Supplier quotes
Record a supplier's prices and lead times, let them enter prices through a private link, compare quotes, and order from the winner.
A supplier quote is one supplier's priced answer to what you want to buy: their unit price, lead time and shipping at each quantity you asked about. It is the buying-side quote, not the quote you send a customer. You keep one quote per supplier, compare them, and turn the best one into a purchase order.
How to enter a supplier quote when a supplier sends you prices
Most supplier quotes are created for you when you finalize a request for quotes, one per invited supplier. To record prices a supplier gave you directly:
- Open Purchasing → Quotes and select Add Supplier Quote.
- Fill in:
- Supplier, with its Supplier Contact and Supplier Location.
- Supplier Ref. Number, the supplier's own quote number.
- Quoted Date and Expiration Date.
- Currency.
- Type: Purchase for goods, Outside Processing for work on your own equipment.
- Add a line for each item:
- Part (the item), Short Description, Supplier Part Number, Purchase Unit of Measure and Required Date.
- One or more quantities to price, for example 10, 50 and 100 cylinders.
- Lines for spend that is not stocked take a GL Account and Cost Center instead of an item.
- On each line's Prices, enter the supplier's Unit Price, Lead Time in days, Shipping and Tax for every quantity.
Prices are entered in the supplier's currency. AimRack converts them to your currency using the quote's exchange rate, so comparisons and the resulting order are always in your own money.
How to let the supplier enter their own prices when you would rather not retype them
- Select Send on the quote. Choose Send Via Email to email the supplier contact a private link, or Share Link to copy the link yourself, and add anyone to CC.
- The supplier opens the link without an AimRack sign-in. For each quantity they enter a unit price, lead time, shipping and tax, then select Submit Quote, or Decline Quote with a reason.
- Submitting fills in the prices and makes the quote Active; declining marks it Declined. Anyone listed under Settings → Purchasing → Supplier Quote Notifications is told when a supplier submits.
Share Quote on the header copies the same link at any time. Anyone holding the link can open the quote, so send it only to the right contact. The supplier can respond only while the quote is Draft and not past its expiration date.
How to finalize a quote when you have typed the prices yourself
Select Finalize. The quote locks and becomes Active, which is the state that comparing and ordering read. The button stays disabled until every line has a price and a lead time (the header says Lines need prices or lead times). Reopen returns a quote to Draft to correct it.
| status | meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | being built; the only state you can edit |
| Active | priced and locked; ready to compare and order from |
| Expired | past its expiration date; do not trust the prices |
| Declined | the supplier declined to quote |
| Cancelled | withdrawn, for example because its request for quotes was cancelled |
When a supplier revises prices after the quote is Active, record the new prices on a fresh quote, so the comparison keeps a clean history.
How to compare quotes and order when several suppliers have answered
- Select Compare and Order on any of the quotes. The comparison shows every Active quote for the same items side by side. Pick the quantity with Compare at quantity, and it shows each supplier's unit price, lead time, shipping, tax and total.
- On the winning quote, select Order. Tick the lines to buy, pick the quantity for each (Select Quantities), add any adjustment, and select Convert.
- AimRack raises a purchase order for that supplier. It carries the lines, the supplier's contact and location, and the exchange rate, and links the order back to the request for quotes when there was one.
Ordering also teaches AimRack what this supplier charges. The chosen prices are written onto the item's supplier part, converted to your stocking unit and currency, so the next purchase order starts from them.
When your company requires supplier approval, Order stays disabled and the header shows Unapproved Supplier until the supplier is Active (see suppliers).
Where this fits
- A supplier quote sits between a request for quotes, which creates it, and the purchase order it becomes.
- Every quote, request and order for one supplier exchange is tied together by a supplier interaction, so the notes and documents on the quote's Documents area follow the purchase.