Recording Vendor Quotes and Invoices on an Order
Capture a vendor's quote or invoice on an order at line, group or document pricing, add tax and fees, compare quotes, and award the order by choosing one.
A vendor's quote and invoice belong on the order they answer, as structured documents rather than attachments. Recorded that way, BackOps can compare what each vendor quoted against your estimate, show what was invoiced against what was quoted, and move the order's status as the paperwork arrives. This page covers entering documents by hand. To have AI read the lines off a PDF or image for you, see reading vendor documents with AI.
Documents live on the order's Documents tab. Each row shows the vendor, type, received date, total and status: Captured for a recorded document, Chosen for the winning quote, or the reading state of an upload still being processed.
Quotes, invoices and what they do to status
- A quote is what a vendor says they will charge. One order can collect several quotes from competing vendors. The first quote on an external order makes it Quoted.
- An invoice is what a vendor billed. An invoice on an external order makes it Confirmed, and invoice totals become the amount payments are measured against.
You can add documents at any point in the order's life. They are not locked when the order is sent.
Pricing levels
Vendors do not all itemize, so every document has a Pricing level that says where its subtotal comes from:
| Pricing level | Subtotal is | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Line | The sum of the line totals. | The vendor priced each item. |
| Group | The sum of the subtotals you enter for each group. | The vendor priced sections, such as Audio and Lighting, but not the items inside them. |
| Document | The single subtotal you enter for the whole document. | The vendor gave one number for everything. |
At Group and Document level you still list the resources the document covers, so it stays linked to the right needs, but per-resource prices are unknown and show as a dash rather than zero.
Adjustments sit on top of the subtotal: Tax, Fee, Service charge, Gratuity, Shipping, Discount or Other, each with an optional label. The document's Total is the subtotal plus its adjustments, and a discount reduces it.
Add a quote or invoice
Open the Documents tab
Set the type and vendor
Choose Quote or Invoice for Type, pick the Vendor from the event's collaborators, and set the Received date if you have it. A vendor is required.
Choose the pricing level
Add what the document covers
Select Add resource to pick the order needs the document prices, with a quantity and, at Line level, a unit price. At Group level, use Add group in the same menu to create each priced section and assign resources to it.
Add adjustments
Attach the file and save
Drop the vendor's file under Vendor's document if you want it kept with the record, then select Add quote or Add invoice.
When you drop a file in, you are asked whether to Read it for me or Just attach it. Reading hands the file to AI and opens a review page instead of saving the form; see reading vendor documents with AI.
Lines you add by hand are the vendor's charges for resources. A document read by AI can also carry Reimbursable lines, for things the vendor paid for and billed back, such as parking. Those count toward the document total, so it matches the paper, but they never link to a need; the document card shows how much of its total is reimbursable.
To change a document later, open its row or choose Edit quote or Edit invoice from its actions. The type cannot change after capture; delete the document and add it again instead.
Compare quotes and award the order
When an order has two or more quotes, Compare quotes appears on the Documents tab. It lines the quotes up side by side by Subtotal, Tax, Fees, Total and Drift vs Estimated, the difference between each quote and the order's estimated cost.
Pick the winning quote
Confirm
Choosing a quote does three things. It sets the order's Vendor to that quote's vendor. It moves an external order to Awarded, which means you have picked a vendor but they may not know yet. And the chosen quote's total becomes the order's Quoted figure and, until an invoice arrives, the amount payments are measured against. Only one quote can be chosen at a time; choosing another moves the award and the vendor.
Awarded does not secure the order's units for coverage. They stay awaiting until the order is confirmed, either by an invoice or by marking it confirmed. See the order status reference.