Transaction Manager administration model

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated May 7, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Transaction Manager administration model

    The Transaction Manager administration model in ServiceNow CPQ provides a layered framework for administrators to configure and control the quoting experience. It applies to both the standalone Transaction Manager and the Sales CRM with Transaction Manager experiences, accessible via the CPQ Administration interface. This model enables detailed customization of quote behavior, appearance, and lifecycle management.

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    Key Features

    • Blueprints: Define the overall structure and behavior of a transaction type, including stages, fields, rules, events, and layouts. Blueprint scope covers the entire transaction lifecycle, beyond just product configuration.
    • Stages: Represent configurable steps in the quote lifecycle (e.g., draft, pending approval, approved). Each stage can have unique field visibility, event availability, and layout behavior to reflect quote progress.
    • Fields and Rules: Fields capture quote data, while rules govern field behavior and business logic such as default values, requirements, and calculations. Rules are grouped and reused across stages or events for efficiency.
    • Events: Actions triggered by users or systems, often shown as interface buttons (e.g., submit for approval, create order). Events can run integrations, execute rules, and cause stage transitions, and are configurable at both quote header and line levels.
    • Layouts, Views, and Personas: Control the quote interface appearance and functionality. Personas represent user roles (e.g., sales agent), while views define fields and events per persona. Pairing views with personas enables tailored layouts and permission controls for different users.
    • Integrations and Service Calls: Facilitate connections between the quoting process and external systems such as pricing engines, order management, and document generation. Administrators configure service calls linked to events to automate outbound system interactions.

    What This Enables for ServiceNow Customers

    By leveraging the Transaction Manager administration model, ServiceNow customers can fully customize the quote lifecycle experience to fit their unique business processes. Administrators gain granular control over every stage of quoting, user interactions, data capture, and system integrations. This ensures a consistent, efficient, and role-specific quoting interface that supports automation and seamless integration with external systems, enhancing sales productivity and accuracy.

    The Transaction Manager administration model defines the building blocks that administrators use to configure the quoting experience in CPQ.

    Transaction Manager uses a layered administration model. Administrators configure the quoting experience by defining blueprints and populating them with stages, fields, rules, events, layouts, views, and personas. Each layer controls a different aspect of how quotes behave and appear to users.

    This administration model applies to the standalone Transaction Manager experience and to the Sales CRM with Transaction Manager experience. The two experiences share the same administration interface, accessed through All > CPQ Administration.

    Blueprints

    A blueprint defines the structure and behavior of a transaction type. In the quoting context, a quote blueprint specifies the stages, fields, rules, events, and layouts that make up the quote experience. Transaction Manager blueprints are distinct from Configurator blueprints in scope and purpose — a Transaction Manager blueprint governs the entire transaction lifecycle, not just product configuration.

    Stages

    Stages represent configurable points in the quote lifecycle. Administrators define the stages that a quote passes through from creation to completion. Typical stages include draft, pending approval, approved, and completed, but the specific stages and their sequence are determined by the blueprint configuration.

    Each stage can have its own field visibility, event availability, and layout behavior, allowing the quote interface to adapt as the quote progresses.

    Fields and rules

    Fields define the data that is captured on a quote. Rules control field behavior and business logic, such as defaulting a field value, making a field required, or triggering a calculation. Rules are assigned to rule groups, and rule groups are assigned to Transaction Manager entities such as stages or events. This structure allows the same rule logic to be reused across multiple points in the quote lifecycle.

    Events

    Events represent actions that a user or system can trigger on a quote. Most events appear as buttons in the quote interface, such as submit for approval or create order. Events can also trigger integrations or run headlessly without direct user interaction. Administrators configure what happens when an event fires, including which rules run, which integrations are called, and what stage transition occurs.

    Events are available at the quote header level, applying to the entire quote, and at the line level, applying to individual quote lines.

    Layouts, views, and personas

    Layouts control what the user sees on the quote interface. Views and personas work together to tailor the layout for different user types. A persona represents a user role, such as a sales agent or quote manager. A view defines the fields and events available for a given persona. Administrators pair views with personas to control what appears on the layout for each user type.

    Permissions are applied at the view and persona level to control which fields are editable, which events are available, and which sections of the layout are visible.

    Integrations and service calls

    Integrations connect the quoting experience to external systems. Transaction Manager uses a composable integration model — administrators configure where pricing data, order creation, and document generation connect to. Service calls are defined in the administration interface and associated with events, so that user actions trigger the correct outbound calls.

    For information about configuring specific integrations, see Configure a pricing integration for quotes, Configure the create order integration, and Configure quote document generation.