Streamlining Purchasing with Empress's Request for Quotation Feature

Guides & Tutorials
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Introduction

If you’re a business owner looking to streamline your purchasing process, you’ll definitely find the Request for Quotation (RFQ) feature in Empress useful. This tool allows you to easily solicit price quotes for items from multiple suppliers, thus enabling you to find the best deals and terms.

Accessing the Request for Quotation Feature

To get started with the RFQ feature, simply head to the “Buying” workspace on your Empress dashboard. From there, click on “Reports & Masters,” then “Buying,” and finally, “Request for Quotation.”

What You’ll Need

Before you can create a Request for Quotation, make sure you’ve done the following:

  • Added your suppliers to your Empress account.
  • Listed the items for which you want to gather price quotes.

Crafting Your Request for Quotation

Creating a new RFQ is a breeze. Here’s how:

  1. Go to the Request For Quotation list and click on “+ Add Request for Quotation.”
  2. Specify the Required Date — this is when you’ll need the items you’re purchasing.
  3. Add the suppliers you’re considering in the “Suppliers” section. If you’ve already established a Contact and Email Id for these suppliers, you can use these for sending the RFQ and providing portal access.
  4. List the items you need in the next table, along with their Unit of Measure (UOM), quantity, and target warehouse.
  5. If you don’t need to maintain stock for an item, you can leave the Warehouse field empty.
  6. If you want to email the RFQ to your suppliers, create an Email Template and select it. This template can include variables for supplier-specific data.
  7. Use the “Preview Email” button to see how your email will appear to a specific supplier.
  8. If you need to send additional files to your suppliers, check the Send Attached Files box. This will attach any files related to the RFQ to each supplier email.
  9. Save the RFQ as a draft.
  10. When you’re ready, submit the RFQ. This will send an email to every supplier that has Send Email enabled.

Leveraging Empress’ RFQ Features

Empress offers several additional features to enhance your RFQ experience, including:

  • Get items from: This allows you to pull items from other documents, like Material Request, Opportunity, and Possible Supplier.
  • Get Suppliers: Fetch suppliers using the ‘Get Suppliers’ button to save time.
  • Link to Material Requests: Connect your RFQ to existing Material Requests.
  • Terms and Conditions: Apply terms and conditions to transactions, which will appear in printed documents.
  • Print Settings: Customize your document’s print settings according to your preferences.

Generating a Supplier Quotation from an RFQ

Once you’ve created a Request for Quotation, you can generate a Supplier Quotation in two ways:

  1. Supplier Quotation by User: Open the RFQ and click on Supplier Quotation > Create. Select the Supplier, click on the supplier again, and then click on the + next to ‘Supplier Quotation’. Fill in the quantity, rate, and submit it.
  2. Supplier Quotation from Supplier: If a Contact is created for the Supplier and an email address is associated with the Contact, the Contact details and the email address will be fetched on selecting the Supplier. Click on Tools > Send Emails to Suppliers to send the RFQ to the supplier.

For more information on leveraging the Request for Quotation feature in Empress, please refer to the official Empress documentation. This feature is sure to simplify and enhance your purchasing process, saving you time and potentially reducing costs.