A vendor quote is a supplier's priced response to your RFQ, recorded so you can line the offers up and award the business to the best of them. It is where price finally enters the chain, and where the buying decision is actually made.
- What a vendor quote captures
- How quotes are compared and awarded
- How confirming a quote leads to a purchase order
Anatomy of the screen
- Vendor – who is quoting.
- Document – the quotation number and a link back to the originating requisition.
- Priced items – each line now carries a unit price, tax and discount, with the line total computed the same way as every document: quantity times price, less discount, plus tax.
- Payment terms the vendor offers, plus requirements, remarks and attachments.
How it behaves
The comparison and the award
Each vendor's quote is recorded against its RFQ, so several quotes for the same requirement can be compared on price, terms and lead time together. Choosing a winner is an explicit act: you confirm the quote you accept and generate a purchase order from it, and the order links back to the quote. Awarding the business and creating the commitment are the same step.
Lifecycle
A quote runs Draft, Verify, Confirm, Cancelled. Confirming marks the offer you are taking forward.
Worked example
Three vendors reply to your RFQs for the 500 units. One is cheapest but slow, another quotes net-30 terms at a small premium. You weigh price against terms and lead time, confirm the chosen quote, and generate the purchase order straight from it.
Edge cases and good practice
- A quote is an offer, not a commitment. You owe nothing until the purchase order is raised.
- Compare on more than price – terms and lead time are quoted too.
- The award is generating the PO, which carries the chosen quote's lines and terms forward.
Related
- How to: Record and award a vendor quote
- Reference: Purchase Order (the award)
- Reference: Quotation (the selling-side parallel)