Vendor Rate Proposals
Let vendors submit their own prices through their portal, then review, compare, and approve them so your rate book stays current.
Use this when: You want vendors to keep their own prices up to date, or you have received proposed rates and need to review and approve them before they take effect.
A rate proposal is a price a vendor suggests for a material. Vendors submit proposals from their portal; your procurement team reviews each one and approves or rejects it. Approved proposals update the vendor's official rate, which then flows into rate comparison, estimates, and purchase orders.
How Rate Proposals Work
Keeping vendor prices current is hard work if your team types in every change. Rate proposals shift that effort to the vendor: from their Vendor Portal, they submit the rates they are offering, and your team simply reviews them.
Nothing changes in your system until your team approves a proposal. Until then it is just a suggestion waiting for review — your official rates are never altered without a decision.
Vendors propose, your team decides, and only approved proposals change your rate book.
Reviewing a Proposal
- 1
Open the proposal
See the material, the proposed rate, the unit, and which vendor submitted it.
- 2
Compare with current rates
Check the proposed price against the vendor's existing rate and other vendors using Rate Comparison.
- 3
Approve or reject
Approving updates the vendor's official rate; rejecting leaves the current rate untouched. The vendor can see the outcome in their portal.
Approved rates flow everywhere
Once approved, the new rate is used automatically in rate comparison, material estimates, and new purchase orders — so your numbers stay consistent.
Good Practice
Ask vendors to submit proposals rather than emailing price lists, so changes are tracked in one place.
Review proposals promptly so quotes and purchase orders use up-to-date prices.
Reject clearly when a proposal is too high; the vendor keeps their previous rate and can submit again.
Use rate comparison before approving, so you understand how the new price ranks against others.