--- title: Procurement enquiries order: 4 updated: 2026-07-12 --- # Procurement enquiries The *Procurement Enquiries* list is the history of every RFQ (request for quotation) your firm has released to suppliers. Each row is one RFQ event — one cart you sent — and shows its number, who it went to, what it covers, and where it stands. From here you open an RFQ, drill into a single supplier's response, close or reopen the whole enquiry, and read its full lifecycle. Building and sending a cart happens earlier — see [Add to Cart](/docs/procurement/add-to-cart) and [RFQ Cart](/docs/procurement/rfq-cart); this page is about everything that comes *after* an RFQ is out. ## Open the screen 1. Open *Procurement* in the sidebar. 2. Click *Enquiries*. The page heading reads *Procurement Enquiries*. Seeing this screen at all requires the *Submit Quotation on Vendor's Behalf* permission (`procurement.viewAlreadyPlacedEnquiries`). Without it the page shows *"You don't have permission to view procurement enquiries."* and nothing loads. This same permission is re-checked on the server for every action on this page (listing, opening an RFQ, reading the lifecycle), so it cannot be bypassed by a hand-made request. See [Users & permissions](/docs/settings/users-and-permissions). ## How the list is organised Rows are paginated `20` at a time, newest-sent first (by release date, then creation date). Use *Prev* / *Next* under the table when there is more than one page. Each row is one RFQ event. Columns you can show or hide (defaults noted): ### RFQ No The cart-level RFQ number, e.g. `2026-00123`. This is the *base* number shared by the whole cart — the per-supplier trailing letter (`-A`, `-B`, …) belongs to each individual supplier and shows on the vendor detail page, not here. A row still in *Draft* (never released) shows `—`. **Visible by default.** The number's format (prefix, padding, joiner) is set firm-wide — see [RFQ number format](/docs/settings/document-templates#rfq-number-format). ### Suppliers Every supplier the RFQ was sent to, one per line. Suppliers whose invitation was *superseded* (replaced when the cart matrix changed before release) are omitted, but suppliers whose invitation was later *cancelled/closed* stay listed — so a closed RFQ still shows who was on it. **Visible by default.** ### Supplier CP Mapped The supplier contact person mapped to each invitation (salutation + name). **Visible by default.** ### Product Heads The distinct product-head names across the RFQ's line items. **Visible by default.** ### Product Codes Mapped The distinct product-code names across the line items. **Hidden by default** — enable it from *Toggle Columns*. ### Status The enquiry's current state as a coloured chip. See [What the statuses mean](#what-the-statuses-mean). **Visible by default.** ### Sent The date the RFQ was released to suppliers, or `—` if not yet released. **Visible by default.** ### Closing Date The vendor-facing submission deadline, if one is set. **Hidden by default.** ### Created The date the cart/event was first created (which can be earlier than *Sent*). **Hidden by default.** ### View A trailing *View* button that opens the RFQ detail modal. Always present. Your column choices — which are shown and their order — are remembered per device. Open *Toggle Columns* to change them, and drag the grip handle to reorder; a *Reset* link returns the table to its default columns. ## Find an enquiry A search panel above the list narrows it down. All five filters combine (AND) — an enquiry must match every filter you set: ### Supplier Restrict to RFQs sent to one supplier. Behind the scenes this matches any non-superseded invitation for that supplier, so closed and quoted RFQs still appear. Changing the supplier clears the *Supplier CP* filter. ### Supplier contact person Restrict to RFQs mapped to a specific contact person. The choices are scoped to the supplier you picked above, so pick the supplier first. ### Product head Restrict to RFQs that contain at least one line item under this product head. If the head has no product codes at all, the list is (correctly) empty. ### Product code Restrict to RFQs that contain a specific product code. The choices are scoped to the product head above. If you set both a head and a code, the more specific code wins. ### Status A single-select dropdown: *All Statuses* (default), *Released*, *Quoted*, *Awarded*, or *Closed*. *Draft* is deliberately not offered — drafts live in the cart, not in enquiry history, and are hidden from this list unless the URL is hand-edited to include them. Picking *Closed* also surfaces older enquiries recorded under the legacy `cancelled` state, so nothing is lost after the internal cancel→close rename. Right-click any row for an *Open* shortcut, or use the row's *View* button. ### Shareable, bookmarkable views Your active filters — and the RFQ (and supplier) you currently have open — are all kept in the page address. Copy the link to share the exact view with a colleague or bookmark it; reopening the link restores the same filters and reopens the same RFQ and supplier. A stale or hand-edited link can never break the page: unknown values are silently dropped and every filter falls back to empty. ## Get notified when a supplier quotes You can opt in to a notification that fires the moment a supplier submits — or revises — a quotation on any RFQ. It reads, for example, *"Acme Instruments submitted quotation for total of ₹74,092"* (a revision reads *"… revised quotation — total ₹74,092"*), with *"On RFQ 2026-00123"* underneath. Turn it on under *Settings → Notifications*, in the *Purchase* group, entry *"When a vendor submits a quotation."* It is **off by default** and only appears to users who hold the *Submit Quotation on Vendor's Behalf* permission (the same one that gates this page). It can reach you on your PC and, if you have enabled it, as a phone push. See [Notifications](/docs/settings/notifications). Clicking the notification opens this page with that RFQ already open and the supplier's quotation showing on top, so you land straight on the rates they sent. ## Open an RFQ Clicking a row (or *Open* / *View*) opens the RFQ detail modal. It has a header, a meta card, and a table of every supplier on the RFQ. ### Header Shows the RFQ number (`2026-00123`, or *Procurement Enquiry* if the number was never minted) and a status chip. ### Meta card - *Enquiry No* — a legacy human reference key. It is never auto-filled, so it usually reads `—`. - *Sent* — the date and time the RFQ was released, or *Not yet released*. - *Sent By* — the user who released it. - *Closing Date* — the vendor-facing deadline, or `—`. - *Vendors Invited* — how many supplier rows are on this RFQ. - *Created By* / *Created* — who first built the cart and when. - *Awards* — line items with a live award versus total line items, e.g. `0/4`. - *Closed* — shown only once the RFQ is closed: the close date/time and who closed it. - *Notes* — the free-text note carried on the cart, if any. - *Reason* — the close reason, if one was given. ### Supplier table One row per supplier invitation, showing *Supplier*, *Contact Person* (with email), the *Product Codes* and *Qty* they were asked to quote, the *Make(s)* requested, a *Status* chip, and a *View* button that opens the vendor detail page. Invitations that were cancelled or superseded stay in this table (for audit) and are labelled by their status. A small *"N follow-ups"* line appears under a supplier's status once at least one chase has gone out. The per-supplier *Status* chip uses this vocabulary: - *Invited* — created but not yet emailed. - *Emailed* — the RFQ email has been sent. - *Quoted* — the supplier has submitted a quotation. - *No-bid* — the supplier declined, or was auto-flipped after too many unanswered follow-ups. - *Superseded* — this invitation was replaced by a newer one when the cart matrix changed before release. - *Closed* — this supplier's invitation was cancelled (per-vendor, or by an enquiry-wide close). Internally this is still the `cancelled` state; it is shown as *Closed* everywhere. When the whole RFQ is closed, suppliers who never acted (*invited* / *emailed* / cancelled) show a single *Closed* chip, while suppliers with a meaningful own state (*quoted*, *no-bid*, *superseded*) show both their own chip and the *Closed* event chip — so you can see "this vendor quoted, but the RFQ is now closed" at a glance. Click a supplier's *View* to open the vendor detail page, where you fill or read their rates and generate a purchase order — see [Vendor responses](/docs/procurement/vendor-responses). ### RFQ detail options menu The menu at the top-right of the modal offers: - *Refresh* — reload the modal's data. - *Close Enquiry* — stop accepting quotes and cancel every open invitation. Shown only while the enquiry is not already closed, and only if you have *Close Enquiry* (`procurement.closeEnquiry`) or the legacy *Cancel Sourcing Event* (`procurement.cancelEnquiry`) permission. See [Close an enquiry](#close-an-enquiry). - *Reopen Enquiry* — revive a closed enquiry. Shown only when the enquiry is closed and you hold *Reopen Closed Enquiry* (`procurement.reopenEnquiry`). See [Reopen an enquiry](#reopen-an-enquiry). - *View Reopen History* — the full lifecycle timeline. Shown only after the enquiry has been reopened at least once. See [Lifecycle history](#lifecycle-history). ## Close an enquiry *Close Enquiry* pops a *Close enquiry?* confirmation warning that no further quotes will be accepted and that all open vendor invitations will also be cancelled. A *Reason (optional)* field (up to `500` characters, e.g. "lost to vendor X", "requirement dropped") is saved to the audit trail. On confirm, the server: - Blocks the action if the enquiry is already closed (nothing to do). - Records who closed it, when, and the reason. - Cascades every still-open invitation to *Closed* — that is, every invitation not already *cancelled*, *superseded*, or *no-bid*. A supplier who already quoted keeps their quotation on file; only the invitation's state changes. - Snapshots which invitations it closed, so a later reopen can restore each one exactly. A close can be done from any live state (*Released*, *Quoted*, *Awarded*) — including manually, before the closing date passes, when you took a winning quote out-of-band. To close only one supplier while keeping the rest live, do it from that supplier's vendor detail page instead — see [Vendor responses](/docs/procurement/vendor-responses). ### Auto-close when the deadline passes If an RFQ has a *Closing Date* and that moment passes while the enquiry is still *Released* or *Quoted*, the system closes it automatically the next time anyone reads the list or opens it. The close reason is recorded as *"Closing date passed"* with no user attributed. Unlike a manual close, the auto-close does **not** cancel the vendor invitations — each keeps its real state (a vendor who quoted stays *Quoted*), because a lapsed deadline is not the same as you dropping the vendors. On both the buyer and supplier sides the enquiry then reads as closed and stops accepting new submissions. ## Reopen an enquiry *Reopen Enquiry* pops a *Reopen enquiry?* dialog. Reopening **requires a new closing date and time in the future** — you must pick one before the *Reopen enquiry* button will proceed (a past or empty date is rejected both in the dialog and on the server). Without a fresh future deadline the next auto-close sweep would immediately close the enquiry again. An optional *Reason* field (up to `500` characters) is saved to the audit trail. On confirm, the server: - Blocks the action unless the enquiry is currently closed, and re-checks the deadline is in the future. - Restores the enquiry to whatever status it held right before the most recent enquiry-wide close (e.g. back to *Released* or *Quoted*). - Brings every invitation that *that close* cancelled back to its exact pre-close status. - Stamps the new closing date and clears the closed marker. Per-vendor closes that happened *before* the enquiry-wide close stay closed — they were intentional and were not part of the cascade. Reopen those individually from the [Vendor responses](/docs/procurement/vendor-responses) page (which needs the enquiry itself to be open first). For very old enquiries closed before this feature existed (no snapshot on record), reopen makes a best-effort restore: the enquiry returns to *Released* and any still-cancelled invitations on it are set back to *Emailed*. ## Lifecycle history *View Reopen History* opens the *Enquiry Lifecycle* timeline — every state transition on the enquiry in order, each as a card with an action chip, the person who did it, the status change (from → to), any reason, and, on a reopen, the new closing date that was set. Recognised actions include *Created*, *Released*, *Matrix Updated*, *Follow-Up Sent*, *Vendor Emailed*, *Quotation Received*, *Award Placed*, *Award Reverted*, *Closed*, *Reopened*, *Auto No-Bid*, *PO Generated*, and *Updated*. Legacy `cancel` entries render as *Closed* so old timelines read consistently. The same timeline, filtered to a single supplier, is available from that supplier's actions menu on the [Vendor responses](/docs/procurement/vendor-responses) page. ## Options dropdown The dropdown at the top-right of the list (the sliders icon) opens supporting controls: - *Toggle Columns* — a submenu to show, hide, and reorder the table columns. Tick a column to show it; drag the grip handle to reorder; the *Reset* link restores defaults. Choices are remembered per device. - *Refresh* — reload the current page of results. - *Reset Filters* — clear every active search filter at once. - *Vendor Follow-up* — open the bulk chase screen for suppliers who have not replied. Shown only to users with the *Submit Quotation on Vendor's Behalf* permission. See [Vendor follow-up](/docs/procurement/vendor-follow-up). ## What the statuses mean - *Draft* — the cart is still being built and has not been released. Drafts do not appear in this list by default. - *Released* — the RFQ has been sent to suppliers and is awaiting responses. - *Quoted* — at least one supplier has submitted a quotation. - *Awarded* — line items have been awarded to suppliers. - *Closed* — the enquiry is finished and accepts no further quotes (closed manually, by cascade, or because the closing date passed). This is the only terminal state. Older enquiries recorded under the previous internal names (`quoting`/`evaluating` → *Quoted*, `cancelled` → *Closed*) are shown under the current names automatically and self-correct on the server over time. ## Common questions ### Why don't I see any drafts here? By design. A draft cart lives in [RFQ Cart](/docs/procurement/rfq-cart) until you release it; only released (and later) enquiries appear in this history. The *Status* filter doesn't even offer *Draft*. ### What do I do once a supplier has quoted? Open the RFQ row, click the supplier's *View* in the modal, and from the vendor detail page either generate a purchase order or fill/edit their rates. See [Vendor responses](/docs/procurement/vendor-responses) and [Create a purchase order](/docs/procurement/create-purchase-order). ### How do I close an RFQ for one supplier only? From the RFQ modal, open that supplier's vendor detail page and choose *Close Enquiry* there. Only that supplier's invitation closes; the rest of the RFQ stays live. See [Vendor responses](/docs/procurement/vendor-responses). ### How do I close the whole RFQ? From the RFQ detail modal's options menu, choose *Close Enquiry* and optionally add a reason. Closing the whole RFQ also cancels every open vendor invitation on it — vendors who haven't quoted yet see the public link as closed. ### I closed an enquiry by mistake — can I undo it? Yes, if you have the *Reopen Closed Enquiry* permission. The RFQ detail modal shows *Reopen Enquiry* in its options menu. You must set a new future closing date. It restores the enquiry to its pre-close status and brings the vendors it cascade-cancelled back to their previous state. Per-vendor closes made before the enquiry-wide close stay closed and need their own reopen from the vendor page. ### An RFQ closed on its own — why? Its *Closing Date* passed while it was still open, so it auto-closed. The vendor states are untouched (anyone who quoted still shows *Quoted*). To keep collecting quotes, reopen it with a new future deadline. ### Why is the RFQ No column blank on a row? That enquiry is still a draft and hasn't been released, so no RFQ number has been minted yet. It gets one at release. ### Where can I change the RFQ number format? Firm-wide, under *Settings → Firm Customisation → Procurement → RFQ Personalisation*. See [RFQ number format](/docs/settings/document-templates#rfq-number-format). ### How do I link a procurement enquiry back to a customer enquiry? Start the cart from the customer's enquiry in the Enquiry Bank rather than here — see [View an enquiry](/docs/enquiry-bank/view-enquiry) and [Procurement overview](/docs/procurement/overview). Each RFQ line item keeps a reference to the customer enquiry it came from.