Quotation Comparison Approval
Tie supplier selection to approval — record the rationale behind every decision.
What problem does it solve?
After the request for quotation, comparison happens — but the choice of supplier is often not subject to approval; the decision stays informal and the rationale can't be shown at audit.
How does the solution work?
Conforcus's quotation comparison solution brings the comparison outcome into a formal approval process. The selected supplier — together with its rationale — cannot advance to the order stage without clearing the approver.
What changes in practice?
The process picks up where the RFQ and price comparison steps in MM leave off. Once the buyer has compared the quotations received and identified the preferred supplier, the selection is submitted for approval together with its rationale, and the approval workflow passes the comparison outcome to the relevant approver. The approver decides with the compared quotations, the selected supplier and the rationale in view. Until approval is complete the selected quotation cannot be converted into a purchase order, and a rejected selection returns to procurement for reassessment. Control is thus established when the supplier is chosen, not after the order has been raised.
In day-to-day work, supplier selection ends in a decision recorded on the document rather than in an informal agreement. The buyer writes down the reason for the choice at the moment of decision, so the rationale does not have to be reconstructed later, particularly where the lowest-priced quotation was not the one selected. For procurement management, supplier decisions stop depending on individuals and become part of a defined approval process. Internal audit and finance can trace from the document chain which comparison an order rests on, why the supplier was chosen and who approved the selection.
Benefits
- Supplier selection moves from informal to formally approved
- Decision rationale documented — clear evidence at audit
- An unapproved quotation can't become an order; control set upfront
Where it sits in SAP
Integrated with MM RFQ / price comparison processes; uses an approval workflow built on the comparison outcome.
Who it is for: Procurement Director, Internal Audit, Finance
Frequently asked questions
Does the solution change the quotation comparison itself, or add approval on top of it?
RFQ and price comparison continue to run through the MM processes; the solution is integrated with those steps and builds an approval workflow on the comparison outcome. Quotations are recorded and compared with the usual documents. What is new is that the selection, together with its rationale, is tied to formal approval.
How does the process work when we do not pick the lowest-priced quotation, and what happens if the approver rejects?
The selection always goes to approval together with its rationale, and where a choice other than the lowest price is made, that rationale is recorded as the basis of the decision. The approver assesses the comparison outcome, the selected supplier and the rationale together. A rejected selection returns to procurement and can be resubmitted with a stronger rationale or with a different quotation selected.
How is the order created after approval, and what can we show in an audit?
Once approval is complete the selected quotation advances to the order stage; an unapproved quotation cannot become an order. The selected supplier, the rationale for the selection and who approved it and when are all on record. In an audit, these records show which quotation comparison an order rests on and why the supplier was chosen.