An RFQ turns a submitted requisition into competitive sourcing. You invite several vendors, record the quotes they give you, compare them side by side, and award one vendor per line. The award is the single fact your purchase order will read.
What an RFQ does
A request for quotation (RFQ) sources from a submitted requisition. A draft is not ready, and a cancelled one must not be used. The RFQ takes a snapshot of the requisition lines, the product, quantity and unit, and carries that record one step further along the chain. It never re-reads the product master or price book.
- Select the requisition lines you want to source and the vendors you want to invite.
- Record each vendor's real quote as they send it in, then compare price and lead time together.
- Award line by line, so a single RFQ can split across the cheapest or fastest vendor per item.
The requisition's estimated cost was a planning figure. The vendor quotes you record here are the first real prices in the chain. Still, no money is committed and no order is raised. That happens when you turn the award into a purchase order.
Important
Vendors do not log in
Running an RFQ and awarding a vendor
Create the RFQ from a submitted requisition
On a submitted requisition's detail page, choose Create RFQ. Pick the lines to source and the vendors to invite.Send it
Sending locks what was asked, the sourced lines and the invited vendor set. Recording quotes and awarding all happen after this, so the ask stays fixed while the responses come in.Record each vendor's quote
As vendors respond, enter their per-line prices, discount, tax and lead time. Panzo computes each line total for you, so the number is calculated once and consistently, never typed by hand.Compare
Open the comparison matrix. Each requisition line lists its vendor quotes ranked by net price, with lead time shown alongside, so you can weigh cost against speed.Award per line
Award the winning vendor for each line. The award points at that vendor's specific quote line and is the exact fact the purchase order will read.Close
Once every line is awarded, close the RFQ.
RFQ stages at a glance
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Draft | You are choosing lines and vendors. Nothing is locked yet. |
| Sent | The sourced lines and invited vendors are locked. You now record quotes and award. |
| Awarded | One vendor is chosen per line. Each award references a specific submitted vendor quote. |
| Closed | Sourcing is complete. The awards are ready for the purchase order packet to read. |
Each RFQ is numbered automatically against its requisition, so the code chain from BOQ to requisition to RFQ stays consistent and cannot be edited after the fact.
Key takeaways
- An RFQ sources only from a submitted requisition and snapshots its lines, so sourcing stays tied to what was approved.
- Vendor quotes are entered by you. Vendors do not log in, and the vendor master holds name, contact, GST and address only.
- Comparison ranks each line's quotes by net price with lead time shown, and you award vendor by vendor, line by line.
- The per-line award is the single fact the purchase order reads. No money is committed at the RFQ stage.