Request for Quotation
A Request for Quotation (RFQ) is a formal purchasing document that an organization uses in order to invite prices and other terms from a single or more than one potential suppliers of particular goods or services. It lists the goods needed, their quantities, preferred delivery, and other purchase terms to allow the submission of competitive quotations thereon.
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Buying Flow in ERPNext
Visit the "Buying" module of the home workspace in ERPNext to initiate or manage a Request for Quotation. Visit the "Buying" category in the "Reports & Masters" menu, then select "Request for Quotation." Here is where you can easily create, track, and send RFQs to more than one supplier.
1. Prerequisites
Before creating a Request for Quotation in ERPNext, the following obligatory records must already be configured in your system:
Supplier: Make sure that the supplier(s) you want to request quotes from are configured and active in the system. This also includes configuring the supplier contact details.
Item: Everything that is to be quoted must be created and available in Item Master, with appropriate details like unit of measure (UOM), item code, and description.
These specs will make it easier to create an RFQ, and appropriate data will be pulled into the document.
2. How to create a Request For Quotation
Use the steps outlined below to create a Request for Quotation in ERPNext:
- To create a new record, proceed to the Request for Quotation list view and tap on the "+ Add Request for Quotation" button.
- Enter the deadline for the delivery of the items or materials in the Required Date field. This ensures that suppliers clearly understand your estimated delivery date.
- Below the Suppliers table, fill in all the probable vendors you would like to invite for a quote. One row per distinct supplier.
- If you fill in a contact person and his/her Email ID, the ERPNext will then use the same to mail the RFQ directly. This step also gives the supplier an entry to your Supplier Portal, where they can submit their reply to the RFQ online.
- In the Items table, enter each required item with UOM (Unit of Measurement), Quantity, and Target Warehouse. If the item is not held under stock (i.e., Maintain Stock is disabled), leave the Warehouse field blank.
- For convenience, you can choose a pre-established email template if you plan to send this RFQ via email. These provide you with the ability to customize your message through dynamic variables like:
{{ updatepasswordlink }}: Allows the supplier to reset or establish their password to log in to the portal.
{{ portal_link }}: Direct link to view this particular RFQ in the supplier's portal.
{{ supplier_name }}: Automatically shows the registered name of the supplier company.
{{ contact.salutation }} {{ contact.last_name }}: Shows the name of the contact person.
{{user_fullname}}: Refers to your (the requester’s) full name.
Other place holders like {{ messageforsupplier }} or {{ terms }} can also be utilised for personalized content.
- Use the Preview Email button to see what your email will appear as to a specific supplier before you send it. This ensures that communication is professional and unambiguous.
- If you need to attach supporting documents, such as specifications, drawings, or catalogues, enabling this feature will automatically attach all documents related to the RFQ to emails sent to suppliers. Sent to suppliers automatically.
- After filling in all the details, click Save to store the Request for Quotation as a draft for approval.
- When ready to proceed, submit the RFQ. ERPNext will then automatically send an email to all suppliers listed if the "Send Email" option is enabled for them.
Create RFQ from Material Request
You can also generate a Request for Quotation from a submitted Material Request. This will enable you to automatically trigger the process of making a purchase directly based on your in-house material requirements.
Once you have designed it, you can print the RFQ off from the integrated PDF format and deliver it to your vendors by hand or electronically. All the important information gathered during the process of RFQ design will be evident in this PDF.
Besides this, you also get replies in ERPNext as a Supplier Quotation (as described in Section 4.1). But if there are many items involved, some of the vendors prefer giving replies in the form of an Excel sheet or something similar, which will have to be entered manually into the system.
3. Features
The ERPNext Request for Quotation module provides a number of advanced features to make the procurement process more flexible and efficient. These features facilitate better communication with suppliers, allow for the addition of applicable documents, and enable the inclusion of item and supplier details.
3.1 Get items from
The Items Table in the RFQ can be auto-populated with data from other documents in the system. It is time-saving and has uniformity. ERPNext enables fetching items from the following sources:
Material Request: You can also include items from a material request that you submitted previously. Simply choose the document from which the items should be fetched. ERPNext offers smart search functionality, with which you can search by keyword or a date range and thus quickly weed out suitable material requests. This feature helps ensure that procurement is mapped against in-house stock or operational requirements.
Opportunity: If the RFQ pertains to a sales process, you can pull items from an existing saved opportunity. This is helpful when requesting quotes for pre-sales needs or special orders from clients. Similar to material requests, you can also use date filters so that you can find the most applicable opportunity documents.
Possible Supplier: You may also retrieve items from a picked Possible Supplier. If this supplier has already submitted outstanding material requests, the system will automatically display them and allow you to import them. This feature is helpful in RFQs for a specific supplier, in which you are making a replica of a prior request or requirement pertaining to a specific vendor.
These adorable choices not only reduce manual entry of data but also ensure your RFQs are comprehensive and based on real demand or customer inquiry.
3.2 Automatic Fetching of Suppliers
Instead of adding each supplier manually to the RFQ, ERPNext has an option to populate the Suppliers Table automatically by using item filters. Here's how: Go to the RFQ and navigate to Tools > Get Suppliers
In the Get Suppliers By field, you will have two clever options:
By Tag:
Go first to the Tag Category section through the global search bar.
Under the Buying module, you would already have created the matching tags and linked them to specific suppliers.
ERPNext will retrieve all the suppliers tagged with the same tag if you click "By Tag.".
Click on "Add All Suppliers" to add all the suppliers with the chosen tag to the list automatically.
By Group:
Select the Supplier Group option.
- Select a predefined supplier group (e.g., Hardware, Electronics, Raw Materials).
ERPNext will retrieve all the suppliers from the selected group and add them to the RFQ.
If you have a few suppliers selling similar product categories or are quoting in bulk, this method is convenient.
This automation accelerates the quotation request process considerably and doesn't leave out any pertinent suppliers.
Additional Supplier Table Features
On each of the supplier rows in the RFQ Supplier Table, there are extra tools. If you click the little inverted triangle (expand icon) to the right of a supplier entry, you can find the Download PDF tool.
Download PDF: This allows you to generate and download a PDF copy of the RFQ for an individual supplier. This report has only data specific to that individual supplier, allowing direct and point-to-point communication.
This feature proves useful both for electronic exchange as well as for hard copy reports, allowing you to send every supplier a separate copy of the RFQ addressing only their respective items or expectations.
3.3 Link to Material Requests
ERPNext enables you to associate an open Request for Quotation (RFQ) with open Material Requests to ensure traceability and to link procurement with internal demand.
To achieve this, go to the RFQ form and Tools > Link to Material Requests. The system will search for material requests with item lines that have the same item codes and descriptions as shown on your RFQ. Only submitted material requests will be shown, which can be linked.
The RFQ and material request items must be the same (same item codes and descriptions) in order for the system to form a valid link.
Where there are several material requests for the same item(s), ERPNext will associate them with the latest material request that was submitted so that the latest demand takes precedence.
Once the link is created and the RFQ is saved, you will find a graphical display on the RFQ document's dashboard. This indicates that the RFQ is now associated with one or multiple material requests. Such associations are useful for auditing, traceability tests, and reporting since they demonstrate a clear line of how procurement is initiated based on internal demand.
3.4 Terms and Conditions
In sales and purchase transactions in ERPNext—say, requests for quotation—there can be some terms and conditions under which a vendor is willing to provide goods or services to your business.
You can predefine reusable terms and condition templates in ERPNext, which you can then apply to any transaction, including RFQs. This aspect allows for standardization of contract provisions such as:
Payment terms (e.g., Net 30, advance payment, milestone-based)
Delivery dates and terms
Warranty terms
Penalty or late delivery terms
Quality requirements for assurance
To take advantage of this feature on your RFQ:
- Go to the Terms and Conditions section of the RFQ form,
- Choose a pre-formatted template or type in your terms manually.
- These terms will be automatically added to printed or emailed copies of the RFQ distributed to suppliers.
This feature ensures that all your suppliers realize your expectations and compliance requirements from the beginning. It also reduces the risk of miscommunication or disputes during procurement.
3.5 Print Settings
ERPNext offers you a vast number of print settings that you can find under Print Settings, and you can use them to determine the way your Purchase Order or Request for Quotation (RFQ) appears in printed form or when you export it as a PDF. The settings keep your documents professional-looking and the same when you send them via email to suppliers.
Letterhead
You can print your purchase order or quote request on the formal letterhead of your company to enhance brand identity and credibility in official business communication.
Letterheads typically print your business's address, telephone number, logo, and registration information (if applicable).
Papering with letterhead gives your suppliers a more official, trustworthy document and assists in improving the reputation of your brand.
Ensure you select the default letterhead in Print Settings or make your selection when printing the document.
Click here for more details on how to configure and use letterheads in ERPNext.
"Group Same Items"
ERPNext has a setting named "Group same Items", which groups the same items listed more than once in your RFQ Items Table.
If this option is enabled, it groups the same items by item code, unit of measurement, and rate, and displays them on one line with the total quantity.
This is of tremendous benefit when the same item occurs more than once (e.g., because of data imported from various sources, such as multiple material requests).
Grouping duplicate items gives a neater,better-arranged print layout that facilitates reading and responding from the suppliers.
The grouping effect will be apparent only in print previews or downloaded PDFs, not in the real view of the RFQ form.
Print Headings
You can customize the headings or titles being used in your printed reports, such as the Request for Quotation, using ERPNext.
You can, for example, rename "Request for Quotation" to "RFQ - Supplier Copy" or "Procurement Request."
This helps with internal differentiation, localization, or handling international suppliers who might need to be displayed in translated or different terms.
Custom headings can be defined with Print Format settings or by way of custom print formats via Jinja templates.
To find out how to define custom print headings in ERPNext, click here.
Special Properties
ERPNext also contains special Jinja-based properties in the print format of requests for quotation, where dynamic content may be tailored to fit every individual supplier. They are quite handy when printing RFQs to specific suppliers.
When you print a request for quotation via the "Tools > Download PDF" button, ERPNext prompts you to select the same supplier. The following special fields can utilize this supplier data in your print layout:
{{ doc.vendor }}: This field contains the ID of the supplier that you selected. It is utilized so that the vendor who was included in the RFQ also appears on the print format.
{{ doc.items[i].supplierpartno }}: The Supplier's Part Number of the item at Items Table index i. It is helpful when the same item has internal part codes used by suppliers.
4. Creating a Supplier Quotation after RFQ
After you've made and sent out a Request for Quotation (RFQ) through ERPNext, you can then go ahead and accumulate and store supplier responses in the form of Supplier Quotations. ERPNext provides two efficient ways of creating Supplier Quotations from the RFQ: either by a system user directly, or by the supplier through the portal.
4.1 Supplier Quotation by User
This process is started by a system user in the ERPNext system itself. It is a suitable choice if you want to manually input the supplier quotations received through offline media, such as telephonic calls, emails, or scanned PDFs, into the system.
Steps:
- Open the Request for Quotation document where you are required to prepare the Supplier Quotation.
- Select the "Supplier Quotation > Create" menu from the side panel or toolbar.
- You will be prompted to enter a dialogue to select the Supplier's format which you would like to use to prepare the quotation.
- Once you select the supplier, you can select its name again. This will take you to the supplier-specific section where you can view a "+" button with 'Supplier Quotation' near it.
- Selecting the button will create a fresh Supplier Quotation form automatically with data filled in from the RFQ.
- Next, you have to enter the rate, quantity, and any other price details as supplied by the supplier.
- Once the data for all has been filled in, save and submit the Supplier Quotation.
This ensures that offline quotations are captured accurately in ERPNext, related to the original RFQ for full traceability and auditability.
4.2 Supplier Quotation from Supplier
ERPNext offers an excellent and trouble-free process for suppliers to input quotations in real time directly through the Supplier Portal. This works best when you want to minimize manual data entry and allow suppliers to reply to RFQs independently. In order to make sure this flow will function well with your ERPNext installation, certain conditions need to be met on your side.
- If a Contact is created for the Supplier and an email address exists for the Contact, then ERPNext will automatically use this contact's details — including the Supplier's email address — when the Supplier is selected in the RFQ document. If there is no email or contact information for the supplier, then you would need to create one and assign an appropriate email address to it. Such an assignment is necessary, as ERPNext will send RFQ invitations using this email.
- Navigate to Tools > Send Emails to Suppliers.
After the Request for Quotation is saved and has a minimum of one Supplier with an email assigned to it, proceed to the top right-hand corner of the RFQ document and click on the Tools button, then select 'Send Emails to Suppliers'. This would commence the communication process by sending automatically generated emails to the registered suppliers.
In case the Supplier account does not exist:
If the chosen Supplier does not yet have a Website User account (i.e., a Website User account by which they can log into the Supplier Portal), ERPNext will automatically correct this:
The system will create a new Website User account for the Supplier automatically using their email address.
An email will be sent to the Supplier with a safe link to reset their password. They will use the link to set a password for their new account.
Once the password is reset, they can log into the Supplier Portal in Supplier portal using their email and new password.
Below the portal, they can retrieve an item with the name "Request for Quotation", where they will be in a position to see the RFQ that has been forwarded to them.
They can then see item information and provide an official online quotation.
This way, potential new suppliers who are not yet invited to use a portal can easily participate in your RFQ process without the involvement of manual user setup.
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If the Supplier already has an account:
If the Supplier already has a Website User, then ERPNext won't make a new one. Instead:
The system sends a Request for Quotation email directly to the supplier's registered email address.
The email has a link that takes them straight to the RFQ section in their Supplier Portal.
The Supplier will need to log in with their existing login email and password to view the RFQ details.
This method ensures that existing or repeat suppliers can respond immediately without additional onboarding.
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Either way, upon login by the Supplier, the following page will be presented to them:
Once the Supplier logs into the portal, a specific interface containing the complete RFQ details will appear.
A list of requested items
Quantities required
Delivery dates
Any additional notes or terms set by your company
The following screen gives the Supplier the ability to complete the mandatory fields and electronically submit his or her quotation.
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Supplier Quotation Screen:
The Supplier should:
Enter the amount/price per item listed.
Include payment terms or additional notes, such as credit terms or discounts, directly on the quotation form.
Click Submit once all required fields have been completed.
There will also be a "Quotations" area that will display any previous quotations submitted by the supplier, giving a clear indication of their previous submissions.
Upon submission, ERPNext will create a Supplier Quotation (draft mode) against the Supplier:
Upon the supplier submitting the form:
ERPNext will create a Supplier Quotation document in Draft status in your system automatically.
For traceability, the document will be linked with the specific RFQ and supplier.
One of your buying or procurement team members is responsible for officially entering the quotation in ERPNext after reviewing and editing it if necessary.
When a supplier quotes all the items in the request for quotation and enters his or her answers to each item in the RFQ, the system will then mark them as "Received" in the Suppliers table of the RFQ. It is easy for users to determine from this status notification which suppliers have quoted and which are pending.
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This whole process provides a streamlined and automated RFQ, thus eliminating manual data entry-related delays and errors.
To learn more about Supplier Quotations and their automated workflows, see the ERPNext documentation for Supplier Quotations.