Bids Overview
Availability depends on your plan and your role.
A Bid is one supplier's priced answer to your Request for Quote (RFQ). Once you have asked several suppliers what they would charge, their offers come back as Bids. You compare them side by side, pick the best value, and turn the winner into a Purchase Order.
How a Bid relates to your RFQ
One RFQ can gather many Bids — one from each supplier you invited.
The picture
- You send one RFQ for the items you need.
- Each supplier replies with their own Bid — their prices, taxes and terms for those items.
- All the Bids for that RFQ line up together, so you can compare like for like.
- You approve the best one and raise a Purchase Order from it.
A Bid is an offer, not a commitment. Recording or receiving a Bid does not affect your stock or your accounts — nothing is ordered and nothing is posted until you award the Bid and raise a Purchase Order.
Who uses this?
Purchase Team
Collect supplier bids, compare them, and raise the order for the winner
Approvers
Review the offered rates and approve the ones the business will accept
Department Heads
See what their required items will actually cost before committing
Finance Team
Confirm the chosen offer is the best value before spend is committed
Key features
Comparing offers
- Side by side: line up every supplier's price for the same items
- Full picture: compare price, tax, discount and payment terms — not just the headline rate
- Best value, not just cheapest: see quality, terms and reliability together
- Validity dates: know how long each quoted price is held for
Control and next steps
- Approval before awarding: offered rates can be routed for sign-off first
- Multi-level approval: several people can approve in turn where required
- Award and order: turn the winning Bid straight into a Purchase Order
- Clear history: who offered what, and who approved it, is recorded
Where Bids come from
A Bid can reach you in a few ways — all of them end up in the same place, ready to compare.
| Source | What happens |
|---|---|
| A supplier answers your RFQ | You shared an RFQ; the supplier sends back their prices, which arrive as a Bid |
| You enter it yourself | A supplier quoted you by phone, email or paper — you record their prices as a Bid |
| A quotation shared through DealFlow | A supplier already on Bizconnekt shares their priced quotation, which you file as a Bid |
How it works
Typical flow
- Bids arrive: suppliers respond to your RFQ, or you record their quotes
- Compare: line the offers up and weigh price against terms and reliability
- Send for approval: the offered rates route to an approver, if a workflow is set up
- Award the best value: approve the offer you want to accept
- Raise the Purchase Order: turn the winning Bid into an order for the supplier
Understanding Bid status
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Offer | Recorded and ready to compare — no decision taken yet |
| In Review | The offered rates are out with an approver and cannot be edited until decided |
| Approved | Accepted (awarded) — ready to raise a Purchase Order |
| On Hold | Paused for now — can be sent for approval again later |
| Rejected | Not accepted — can be revised and re-sent |
| Expired | The supplier's price is no longer valid — its held-until date has passed |
Getting started
| Task | Guide | Time Required |
|---|---|---|
| Record or receive a supplier bid | How to Add a Bid | 5 minutes |
| Compare bids and award the winner | How to Compare and Award Bids | 5 minutes |
Related guides
- Request for Quote — where Bids come from
- Suppliers — the suppliers who bid
- Purchase Order — raised from the winning Bid
- Approvals — how the award is signed off
Need help? Contact support at support@bizconnekt.com