Business Value
- Shows what every vendor charges before the price is typed.
- Fills the unit price and vendor from the price you pick.
- Limits selection to the three cheapest offers.
- Marks expired quotes. Old prices are not used by mistake.
- Prints the best offers per line for the approver.
Use Cases
- Buyer compares three vendors on a request line and takes the cheapest.
- Purchasing manager approves a request and sees the alternatives on the printout.
- Cost controller checks that a line was raised against a current price.
How It Works
Before, the buyer typed the unit price on each line by hand. There was no view of what other vendors charge. The request line is now connected to Vendor Price Lists.
The Comparison Icon
An icon sits next to the unit price on each line item. Click it to open the comparison for that line’s item. The icon appears only when both of these are true:- You are the request’s buyer. For everyone else the price is read-only, and the icon is hidden.
- The line’s item has prices recorded. An item with no price list shows no icon. Neither does a new row with no item chosen.
The Comparison Window
The window lists every recorded vendor price for the item:
The three cheapest prices are listed first. They are the only ones you can pick. The rest are shown below for reference.
Close the window with the × in its header or the Close button.
Picking a Price
Picking one of the three cheapest fills in the unit price and the vendor on that line. The line total is worked out again as quantity × unit price − discount. The window then closes.On the Printout
The Purchase Request print shows the three cheapest vendor prices under each item that has them. The approver sees the alternatives without opening the system.- The price picked on the line is marked when it is one of those three.
- Expired quotes are marked.
- A line whose item has no recorded prices prints nothing extra.