---
title: "Quote Form Templates \u2014 Ask Each Vendor the Right Questions"
space: "Setup Guide"
url: "https://jmtradelink.com/setup/quote-form-templates"
updated: "2026-08-19"
---

Not every vendor sells the same thing. A shipping line needs to tell you the vessel, the sailing dates and how many free days you get at the destination port. A bag supplier needs to tell you the bag weight, the colour and how fast they can deliver. Asking both the same questions wastes everybody's time — and asking a bag supplier to "book with the main shipping line only" makes you look careless.

A **Quote Form Template** is how you say, once, what a particular kind of purchase should ask. Every RFQ of that kind then carries the right conditions in its email and the right questions on the vendor's quote page, automatically.

## What a template controls

Each template holds three things:

| Part | What it does | Where the vendor sees it |
|---|---|---|
| **Our Requirements** | Conditions the vendor must accept, one per line | The **OUR REQUIREMENTS** list in the RFQ email |
| **Extra Questions** | The details you want back, beyond rate and validity | The **PLEASE QUOTE** list in the email, and the fields on the quote page |
| **Options** | Whether the vendor may quote per port, and whether they may add their own extra charges | The shape of the quote page |

> **Requirements are per template, never site-wide.** They used to be one list shared by the whole system, which is why bag suppliers were once sent ocean freight booking conditions. Each template now carries its own, and a template with a blank Requirements box prints no requirements at all.

## How the pieces fit

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    head["Cost Head\ne.g. Bags"] -->|Quote Form Template| tpl["Quote Form Template\nPlain White PP Bags"]
    costing["Export Costing"] --> rfq["RFQ for that head"]
    head -.->|template copied onto the RFQ| rfq
    tpl --> email["Vendor email\nrequirements + questions"]
    tpl --> page["Vendor quote page\nthe same questions"]
    rfq --> email
    rfq --> page
```

The chain starts at the **Cost Head**. When you raise RFQs from a costing, each RFQ picks up whatever template its cost head points at. Change the template and every future RFQ for that cost head follows — you never edit an RFQ by hand.

## Setting one up

### 1. Point the cost head at a template

1. Go to **Cost Head** and open the head you buy this thing under — for example **Bags**.
2. Set **Quote Form Template**.
3. Save.

![The Bags cost head with its Quote Form Template set to Plain White PP Bags](/files/em-quoteforms__cost-head-wiring.png)

A cost head with a blank Quote Form Template still works — its vendors just get the plain rate-only form with no requirements and no extra questions.

### 2. Fill in the template

Open **Quote Form Template** and the template you just linked.

![The Plain White PP Bags template showing its six extra questions and its requirements](/files/em-quoteforms__template-form.png)

- **Extra Questions** — one row per detail you want back. **Label** is what the vendor reads; **Mandatory** means they cannot submit without it. Keep the list short: every question is friction between you and a quote.
- **Requirements** — one condition per line, in plain words. Leave it blank if this kind of purchase has no standing conditions.
- **Allow Port Rates** — leave OFF when the RFQ already fixes the port, or when ports are irrelevant (bags ship to your mill, not to a port).
- **Collect Misc Charges** — turn ON only where vendors genuinely have extras you want itemised, such as freight.
- **Description** is an internal note for your own team. **The vendor never sees it** — do not paste your enquiry text here expecting it to be sent.

## What the vendor gets

The same template drives both the email and the page, so they can never drift apart.

**A bag supplier** is asked about bags:

![Vendor email for a bag RFQ, listing bag conditions and bag questions](/files/em-quoteforms__email-bags.png)

**A freight forwarder**, on the very same system, is asked about freight:

![Vendor email for an ocean freight RFQ, listing booking conditions and sailing questions](/files/em-quoteforms__email-ocean.png)

Clicking **Submit Your Rate** opens their private quote page, which asks for exactly what the email promised. No login, no password.

![The vendor quote page for a bag RFQ, showing the six bag questions](/files/em-quoteforms__vendor-quote-page.png)

Whatever they fill in comes back to you as a Supplier Quotation, with their answers attached to it.

## Everyday questions

**Do I need a template for every cost head?**
No. Leave it blank wherever the plain rate-only form is enough. Add a template when a kind of purchase has questions or conditions of its own.

**I changed a template — what happens to RFQs already sent?**
Nothing. A vendor who already has your email keeps the version they received. New RFQs pick up the change.

**Can two cost heads share one template?**
Yes — **Ocean Freight** and **Sea Freight** already share the Ocean Freight template. Point as many heads at a template as you like.

**A vendor says the questions do not apply to them.**
That usually means the RFQ went out under the wrong cost head. Check which head the charge line sits on, and which template that head points at.

## Related

- [Ask Vendors for Rates (RFQs)](/setup/07-send-rfqs)
- [How Vendors Quote (no login needed)](/setup/08-vendor-quote-page)