# Create Deals (https://docs.carlio.app/docs/deals/open-a-deal)

Record a sale to a customer, with or without a car



Open a deal to record that a customer wants to buy a car, even before the dealership has sourced it.

**Requirements:** The **Open Deals** permission and the **Deal Pipeline Access** permission. The customer must exist before the deal. The **Sales partner** field appears only for team members with **Partner Directory Access**.

## Steps [#steps]

1. Select **[Deals](https://carlio.app/dashboard/deals)** in the sidebar.
2. Select **New Deal**. The **Open a Deal** dialog opens.
3. In **Customer**, search for the customer and select the name.
4. In **Sales partner**, select a partner. Leave the field empty for a direct sale.
5. In **Vehicle**, select a car. Leave the field on **Not sourced yet** when the car is not in the inventory.
6. In **Sale Price**, enter the agreed price. The dealership currency is the default. Select another currency when the deal uses one.
7. Optional: in **Expected delivery**, select a date.
8. Optional: open the **Commission** section and set the terms. See [Set commission terms on a deal](/docs/deals/set-commission-terms-on-a-deal).
9. Optional: open the **Notes** section and enter **Internal notes**.
10. Select **Open Deal**.

![The Open a Deal dialog with the fields Customer, Sales partner, Vehicle, Sale Price and Expected delivery](https://storage.carlio.app/public/docs/b393d3f7-40dd-482f-a446-371972c13625.webp)

## Open a deal from a car [#open-a-deal-from-a-car]

The same dialog opens from the inventory. Select **Create Deal** in the actions menu of a car in the list or on the car page. The **Vehicle** field is already filled. When the car has an asking price, the **Sale Price** starts with that price, in the currency of the asking price.

## Result [#result]

A toast shows **Deal #** followed by the number and the word **opened**. The deal has the status **Open** and appears in the list. The **History** tab records that the deal was opened.

## Notes [#notes]

* A customer and a sale price are required. The car is optional.
* Selecting a customer who belongs to a partner fills the **Sales partner** field with that partner. The commission terms of the partner are copied into the **Commission** section.
* The sale price is the agreed price of the sale. It is not the asking price of the car.
* A car that is on another **Open** or **Won** deal cannot be selected. The error names the other deal, for example **That car is already on deal #12.**
* A currency other than the dealership currency shows an **Exchange Rate** button in the **Sale Price** field. The button opens a field for the rate. An empty rate uses the published rate of the day.
* The customer never sees the internal notes.