How to Track and Compare RFQs
What you're doing here
Once your RFQs are out with suppliers, this is where you keep an eye on them: who's replied, who hasn't, and — once the bids are in — whose offer is best. When you've decided, you turn the winning bid into a purchase order without leaving the page.
We'll keep following the running example: 500 kg of steel rod, out with three suppliers.
Find your RFQs
- Go to Purchase in the sidebar
- Click Request for Quote
- The list of your RFQs appears, newest first
Each row shows the RFQ at a glance — its title and number, the date, the deadline, how many suppliers were invited, and its current stage.
Filter and search the list
When you have a lot of RFQs, narrow the list down:
- Search by title or RFQ number to jump straight to one
- Filter by stage to see only what needs your attention — for example, everything awaiting your decision
- Filter by date to focus on a period
Tip
Filter to "Responses in" first thing each day. Those are the RFQs where suppliers have done their part and it's now down to you to compare and choose.
Read an RFQ's stage at a glance
The stage tells you whose court the ball is in.
| Stage | What it means | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Still being written; not sent | Finish it and send it |
| Awaiting approval | Waiting for internal sign-off before it can go out | Wait for the approver, or chase them |
| Sent | Out with suppliers; no replies yet | Wait, or nudge suppliers as the deadline nears |
| Responses in | One or more suppliers have quoted | Compare the bids and choose |
| Closed / Awarded | You've chosen and raised an order, or closed it | Nothing — it's done |
Track who responded
Open an RFQ to see its invitation list — every supplier you asked, and exactly where each one stands:
| Supplier's status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Invited | You've asked them; they haven't opened it yet |
| Viewed | They've opened the request but not yet replied |
| Responded | They've sent you a bid |
| Declined | They've told you they won't be quoting |
| No response | The deadline passed and they never replied |
In our example, two days in you might see: Supplier A Responded, Supplier B Responded, Supplier C still only Viewed. That tells you exactly who to give a gentle nudge before the deadline.
Compare the bids side by side
This is where an RFQ earns its keep. When the bids are in, Bizconnekt lays them out next to each other so you're comparing like with like:
- Each item you asked about appears as a row
- Each supplier's price for that item sits alongside, in its own column
- A supplier who didn't quote a particular item is shown as not quoted — never as a zero, so a blank never looks like the cheapest offer
For our steel rod, you'd see one row — Steel rod, 500 kg — with three prices across it, one per supplier. The cheapest jumps out immediately.
Price isn't the only thing to weigh. Look across the whole picture:
- The price each supplier quoted
- Any volume or payment-term pricing they offered
- Delivery — can they meet the date you need?
- Their terms and your past experience with them
You can dig into any single supplier's full offer — see Bids for reading a bid in detail.
Choose the winner and get sign-off (if needed)
When you've decided, you pick the supplier's price you want to go with.
- If your business approves supplier choices, you tick the price you've chosen and send it for approval. The approver sees the same side-by-side comparison you did, so they can see why you chose it. Once approved, you can raise the order.
- If no approval is set up, you go straight to raising the order.
Splitting an order. You're not limited to one winner per item. If it makes sense to split a large requirement — say half from the cheapest supplier and half from a reliable back-up — you can get more than one supplier approved for the same item.
Raise the purchase order
Awarding is the final step: turning your chosen bid into a real order.
- With the winner chosen (and approved, if your business requires it), raise the purchase order
- The order is created from the winning bid — the supplier, the item, the agreed price all carry across
- The RFQ moves to Closed / Awarded, linked to the order it produced
The purchase order now takes over as the live document for this purchase. See Purchase Order for what happens next — sending it, receiving goods, and matching the bill.
In our example, Supplier B wins on price and delivery, you raise the PO to them, and the RFQ closes — with the whole story attached: what you asked, who you asked, what all three quoted, and why B got the order.
Common tasks
See only the RFQs waiting on me
Filter by stage to Responses in. Those are the ones where suppliers have replied and your decision is what's holding things up.
Chase a supplier who hasn't replied
Open the RFQ, check the invitation list for anyone still on Invited or Viewed, and re-share the invitation or contact them directly before the deadline.
Close an RFQ without ordering
If you decide not to buy — prices too high, need changed — you can close the RFQ without raising an order. It stays on record with all the responses, so the exercise isn't lost.
Troubleshooting
A supplier's column is blank
They didn't quote that item. A blank means not quoted — it is never counted as a price of zero, so it won't wrongly show as the cheapest.
I can't raise the purchase order yet
If your business approves supplier choices, the chosen price has to be approved first. Check whether it's still waiting with an approver.
The bids aren't in yet
Check the RFQ's stage and the invitation list. If suppliers are still on Invited or Viewed, they haven't replied — give them a nudge, especially as the deadline approaches.
Related guides
- Bids — read a supplier's priced answer in full
- Purchase Order — the order you raise from the winning bid
- Suppliers — the suppliers you invited
- Raise a Request for Quote — create and send a new RFQ
Need help? Contact support at support@bizconnekt.com