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- Procurement
- Features
- Quote requests
Quote requests
Buyer uses an RFQ when a purchase needs competitive offers, a clearer scope or the competition required by its approval policy. The request, quotes, comparison and award reasoning remain together so the selected offer can be reviewed before an order is issued.
OverviewRFQs Awaiting Response×
Procurement · Quote requests
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RFQs Awaiting Response
RFQs
| RFQ number | Scope description | Issued at | Response deadline | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RFQ-55577 | Replace two loading dock doors | 14 Oct | 18 Oct | Sent | |
| RFQ-87057 | Supply 40 business laptops | 10 Oct | 15 Oct | Sent | |
| RFQ-62804 | Provide annual safety kit stock | 20 Oct | 27 Oct | Sent | |
| RFQ-77279 | Deliver duplex document scanners | 19 Oct | 28 Oct | Sent | |
| RFQ-59172 | Supply 25 adjustable task chairs | 18 Oct | 21 Oct | Sent |
6 of 6 records
Replace two loading dock doorsRFQs · RFQ-55577
SentIssued at14 Oct
Response deadline18 Oct
What you can do
Creating an RFQ
An RFQ is usually created from an approved requisition, which supplies its lines; it can also be raised standalone for a sourcing exercise with no requisition behind it yet. The header retains department and cost centre. Each line records its category, item or description, quantity, unit and need-by date, plus the originating requisition line when present. The Buyer writes the statement of work, sets the response deadline, sets the weights for price, lead time and quality on the RFQ itself, and lists the invited suppliers. Configured email and supplier access deliver the invitations; and each invitation tracks its own state: Invited, Acknowledged, Declined, Responded, no response.
Category rules can restrict who may be invited. A category with qualification requirements only offers suppliers with current, verified evidence covering that scope. A Suspended or Blocked supplier cannot be invited at all.
Sending
When the configured delivery channel sends the RFQ, each invitation records delivery and response state. The RFQ moves to Sent and appears in RFQs Awaiting Response. The weights are locked at send so every bidder is scored the same way.
Supplier responses
The supplier answers in the portal with a header and one line per RFQ line:
| Header | Lines |
|---|---|
| Response date, overall lead time, quote validity in days | Unit price and line total against each requested line |
| Payment terms, FOB point and freight terms offered | Per-line lead time where it differs from the header |
| Notes | Alternate part offered, with notes on the alternate |
Supplier access is limited to the invited RFQ and that supplier’s own response. A supplier can withdraw and resubmit a response before the deadline. After the deadline the RFQ moves to response received and responses are locked. The total quoted price is masked from the Requester and Viewer roles; the requester learns the outcome and does not see the bids.
Bid comparison
Each response is scored on three dimensions with the weights set on the RFQ:
- Price, normalised so the lowest total scores highest.
- Lead time, normalised so the shortest scores highest.
- Quality, the supplier’s quality score from its latest published scorecard with usable quality observations. A supplier with no published history uses the documented neutral value. Delivery punctuality is a separate measure and does not alter this reject-based quality score.
The weighted total ranks the responses and flags one as Recommended. The Bid Comparison view lays the responses side by side with the three component scores, the total and the rank. Line references expose alternates and partial coverage. Buyer reviews comparable scope before using a lower total as the basis for award.
Award
Buyer records the selected response, award reason, person and date. Choosing another bidder than the recommendation requires Procurement Manager review before using the exception. Required qualifications still apply; an override cannot make an ineligible supplier eligible.
The reviewed award creates a draft order linked through from RFQ award. The other responses become Rejected and the configured channel can notify their suppliers. Buyer may prepare a draft contract rates row from the award; Procurement Manager reviews and activates it before later orders use it.
An RFQ where no bid is acceptable closes as no award with the reason, and the Buyer re-scopes or invites a wider field.
The award is a sourcing decision. Automatic order approval requires valid unconsumed spend authority for the same scope. A standalone RFQ grants no spend authority by itself: its order must pass the matrix. The Buyer-limit exception does not apply to RFQ-backed orders. Price and off-contract holds remain separate decisions.
Cancelling and re-issuing
An RFQ can be cancelled at any point before award. Sent scope and evaluation weights remain frozen. A changed scope requires a new version or re-issued RFQ with a new deadline; earlier bids and the original comparison remain evidence.
What people see
- Open RFQs for the Buyer and Procurement Manager, as a board by status from Draft through response received.
- RFQs Awaiting Response for the supplier, showing only the RFQs it was invited to and their deadlines.
- Bid Comparison for the Buyer when responses are in.
- The RFQ Award Cycle report for the Procurement Manager: days to award, response rate, awarded price against the requisition estimate, and how often the recommendation was overridden, with the reasons.
What it keeps track of
Data model- RFQs
- Request-for-quote header: sourced spend that needs a competitive bid. One RFQ per scope, several suppliers invited, the weights and the award decision recorded on the header.
- RFQ lines
- What is being sourced, one line per item or service, copied from the requisition lines or keyed by the Buyer. Response lines point at these so bids compare line by line.
- RFQ invited suppliers
- The supplier invite list for an RFQ.
- RFQ responses
- A supplier response revision to an RFQ. Only complete comparable Submitted responses enter scoring. Submission freezes header and line content; withdrawal and resubmission before the deadline creates a new revision, retains the previous version, and invalidates its scores and recommendation.
- RFQ response lines
- Per-line quoted detail: what the supplier proposed for each requested line.
- Bid comparison scores
- Computed score per response: normalised price, normalised lead time and the supplier’s quality score, weighted by the RFQ’s weights. Drives the award recommendation.
- Supplier performance
- Period scorecard per supplier: on-time delivery, quality, price competitiveness. Computed from receipts and expediting at period end, published by the Procurement Manager, and read by bid comparison scores and the supplier’s portal seat.
- Purchase orders
- Supplier order with immutable approved revisions. Spend approvals record its authority separately from lifecycle; an RFQ award is selection evidence only. Prior requisition or agreement authority may be reused only within its approved scope and remaining capacity. Otherwise full matrix approval or the explicitly configured Buyer-limit exception is required before issuance.
- Spend approvals
- Versioned authority request and frozen decision for a complete source revision. Document lifecycle may progress independently. Submitted content and approved decisions cannot be overwritten; invalidation stops future use but does not erase existing commitments. Reused authority and Buyer-limit policy are explicit decision types, never a fabricated new human signature.
- Spend approval lines
- Immutable scope and approved allowance within a spend approvals decision. Separate lines retain routing dimensions and source identities. Parent and line ceilings are both enforced; changing supplier, item, category, quantity, scope or value outside this packet requires a new decision.
- Commitment allocations
- Immutable signed effects of a business event on a PO line and its funding authority. Amount delta measures actual order commitment; authority amount delta separately measures use or release of the linked approval allowance, preventing a new approval packet from duplicating agreement spend. Reversals are compensating Posted rows referencing the original.
Who uses it
Permissions- Buyer
- Creates, sends, compares and awards.
- Supplier
- Responds through the portal.
- Procurement Manager
- Reads the award cycle and reviews overrides of the recommendation.
- Requester
- Sees the outcome on their requisition.
Set up Procurement your way.
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