Quotes overview: what it is and how it works

Quotes (also called an RFQ — Request for Quote) lets you ask one or more vendors to price products you already keep in your Library. Each vendor fills in a private web page; you compare their answers side by side, accept the lines you want, push the accepted pricing back into your Library, and turn accepted lines into purchase orders — without retyping anything.

Where to find it

In the left sidebar under Management, click Quotes (it carries a Beta tag). The page lists every quote with its number and title, vendors, item count, when it was Sent (and by whom), when it was Seen, Responses received (e.g. 1 / 2), Status and Respond by date. Use the search box to find a quote by number, title or vendor, and the Active / Archived toggle to see closed quotes.

Don't see Quotes in the sidebar? It's hidden until your permission set grants it — see Permissions & visibility.

Before you start

• Products in your Library. A quote is always built from Library items, so the products you want priced must exist there first. You start a new quote from the Library, not from the Quotes page.

• A vendor on each product. Quotes groups items by each product's Vendor. If the vendor record has an email address, it fills in automatically. Products with no vendor go into an "Unassigned vendor" group that you complete by hand.

• Walter (optional). Workroom's AI assistant can draft the request email, read a vendor's emailed reply, and read a vendor's PDF quote. Everything works without it — you just do those steps by hand.

Quote statuses

A quote's status updates on its own as things happen:

The whole flow at a glance

1. In the Library, tick the products you want priced and click RFQ in the bar at the bottom of the screen.

2. Choose what to ask for, check the vendor emails, and click Send RFQ.

3. Each vendor answers on their private page — or emails/sends a PDF, which you log with Log a reply or Fill from PDF.

4. On the quote, compare responses, accept the lines you want and click Apply to Library to update your costs.

5. Click Create PO from accepted to make draft purchase orders.

6. Click Close to archive the quote.

Each step has its own article in this section.