What is a supplier quotation?

What is a supplier quotation?

A supplier quotation is the document a business uses to formally ask prices and commercial conditions from the suppliers that could sell it merchandise, before deciding whether to buy. Instead of making phone calls and jotting down scattered prices, the buyer records which products are needed, in what quantities, and from which suppliers they are being requested. When each supplier answers with its offer, that answer is kept on record and can be compared with the rest calmly, with the data in front of you.

It is a typical purchasing-side document: the business that wants to buy issues it, and the external seller answers it. In Kardex Tauro it is managed in the Supplier Quotation window, inside the purchasing module, which follows the same master-detail pattern as the other document windows in the program: if you already use other document lists, you will handle it without difficulty from day one.

The essential difference from a Purchase Order is that the quotation creates no purchase commitment at all. It is an inquiry document, designed to gather information and support a decision, not to execute one. That is why it is described as the step before buying: first you ask for quotations, then you compare the answers, and only at the end do you formalize the purchase with whoever offered the best conditions.

What a supplier quotation is for

Its main purpose is to turn a purchasing need into an orderly, comparable, documented request. In practice it is used to:

• Request formal offers: ask prices, delivery times and commercial conditions from one or several suppliers before making a decision.
• Compare alternatives: evaluate several offers side by side and choose the most convenient one in price, quality and service.
• Document the process: keep a formal record of the quotations requested and received, useful for internal audits and for checking the price history of each product over time.
• Become a purchase order: when the best offer is chosen, the quotation can be converted directly into a Purchase Order, reusing all the information already recorded without typing it again.

Asking for quotations is especially recommended before high-value purchases or when planning to work with a new supplier. Requesting two or three offers takes little time and gives you a real basis for comparing and negotiating, instead of accepting the first price that arrives.

What a quotation does NOT do

Knowing the limits of the document prevents misunderstandings with inventory and accounting. As long as a quotation remains a quotation:

• It creates no purchase commitment: neither the business nor the supplier is bound by the document. You can decide not to buy with no consequences.
• It does not affect inventory: the products being quoted must exist in inventory so they can be added to the quotation, but the document neither deducts nor adds units. No stock changes just because you asked for prices.
• It generates no Kardex movements: since there is no real entry or exit of merchandise, no movement is recorded. The Kardex is updated only when a document that actually affects stock is executed.
• It creates no accounts payable: the supplier has nothing to charge yet, because no purchase has been formalized.

In short: a quotation informs but does not commit. That behavior is exactly what makes the document useful, because it lets you request and compare information without risking stock, money or business relationships.

What the Supplier Quotation window looks like

The window organizes information in three areas. At the top there is a search box that filters in real time by document number, supplier name, status or any data contained in the quotations. Below it, a header grid shows the full list with number, supplier, status, total and date; when you click on a quotation, the bottom area shows the detail of its products with code, name, requested quantity, unit value and total value.

At the bottom there are the action buttons: New Quotation opens the form to choose the supplier and add products; View Quotation opens the selected document in read-only consultation mode; and Delete Quotation activates or deactivates automatically depending on the document status, because it only allows deleting quotations that have not been finalized or converted into other documents.

Right-clicking a quotation in the list opens a context menu with options such as Export to Excel, View Report, Print Quotation, Filters, Remove Filters, Convert Document, Edit Notes and Configure Columns. The item detail grid has its own context menu with Edit Item Notes, View Item Serials and Configure Columns. Column settings are remembered when the window is closed and reopened.

The states of a quotation

Every supplier quotation moves through states that define what can be done with it and who can see it:

• In design or draft: the document is still being prepared and is not visible to users with limited permissions.
• Finalized: the quotation is complete and ready to be sent to the supplier.
• Converted: it was transformed into another type of document, usually a Purchase Order.
• Deleted: the quotation was cancelled and removed from the system.

These states explain, for example, why the Delete button is not always available: a finalized or converted document stopped being a simple draft, and its information became linked to the purchasing process.

Quotations and system permissions

Supplier quotations have their own permission module within the program's granular permission scheme: the View supplier quotation permission for consultation and the Make supplier quotation permission for operation. The permission behavior has particularities worth knowing:

• A user without the View supplier quotation permission cannot see a quotation that is still in design mode, that is, still editable. This protects quotations that are being prepared.
• A user with only the consultation permission, without the operation one, can see only documents that are fully finalized. Draft or in-progress quotations are not shown to them.
• Being able to view the document does not mean being able to print it: printing depends on the cross-cutting Print permission, which enables printing across the whole system.
• The New Quotation button is enabled only for users who hold the permission to create that document. If a user without permission clicks it, the system shows a short informative message stating exactly which permission is missing, so the user can request it from the administrator.

This view-versus-do logic, kept separate, lets an assistant consult finalized quotations without touching drafts, while only authorized staff create and convert documents.

Comparing offers with real data: an example with three suppliers

Imagine a shop needs one thousand folding cardboard boxes measuring 30 by 20 by 15 centimeters to pack orders. The owner sends the same quotation request to three suppliers and receives these three offers:

The figures are examples, only to illustrate the comparison method. If you looked only at the unit price, Beta's offer would seem to win; but when freight is added and the total is calculated, the difference shrinks. And if getting the boxes fast is the priority, the Southern Supplier delivers in three days, even though its total is in the middle.

That is why you should compare using criteria and not a single number. When evaluating the offers received you can review each one's total price, the delivery time against the real urgency of the order, the supplier's reliability based on previous purchases, the commercial conditions offered and the quality of the product. The documented quotation allows that analysis with all the answers in sight and leaves evidence of why one supplier was chosen over another.

Differences from the Purchase Order

Supplier quotations and Purchase Orders live in the same flow, but they are different documents with different purposes and effects. The table summarizes the differences:

An easy way to remember it: the quotation asks and the purchase order decides. The first moves nothing inside the business; the second, once received, does.

Full flow: from quotation to merchandise in the warehouse

The typical purchasing workflow with a prior quotation goes through these steps:

1. Identify the purchasing need: the business detects that products are needed and decides to ask for quotations before buying.
2. Create the quotation: with New Quotation, choose the supplier and add the products with the desired quantities.
3. Send it to the supplier: finalize the quotation and print or export it to send by email, fax or on paper.
4. Receive the answer: the supplier returns its offer with prices, availability and conditions.
5. Compare offers: if several suppliers were asked, compare the answers received and choose the most convenient one.
6. Convert into a Purchase Order: with the Convert Document option, the chosen quotation becomes a Purchase Order that keeps the supplier, products, quantities and values. The PO starts in created or draft status.
7. Approve the order: the Purchase Order must be approved to become an executable document; approving requires the corresponding permission, and only approved orders can be printed and sent to the supplier.
8. Receive the purchase: when the merchandise arrives, use Receive Purchase, which is available only for approved orders. You can receive everything, receive partially or leave quantities at zero; when you confirm, the system updates the inventory stock, records the movements in the Kardex and changes the order status to received, fully or partially.

During its life, the Purchase Order moves through clear states: created or draft, approved, received fully or partially and, if cancelled before receiving, deleted. An already received order cannot be deleted, because the merchandise has already entered and affected the inventory. The program also supports the reverse path: from a Purchase Order you can convert the document into a supplier quotation when you want to formally request prices before committing to the purchase.

Recommendations for getting the most out of quotations

• Ask for quotations on important purchases: before high-value purchases or with new suppliers, always request quotations to obtain the best conditions.
• Do not limit yourself to one supplier: asking several suppliers lets you compare and negotiate better.
• Convert quickly: once the decision is made, convert the winning quotation into a Purchase Order so you do not lose time or information.
• Document the answers: record the offers received in the system to keep a history of prices and conditions.
• Use the filters: analyze quotations by period, supplier or value to make better decisions.
• Respect the permissions: each user must have the permissions suited to their role, without sharing credentials, to keep the system secure and traceable.

Asking for quotations before buying is a habit that protects the business's money: it turns impulsive purchases into backed decisions and leaves an orderly trail of every choice. When that habit is supported by a program that stores the quotations, converts them into purchase orders and updates the inventory when the merchandise is received, the purchasing cycle becomes faster, more transparent and more controllable with Kardex Tauro.