-style AOS line items, which creates a gap when building modern SuiteCRM v8 solutions.

:magnifying_glass_tilted_left: What I Noticed

From the UI and database structure, it seems that:

  • SuiteCRM has already prepared a field type for line items

  • But the implementation has not been completed

  • Modules like Quotes / Invoices / Contracts still rely on legacy AOS components

So essentially, the foundation exists, but the feature is still unfinished.

:hourglass_not_done: But I Can’t Wait Anymore

In my case, waiting is not really an option anymore.

I need to move forward and make Quotes, Invoices, and Contracts fully compatible with SuiteCRM v8 now, instead of relying on the legacy interface.

So I’m starting to work on:

:check_mark: Migrating the entire Line Items system to be compatible with SuiteCRM v8
:check_mark: Making it work properly with modern Angular UI
:check_mark: Ensuring performance and flexibility for future modules

:high_voltage: Taking It One Step Further

And honestly, why stop there?

I’m also considering migrating my existing plugin:

:backhand_index_pointing_right: MTS Line Items

But this time with a much bigger vision.

Instead of only supporting:

  • Quotes

  • Invoices

  • Contracts

It could also support:

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Opportunities

Imagine being able to manage product/service line items directly inside Opportunities with the same powerful interface.

This would allow:

  • product-based opportunity forecasting

  • service estimation

  • better pipeline value calculations

  • smoother conversion to quotes/invoices

:light_bulb: Possible Future Features

If I go forward with this migration, the new system could include:

  • Native SuiteCRM 8 UI support

  • Reusable Line Item field type

  • Works in multiple modules

  • Better calculation engine

  • Dynamic tax & pricing logic

  • Extendable architecture for developers

Basically turning Line Items into a true reusable component across SuiteCRM.

:handshake: Community Feedback

I’m curious what the community thinks.

:one: Are you also waiting for official SuiteCRM 8 line item support?
:two: Would you find it useful to have line items inside Opportunities?
:three: What features would you expect from a modern line items engine?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

If enough people are interested, this might turn into a fully upgraded SuiteCRM 8 Line Items solution.

1 Like
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I know salesforce does this. In salesforce Opportunities can contain products and not just an global “opportunity amount”. I think you’ll find the average user, this is overkill and won’t get used. However, larger sales organizations that require richer sales data would definately like this feature. Again, I’m thinking the use case would be a small set of users.

The V8 API is extensively used to grab line items and push to accounting software. This may be the hold up. If you’re going to re-organize how line items are handled you have to ensure V8 API handle the line items requests.

The other issue I can think of is there are many use cases where the line item fields need to be customized to add addtional fields. If this becomes full SuiteCRM 8 module, the averaged customization to add an extra line item field becomes more complex with Angular, unless there is a studio way of doing this in an Angular based module.

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Hello Paul,

Zoho does this as well and I’m using it in multiple projects.
In Zoho (in the studio so to say) it’s solved in a very elegant way. It is (in SuiteCRM speak) a special field type called “Subform”. I can place it anywhere in my module.
In the backend it is then simply a module, display like line items, not a subpanel.

I’m using it so often, because it makes sales prep work / quoting very easy. Especially in projects where quotations aren’t really necessary and invoices come from an ERP.
There is just the Opp, everything that for the sales process is needed is already inside the Opp (incl. PDF and Email).
Once, closed won, the data is being sent to the ERP and the project is being started.

For SuiteCRM I hope, that we don’t have to deal with specific / opinionated line items but simply get that kind of subform, since I use it in many other modules as well and it comes in handy, everytime you’d like to display a list of items inside the detail view (which belongs closer to the record than a simple sub panel). (that’s probably more of a suggestion box now and I hijacked this ad-thread … sorry :face_with_peeking_eye: )

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Thanks for your suggestion :slight_smile:

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I had one application for a client where I just created a custom subpanel and pulled in line items from related qutoes. Then in the header of the Opportunity calculated the opportunity value based on the related quote values.

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Yes, exactly - just like this, ideally inside some sort of table / line item component inside a section of the detail view.

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Update: The addon is now officially listed on the SuiteCRM Store and is fully compatible with SuiteCRM v8 with native support.

This version has been redesigned to work seamlessly with the new SuiteCRM v8 architecture, ensuring better stability, performance, and long-term compatibility without relying on legacy workarounds.

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Check it out here: SuiteCRM 8 Opportunity Line Item

Feedback and suggestions are always welcome!