What Is a Request for Quote (RFQ)?

A Request for Quote (RFQ) is a procurement process used by businesses to request pricing from one or more suppliers before committing to a purchase.

Instead of immediately creating a Purchase Order, an RFQ allows purchasing teams to:

• Compare supplier pricing
• Evaluate delivery times
• Assess supplier performance
• Negotiate better rates
• Maintain accurate purchasing records

In modern inventory management and ERP systems, RFQs form a critical part of the purchasing lifecycle and are considered an industry best practice for procurement management.

Many businesses still use Purchase Orders to request pricing from suppliers.

A typical process might look like this:

1. Create a Purchase Order for Supplier A
2. Create a Purchase Order for Supplier B
3. Create a Purchase Order for Supplier C
4. Wait for responses
5. Delete the Purchase Orders you don't need

While this may seem convenient, it creates significant operational issues.

Warehouse Planning Becomes Inaccurate

Purchase Orders represent committed purchases.

When multiple Purchase Orders are created simply to gather pricing:

• Warehouse teams see incoming deliveries that may never arrive
• Delivery schedules become inaccurate
• Resource planning becomes unreliable

Imagine creating 20 purchase orders to compare prices for a large project.

Your warehouse team may believe 20 separate deliveries are arriving next week and begin planning labour and storage accordingly.

In reality, only one supplier will be selected.

Supplier Performance Reporting Becomes Distorted

Most modern ERP systems track supplier KPIs such as:

• On-Time Delivery (OTD)
• On-Time In-Full (OTIF)
• Lead Times
• Supplier Reliability

Creating Purchase Orders that are later cancelled can negatively impact these metrics.

The result?

Management reports become less accurate and purchasing decisions become harder to make.

Procurement Audits Become More Difficult

When auditors review procurement activity, they want to see a clear separation between:

• Supplier enquiries
• Purchase commitments

Using Purchase Orders as quote requests blurs this distinction.

An RFQ process provides a clean audit trail that clearly shows:

Supplier Enquiry → Supplier Selection → Purchase Commitment

How RFQs Solve These Problems

The RFQ module in Turbo Inventory was designed specifically to separate supplier quotations from actual purchasing commitments.

Instead of creating multiple Purchase Orders, you:

1. Create one RFQ
2. Clone it to multiple suppliers
3. Receive supplier responses
4. Compare pricing
5. Convert the selected RFQ into a Purchase Order

Only the chosen supplier progresses to the purchasing stage.

Example: Purchasing Tools for a Construction Project

Let's say a construction company needs:

• 10 Claw Hammers
• 50 Safety Helmets
• 25 High-Visibility Jackets

The purchasing manager wants quotes from:

• Town Electric
• Global Tech
• ABC Industrial
• Construction Supplies Ltd

Traditional Purchase Order Method

The manager creates four separate Purchase Orders.

Problems immediately appear:

• Four incoming deliveries show in planning screens
• Supplier KPI reporting becomes skewed
• Staff cannot determine which order is real
• Unused Purchase Orders must later be cancelled

RFQ Method

The manager:

1. Creates one RFQ
2. Clones it to the remaining suppliers
3. Sends all RFQs
4. Receives pricing responses
5. Selects the best supplier
6. Converts that RFQ into a Purchase Order

Result:

• Cleaner workflow
• Better reporting
• Accurate warehouse planning
• Complete audit trail

RFQ Workflow in Turbo Inventory

Joyce Software originally created Turbo Inventory before it was acquired by Big Red Cloud, the RFQ process follows a simple workflow:

Step 1: Create an RFQ

Select:

• Supplier
• Products
• Quantities
• Delivery location
• Currency

Step 2: Clone for Additional Suppliers

Rather than re-entering information repeatedly, simply clone the RFQ and assign a different supplier.

This allows purchasing teams to request quotes from dozens of suppliers in minutes.

Step 3: Receive Supplier Pricing

Suppliers respond with:

• Unit costs
• Lead times
• Delivery charges
• Payment terms

Step 4: Compare Suppliers

Evaluate suppliers based on:

• Price
• Availability
• Delivery performance
• Historical reliability

Step 5: Convert to Purchase Order

Once a supplier is selected:

Convert RFQ → Purchase Order

All details automatically transfer.

Multi-Currency Purchasing Support

Global businesses often purchase from suppliers in different currencies.

Turbo Inventory supports:

• EUR
• GBP
• USD
• Other international currencies

Exchange rates entered at the RFQ stage flow automatically through:

• Purchase Orders
• Goods Receipts
• Supplier Invoices

This reduces manual data entry and improves financial accuracy.

Project-Based Purchasing

Many industries purchase stock against specific projects.

Examples include:

• Construction
• Engineering
• Manufacturing
• Events
• Rental and Hire Companies

RFQs can be linked directly to projects, ensuring procurement costs remain traceable throughout the project lifecycle.

Industry Best Practice: RFQ vs Purchase Order

Procurement professionals generally agree that:

Using dedicated RFQ software aligns your business with recognised procurement standards and creates cleaner operational processes.

Full Procurement Traceability

One of the biggest advantages of a dedicated RFQ process is complete traceability.

Turbo Inventory tracks:

RFQ → Purchase Order → Goods Receipt → Supplier Invoice

This provides:

• Audit compliance
• Purchasing visibility
• Supplier performance tracking
• Accurate management reporting

Why Businesses Are Moving Towards RFQ-Based Procurement

Companies adopting structured RFQ workflows typically see:

• Better supplier pricing
• Improved supplier accountability
• More accurate warehouse planning
• Cleaner procurement reporting
• Reduced purchasing errors
• Stronger audit trails

Most importantly, they avoid turning their Purchase Order system into a quotation management tool it was never designed to be.

Final Thoughts

If your team regularly requests pricing from multiple suppliers, a dedicated Request for Quote (RFQ) process is the correct procurement workflow.

Rather than creating multiple Purchase Orders and cancelling the ones you don't need, RFQs provide a cleaner, more professional, and more auditable approach to supplier management.

By separating quotation activity from purchasing commitments, businesses gain better visibility, more accurate reporting, and stronger supplier relationships.

For organisations looking to improve procurement efficiency, implementing an RFQ process is one of the simplest and highest-impact changes they can make.