A quotation is an offer by a vendor to a purchasing organization regarding the supply of materials or performance of services subject to specified conditions.

A quotation is legally binding on the vendor for a certain period. The quotation is the vendor’s response to a request for quotation issued by a purchasing organization.

A quotation consists of items in which the total quantity and delivery date of an offered material or service are specified.

An item of a quotation may contain a delivery schedule made up of a number of schedule lines in which the total quantity is broken down into smaller quantities to be delivered on the specified dates over a certain period.

An item of the procurement type External service contains a set of service specifications. The latter can be hierarchically structured. The summary view of such a hierarchical structure is referred to as an outline. The outline comprises a number of levels, each representing a level of the service hierarchy. The quantities of the quotation are set out in service lines, representing individual jobs or activities.

If services cannot be defined precisely, value limits are stipulated instead of service lines. Value limits can be set for certain contracts.

Conditions can apply at various levels:

• To the entire quotation

• At item level, to the material to be supplied or to the planned procurement in the case of services

• At service line level for individual services (tasks or activities)