Product tools · Order stage
BetaQuotation-to-PO review: compare what you quoted with what the purchase order requires
The Quotation-to-PO Review compares your quotation, clarifications and deviation register with the customer's purchase order and its attachments. It finds obligations the PO added, deviations it rejected, and scope or commercial changes. You get cited findings for sales, contracts and project managers to settle before you acknowledge the order.
Quotation-to-PO Review is in beta. Request access and we onboard each team ourselves: we run your first real documents with you and check the results together.
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What goes in and what you get out
What goes in
- Original RFQ (optional)
- Quotation (required)
- Purchase order (required)
- PO attachments (optional, several files)
- Deviation register (optional)
- Clarifications (optional, several files)
What it checks
- Identify new obligations
- Identify rejected deviations
- Identify scope differences
- Identify commercially significant changes
What you get out
- A list of new obligations the PO adds beyond your quoted position
- Deviations you declared that the PO rejects or leaves unresolved
- Scope differences, such as changed quantities and added or removed lines
- Commercially significant changes, each with quotes from the quotation and the PO, exportable as CSV or JSON
Who uses it: Project managers, Sales and contracts engineers, Order management teams, Bid engineers.
20 questions about the Quotation-to-PO Review
What is a quotation-to-PO review?
It is the check a supplier makes when a purchase order arrives: does the order match what was quoted? You compare the PO and everything attached to it with your quotation, your deviations and the clarifications agreed during the tender. Many companies call this contract review or order review. Its goal is to find differences before you acknowledge the order.
Why can a purchase order differ from the quotation?
The buyer often writes the PO from their own templates, not from your offer. They may attach their general terms, a newer specification revision or their full document requirements. Deviations you declared may not be carried into the PO. Quantities or lines can change after the tender. None of this is always deliberate, but each difference can cost you money if it goes unnoticed.
What does the Quotation-to-PO Review check?
It first works out your quoted position from the quotation, clarifications and deviation register. Then it reviews every obligation in the purchase order and its attachments against that position. It reports new obligations, rejected deviations, scope differences and commercially significant changes. Each finding quotes both the quotation and the PO, so you can see the difference for yourself.
Which documents do I upload to the Quotation-to-PO Review?
Two are required: your quotation and the purchase order. You can add the original RFQ, the PO attachments, your deviation register and the clarifications exchanged during the tender. Attachments matter most, because many new obligations sit in attached terms and conditions rather than in the PO itself. It reads PDF, Word, Excel and CSV files.
How do you compare a purchase order with your quotation by hand?
Lay the quotation and the PO side by side. Check each line's item, quantity, price and delivery. Then read every PO clause and attachment, and ask whether it was in the RFQ or your offer. Check that each deviation you declared is accepted in the PO. Note every difference for the customer. It is slow because terms hide in long attachments.
What do teams most often miss when checking a PO?
The usual misses sit in the attachments: general terms with a longer warranty, a bank guarantee or bond, or a request for EN 10204 3.2 certificates where you quoted 3.1. Other misses are a deviation the PO never mentions, a newer specification revision, and a changed quantity on one line. Each one changes your cost or risk if accepted silently.
What is a new obligation in a purchase order?
A new obligation is something the PO asks for that was not in your quoted position. Examples are an extra test, a third-party inspection, a longer warranty, extra documents or a different certificate type. If you accept the PO without raising it, you are likely bound to deliver it at your own cost. The tool lists each one with the clause that adds it.
What is a rejected deviation?
A rejected deviation is an exception you declared in your offer that the customer has not accepted in the order. The PO may say all specifications apply in full, or it may reject a deviation in writing. A deviation that is simply not mentioned is also a risk, since the order may override it. The tool reports both rejected and unresolved deviations.
What counts as a scope difference between quote and PO?
Scope differences are changes to what you supply. Examples are a different quantity, a line added that you did not quote, a line removed, a changed item description, or extra services such as site support or spares. The Quotation-to-PO Review compares the lines and scope in both documents and lists each difference, with a quote from each side.
What is a commercially significant change?
It is a change that affects your price, cash flow or risk. Typical ones are price, payment terms, delivery dates, delivery terms, warranty length, liquidated damages and guarantees or bonds. They often sit in the commercial terms attached to the PO. The tool flags these changes separately, so commercial and contracts staff can review them alongside the technical ones.
What is an order acknowledgement?
An order acknowledgement is the supplier's formal reply accepting a purchase order. It is the usual place to list any exceptions, such as rejected deviations or terms you cannot accept. Many POs set a deadline for it, and some say the order is accepted if you start work or do not reply. That is why the PO check should happen before you acknowledge.
When should a supplier ask for a change order?
Ask for a change order, sometimes called a variation, when the customer wants something beyond the agreed scope or terms. That includes extra tests, documents or quantities added after the order. Raising it early, with the clause and the quoted position side by side, makes it easier to agree. The tool's findings give you that evidence for each difference.
What does the customer expect after issuing a purchase order?
Most customers expect an acknowledgement within a set number of days, with any exceptions clearly listed. They also expect the first documents from their document list, such as drawings and the inspection and test plan, by the agreed dates. Raising differences at acknowledgement is normal and expected. Raising them months later, during manufacturing, is much harder to agree.
Does the tool read the clarifications agreed during the tender?
Yes, if you upload them. Clarifications and technical query replies often change your quoted position, for example by withdrawing a deviation or agreeing an alternative. The tool includes them when it works out what you actually offered. Without them, it can only compare the PO with the quotation itself, which may flag points the customer already agreed.
What do I get back from the Quotation-to-PO Review?
You get findings grouped into new obligations, rejected deviations, scope differences and commercially significant changes. Each finding quotes the PO clause and your quoted position, and names the document each quote comes from. You can export the results as CSV or JSON, then use them to write your order acknowledgement and any change order requests.
Does the tool decide whether to accept the purchase order?
No. It finds and quotes the differences; your team decides what to accept, what to challenge and what to price. It does not give legal advice and it does not contact the customer. It also does not invent contract terms: if a point is not in the documents you upload, it does not appear in the findings.
What are the limits of the Quotation-to-PO Review?
It only compares the documents you upload. If general terms are referenced by a web link or a document you did not include, it cannot read them. It reads text and tables, not engineering drawings. It does not judge whether a change is acceptable for your business. The tool is in beta, so we review each team's first runs with them.
Why check the PO against the RFQ as well as the quotation?
The RFQ shows what the customer asked for at tender. If the PO asks for something that was neither in the RFQ nor in your quotation, it is clearly new. If it was in the RFQ but you took a deviation, the question is whether that deviation was accepted. Adding the RFQ helps separate these cases. It is optional.
Is the Quotation-to-PO Review available now?
The Quotation-to-PO Review is in beta. You can request access, and we onboard each team ourselves: we agree a real quotation and purchase order to start with, run them with you, and check the results together. That way you see how it handles your customer's documents before you rely on it. Document Review, our production tool, is generally available.
Which tools come before and after the Quotation-to-PO Review?
Before it, the Deviation Register records the deviations you declared at tender, and that register is one of this tool's inputs. After it, the VDRL/MDR Tracker turns the customer's document list from the order into a register with due dates, so the documents the PO asks for are tracked from the start.
Where it sits in the order lifecycle
Related standards, guides and templates
Try the Quotation-to-PO Review on your own documents
Tell us which documents you want to check first. We set up your workspace and run the first package with you.