Compare Vendor Quotes and Raise Purchase Orders

Choosing the caterer is half the job. The other half is the paper that follows: a budget line for the amount, a purchase order the vendor can act on, and a way to check on the day that what arrives matches what you ordered. Most teams retype the price three times, and the third copy is the one that disagrees. Vendor Quote Manager is a four-step workspace that carries the accepted quote forward: Compare quotes, Budget, Purchase order and Delivery slip.

This guide starts where the comparison ends. If you want the detail of ranking, expiry dates and weighted scores, read compare vendor quotes without picking only the cheapest first. Here we follow one accepted quote all the way to the loading dock.

Step one in two minutes: accept exactly one quote

Add each quote under the item it is for, using identical wording so the tool groups them. In the sample project, Greenleaf Catering quotes $1,840 for "Lunch and dinner, 8 guests" and Silver Table Events quotes $2,110 for the same item. The group shows Greenleaf as cheapest and a spread of $270.

Press Accept on Greenleaf. Two things happen at once: Greenleaf becomes Accepted, and any other quote for that item that was still open becomes Rejected, so Silver Table drops out of the ranking. Only one winner per item. A quote that is past its valid-until date cannot go forward: the Add to budget button is disabled and says why. Ask the vendor for a fresh quote instead of arguing with the date.

Step two: the budget line

Press Add to budget and the tool creates a budget line named after the item, planned at the accepted amount, with a note "Quote from Greenleaf Catering". If a line for that item exists already it says so rather than adding a second. The second step of the workspace opens Event Budget Planner, where this line sits beside the others so you can see whether the whole plan still holds. Check it before you commit: a quote you accept is a promise.

Step three: the purchase order

The Purchase order step stays locked, with a hint telling you to accept a quote first, until at least one quote is Accepted. Once one is, Purchase Order Generator shows two helpers above the form: Vendor from my project and Start from an accepted quote. Choose the quote and the page fills in the vendor, the currency and one line item, with the description set to the quote's item, quantity 1 and the unit price set to the accepted amount.

Then you add what the quote does not know:

• Your name or company as buyer, the vendor's address and an optional ship-to address if the goods go to the venue.
• The PO number. The default is PO-001; number them in sequence and quote the number on the vendor's invoice and delivery note so the three documents can be matched later.
• Delivery date, payment terms such as Net 30, and a reference, where you can put the quote number.
• Tax percentage, a tax label, discount and shipping. For the sample caterer at 8.25 percent, $1,840.00 becomes $1,991.80 in total.
• An "Authorised by" signature line, if you want one for sign-off.

Download the PDF. It counts as one usage, and the page checks for a missing party name, a line without a quantity or a negative price before it spends one. Then press Add to project ledger as a cost. That puts the order into the shared project as an expense, dated the order date, with the vendor, the total, the tax rate and the delivery date in its notes, and the category taken from the vendor record if the vendor is on file. The id comes from the PO number, so pressing the button again for PO-001 updates the line instead of doubling it.

Step four: the delivery slip

The last step opens Packing Slip Generator. A packing slip lists items with quantities and a tick box for each, plus a total quantity, and shows no prices. It is designed for the party shipping goods, but it works as a receiving checklist: put the vendor in the From box, the venue in Ship to, copy the PO number into Order no., and print it. Whoever signs for the delivery ticks each line as it arrives and writes shortfalls beside it. Fractional quantities are flagged, so type whole units.

A small worked example: audio visual hire

ClearView AV quotes $760 for "Projector, mics, 2 days" and the quote is already Accepted. The budget line is Audio visual at $900 planned. Raise PO-002 for the single line at $760.00 with 8.25 percent sales tax; the PO total is $822.70. Add it to the ledger, and the profit statement shows Audio visual at $822.70 against $900 planned, with $62.70 of tax inside it. The same figure appears on the PO, the ledger and the invoice you eventually pay, because it came from one entry.

Steps, in order

1. Add every quote for one item with identical item wording, then press Accept on the winner.
2. Press Add to budget and confirm the line in Event Budget Planner.
3. Open Purchase order, choose Start from an accepted quote and complete the buyer, number, date, terms, tax and delivery fields.
4. Download the PDF, then press Add to project ledger as a cost.
5. Open Delivery slip, mirror the PO number, print it and keep it with the delivery paperwork.
6. Save the project: the quotes, budget and expenses disappear when the tab closes.

Vendor Quote Manager is a Premium Application with 2 trial uses a day before a day pass or plan applies; each download inside a step counts as one usage.

Common mistakes

Accepting a quote and never raising the PO, so the vendor has nothing written to act on. Raising the PO at the quoted price but forgetting the tax, then finding the invoice is higher than the ledger. Using the same PO number twice and overwriting an earlier ledger line. Rejecting the cheapest quote on gut feeling without recording why; put the reason in the quote notes. Treating the delivery slip as a price document: it carries none, so match prices against the PO.

Summary

Accept one quote, move it to the budget, raise the order from it, record the cost and print the slip that proves delivery. Vendor Quote Manager keeps the number the same at every step. Wider planning tools are under event tools.

Open Vendor Quote Manager→

When a delivery arrives short, what would you want the slip to record that it does not today? Tell us on the contact page.