Oracle NetSuite
Procurement Cloud Service

An RFQ or Request for Quote is a solicitation sent to one or more vendors requesting them to provide specific details about their pricing, terms, and conditions related to a product’s purchase contract. Often, the pricing request is tiered, meaning that the price per unit decreases when larger quantities of an item are purchased. Additional discounts may be offered by vendors if a certain total amount is spent on all items within a specified period. To define the item, pricing tiers, and bidding period’s open and close dates, an RFQ must be set up initially. After vendors submit their quotes with relevant details, buyers analyze the submissions to determine the best overall deal from the quotes provided. After analysis, the buyer marks which items are to be purchased from which vendors. Then, purchase orders or contracts are created for immediate or future purchases. The Purchase Contracts feature enables purchasing managers and buyers to use contracted terms, pricing, and delivery schedules when purchasing materials for a company. Rather than having pricing and terms based only on a specific purchase order, buyers can take advantage of quantity-based terms and discounts based on the annual volume of goods or services purchased. Blanket purchase orders improve buyer efficiency and accuracy and potentially reduce procurement spending. A blanket purchase order specifies the item, price, quantity, terms, and effective time period for a predetermined price of a set quantity of items purchased from a vendor during a certain period. Employees who have access to purchase requests can enter requests to buy items, materials, or services from vendors. A purchase request may require approval by a supervisor or approver before being turned into a purchase order if the Approval Routing feature is enabled.