An RFQ template is a ready-made request for quotation that asks several suppliers to price the same items on the same terms. Because every quote comes back in one format, you can compare them line by line and pick the best offer.
A request for quote template is the document a buyer sends when it already knows exactly what it needs and only wants prices. It fixes the items, quantities, specifications and terms, then leaves the price columns blank for each supplier to complete.
Purchasing teams use an RFQ for standard goods and well-defined services: laptops, packaging, spare parts, printing, cleaning or a fixed number of software licences. If you still need suppliers to propose how to solve a problem, an RFP fits better.
The value is comparability. When three suppliers price the same lines on the same delivery and payment terms, the cheapest compliant quote is easy to see, and so is the supplier that quietly changed the specification.
Your company name, address, contact person, email and phone, the issue date and an RFQ number.
Space for the supplier's legal name, address, contact and tax or registration number.
What you are buying, the timeline and the deadline for submitting a quote.
Item number, description and specifications, part or model number, quantity, unit price and total, with prices left blank.
Delivery date, shipping terms such as FOB or DDP, payment terms such as Net 30 and how long the quote stays valid.
Ready to use in Word, Google Docs, PDF and Excel. Fill it in, save it, reuse it.
Write down every item, quantity and specification. Vague lines produce quotes you cannot compare.
Choose three to five suppliers who can meet the spec and deliver on time.
Send the same RFQ to all of them on the same day, with one deadline and one contact for questions.
Put every quote into the comparison sheet and check landed cost, not just unit price.
Tell the winner, raise a purchase order and let the other suppliers know the outcome.
The simplest RFQ is one page: who you are, what you need, a blank price table, and the deadline. Add shipping, payment and validity terms when the order is large.
Copy this outline into your document and keep the order, because suppliers expect it. Put the RFQ number on every page, so replies never get mixed up. The download is laid out as a two-page form.
Buyer name, billing and delivery address, contact name, email, phone, issue date and RFQ number, for example RFQ-2026-014.
Blank fields for the supplier's legal name, address, contact, email, phone and VAT or company registration number.
Two or three sentences on what you are buying and why, the delivery timeline and the quote deadline with a time and time zone.
One row per item: item number, description and specification, part or model number, quantity, unit price and total price. The supplier fills the last two columns.
Delivery date and location, shipping terms, payment terms, quote validity, warranty and how to submit the quote.
Ask these alongside the pricing table so every quote answers the same points.
| Section | Question to the supplier | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Are prices fixed for the validity period? | Stops price changes between quote and order. |
| Pricing | What volume breaks apply above the stated quantity? | Shows the cost of ordering more later. |
| Delivery | What is your lead time from purchase order? | Confirms you can meet the delivery date. |
| Specification | Does every line match the spec exactly? List any substitutes. | Catches cheaper alternatives priced as equivalents. |
| Terms | Do you accept our payment terms? If not, state yours. | Avoids surprises after award. |
| Company | Who will be our account contact after the order? | Gives you a named person for issues. |
Keep the item, description, part number and quantity columns locked, so suppliers can only fill the price columns. Ask for prices excluding tax, with shipping and set-up on separate lines. That way every quote adds up the same way.
| Item # | Description and spec | Part / model # | Qty | Unit price | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laptop, 14 inch, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD | LT-14-16-512 | 40 | ||
| 2 | USB-C docking station | DK-USBC-02 | 40 | ||
| 3 | 24 inch monitor, height adjustable | MN-24-HA | 80 | ||
| 4 | Delivery to one site | N/A | 1 | ||
| 5 | Imaging and set-up per device | SVC-IMG | 40 | ||
| Total excluding tax |
Illustrative RFQ from Harbour Facilities. Price columns are left blank for the supplier.
Works in Excel and Google Sheets. Headers in row 1, items from row 2.
| Col | Header | Entry or formula | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Item # | Number | Line reference used in every reply |
| B | Description and spec | Text | Exact specification, locked |
| C | Part / model # | Text | Manufacturer reference, locked |
| D | Qty | Number | Quantity required, locked |
| E | Unit price | Currency, supplier fills | Price per unit excluding tax |
| F | Total | =D2*E2 | Line total |
| G | Tax rate | Percentage, e.g. 20% | Your local VAT or sales tax rate |
| H | Tax | =F2*G2 | Tax on the line |
| I | Total including tax | =F2+H2 | What the line costs |
| Summary | Formula |
|---|---|
| Total excluding tax | =SUM(F2:F50) |
| Total tax | =SUM(H2:H50) |
| Quote total | =SUM(I2:I50) |
| Lines left unpriced | =COUNTIFS(A2:A50, |
Two quotes with the same unit price can cost very different amounts once shipping, payment timing and validity are counted. Set these terms yourself rather than accepting each supplier's defaults. If a supplier cannot meet one, ask them to say so in the quote.
| Term | What to state | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery date | Latest date goods or services must arrive | By 14 Nov 2026 |
| Delivery location | Full site address and any access hours | Unit 4, Harbour Park, weekdays 8-4 |
| Shipping terms | Who pays freight and carries risk in transit | DDP (supplier delivers, duties paid) or FOB |
| Payment terms | When you pay after a correct invoice | Net 30 |
| Quote validity | How long prices must hold | 60 days from the quote deadline |
| Warranty | Minimum cover and who handles returns | 3 years, on-site |
| Submission | Format, address and deadline | PDF and Excel to the procurement inbox by 5pm, 24 Oct |
Illustrative terms. Shipping terms are Incoterms rules; confirm the version with your supplier.
Subject: Request for quotation [RFQ number]: [Short description] Hello [Supplier contact], [Company] invites you to quote for [items or service], as set out in the attached RFQ. Please complete the pricing table and return it with any notes by [time, date and time zone] to [email]. Quotes should remain valid for [60] days and be based on [DDP] delivery to [site] by [date], with [Net 30] payment terms. Send any questions to me by [date]. I will share answers with all suppliers invited. Thank you, [Name] [Role], [Company] [Phone]
The lowest unit price often hides extra delivery, set-up or a shorter warranty. Normalise every quote to the same quantity, terms and currency before you rank them. Mark any quote that changed the specification as non-compliant rather than cheaper.
| Line | Acme Office Supply | Kestrel Data | Northwind Logistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laptops (40) | 38,400.00 | 36,800.00 | 37,600.00 |
| Docking stations (40) | 4,800.00 | 5,200.00 | 4,400.00 |
| Monitors (80) | 14,400.00 | 13,600.00 | 14,000.00 |
| Delivery | Included | 650.00 | 400.00 |
| Set-up (40) | 1,600.00 | 2,400.00 | 2,000.00 |
| Lead time | 12 days | 25 days | 10 days |
| Spec match | Full | Monitor substituted | Full |
| Total excluding tax | 59,200.00 | 58,650.00 | 58,400.00 |
Illustrative quotes. Kestrel has the cheapest laptops but substituted a monitor, so it fails the spec check whatever its total.
| Check | Formula |
|---|---|
| Lowest total | =MIN(B9:D9) |
| Supplier with lowest total | =INDEX(B1:D1, |
| Gap to second lowest | =SMALL(B9:D9, |
Pick the document by how well you know what you need. If you could write the purchase order today apart from the price, send an RFQ. If you cannot yet write the specification, start with an RFI or RFP.
| RFI | RFP | RFQ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stands for | Request for information | Request for proposal | Request for quotation |
| You know | The problem | The outcome you want | The exact items and quantities |
| Suppliers send | Capabilities and background | A proposed solution and price | Prices against your lines |
| Decided on | Who to shortlist | Weighted score of solution, fit and cost | Lowest compliant total cost |
| Typical use | Exploring a new market | Software, consulting, outsourced services | Hardware, supplies, parts, fixed services |
More detail in the guide to the difference between RFQ and RFP.
Before the RFQ goes out, Spendflo routes the purchase request through intake and approvals.
See how it worksFree on board: the supplier loads the goods and risk passes to you at the named port or point.
Delivered duty paid: the supplier delivers to your site and covers freight and import duties.
You pay the full invoice within 30 days of the invoice date.
How many days the supplier must honour its quoted prices.
Total cost to get the item to your site: price, freight, duties and set-up.
Days between your purchase order and delivery.
Include model numbers or measurable specs so substitutes are obvious.
Enough for competition, few enough that each supplier takes the request seriously.
State delivery, payment and validity terms so quotes are directly comparable.
If one supplier asks a question, send the answer to all invited suppliers.
Tell unsuccessful suppliers the outcome so they quote again next time.
Delivery, set-up and warranty can reverse the ranking.
Insist on your pricing table so every line lines up.
Extend for everyone or no one, or the process loses credibility.
If you cannot define the items, the quotes will not compare.
Add your company details, an RFQ number, the issue date and the quote deadline.
Enter each line with spec, part number and quantity, then lock those columns.
Choose delivery, shipping, payment and validity terms, then email the RFQ to every supplier at once.
Load replies into the comparison sheet, check compliance and raise a PO for the winner.
Kestrel Data quoted 58,650.00 but substituted a cheaper monitor and needed 25 days. Northwind Logistics quoted 58,400.00 with a full spec match and a 10-day lead time, so Harbour awarded it the order and raised a purchase order the same day. Illustrative figures.
Every part on this page, in Word, Google Docs, PDF and Excel, with the examples filled in.
Add part numbers, shipping terms such as FOB or DDP, lead times and warranty.
Price by visit, hour or month, define the service levels and leave out shipping.
Quote per seat per year, list editions and term length, and ask for renewal price caps.
Best for the RFQ document.
Best for the pricing table and comparison.
Best for sending a fixed version.
$3.7B in software spend processed through Spendflo, at 30% average savings.
See your savingsA good RFQ template fixes the items and terms so the only thing that varies is the price. That makes the best offer easy to spot and hard to argue with.
Quick answers to what people ask most about the rfq template.
An RFQ follows five sections: company information, vendor information, a project summary, a pricing table and terms and requirements. Download the template on this page to get that format ready to fill in Word, Google Docs or Excel.
An RFQ asks suppliers to price items you have already specified, while an RFP asks them to propose and price a solution to a problem. The free download includes a side-by-side comparison of RFQ, RFP and RFI.
A typical RFQ is one to three pages: a header with buyer and RFQ number, a short project summary, a line-item pricing table with blank price columns and a list of terms. You can download a complete example from this page.
RFQ stands for request for quotation, sometimes called a request for quote. It is the document buyers send to get comparable prices from several suppliers, and you can download a free one here.
You can download a free RFQ template in Excel from this page, with a locked pricing table, totals formulas and a quote comparison sheet. Word, Google Docs and PDF versions of the full RFQ are included too.
Sourcing and RFx
Purchase orders
Contracts
Vendor management
Budgets and business cases
Procurement
Accounts payable
Purchasing
Software buying
Supply chain
Spendflo handles intake, approvals and contracts around the purchase, with pricing benchmarks for software, so you know a fair price before you ask for one.
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