Sending RFQs to suppliers

Written By Kelson Reiss

Last updated About 2 months ago

Required role: Member · Tier: Pro (RFQ)

Use RFQs to collect priced bids from vendors for the cost categories on a project, then pull the winning quote into your financials.

Create the RFQ

  1. Open the project and click Request Quote in the right drawer.

  2. In Manage RFQs, click Create New RFQ.

  3. Enter a Title and a brief describing the scope.

  4. Click Set Cost Categories and check the categories you want vendors to price. Click Category Descriptor next to a checked category to add a per-category scope note.

  5. Click Add Photos to attach site photos.

  6. Click Attach Files to attach project files. Existing project files appear with checkboxes. Drop new files into the upload area to add and attach in one step.

  7. Set the options:

    • Allow recipient to add additional cost categories. Vendors can quote categories you did not list.
    • Hide site address. Vendors see satellite imagery but not the street address.

  8. Click Create RFQ.

Invite vendors

After creating, click Invite Vendors in the confirmation, or click Invite on the RFQ row later.

  1. Enter a Company Name and Email for each vendor. Click + Add More for more rows.
  2. Add an optional message. Every invitee sees the same message.
  3. Click Send.

Failed rows stay in the list marked Failed to send so you can fix the email and retry. Successful rows lock with a checkmark.

Vendors land in a hosted quote form that pulls in the brief, categories, photos, and attachments. They submit a price per category plus optional notes and files.

Track status

Each RFQ in Manage RFQs shows one of four states:

  • Draft. No categories set yet. Cannot invite vendors.
  • Pending, sent, waiting on responses
  • Completed. At least one vendor has submitted a quote, or a winner is selected.
  • Archived. Hidden from the active list. Click Restore RFQ on the row to bring it back.

Under each RFQ, the vendor list shows per-vendor status (Invited, Quote Received, Selected, Revoked).

Edit, archive, and resend

  • Edit RFQ. Click Edit RFQ on the row. Vendors who already received the invite get an email noting the RFQ was updated. Editing is locked once a quote has been received.
  • Archive RFQ. Click Archive RFQ on the row. Archiving is blocked while a vendor is selected. Cancel the selection first.

Review quotes and pick a winner

  1. On the RFQ row, click Review Quotes.
  2. Use the tabs on the left to switch between RFQs. Each tab shows a price-by-category grid with one column per vendor.
  3. Click See Notes or View Files under any vendor to open their attachments and comments.
  4. Click Select Vendor under the winning column.

To switch winners, click Cancel Selection under the current winner, then select another.

Pull the quote into the project

The selected vendor's prices replace the matching categories in the project financials once you opt them in.

  1. In the financials toolbar, click Apply Vendor Quotes.
  2. For each completed RFQ, choose the vendor's name to apply their pricing, or None to keep your existing line.
  3. Click View RFQs at the bottom of the dropdown to jump back to Manage RFQs.

The applied vendor totals flow through to the project total and any generated PDF.

Tips

  • Set per-category descriptors when scope varies vendor-to-vendor. Vendors price the same line against the same definition, which makes the comparison grid apples-to-apples.
  • Turn on Allow recipient to add additional cost categories when you expect vendors to itemize differently. Their extra categories appear in the comparison grid alongside yours.