Tips / Tip

Get three supplier quotes into one table you can compare like for like

By Michael Shreeves · 8 September 2026 · Finance · 2 min read

Three quotes. One's a PDF with a monthly price, one's an email with an annual price, and the third lists a fee for setup and one for "support" that might or might not be the same thing as the first quote's "service".

The cheapest one has sometimes just left something out.

Don't ask the AI which quote is best. Ask it to find the differences.

Below are [3] quotes for [WHAT WE'RE BUYING]. Build a comparison table
with one column per supplier and these rows:
- Price and how it's charged (one-off, monthly, annual, per user)
- Setup or onboarding costs
- What's included
- What's not mentioned that the other quotes include
- Support hours and response times
- Contract length, renewal terms, and notice to cancel
- When prices can rise, and by how much
- How long the quote is valid for
- Anything that's assumed (number of users, volumes, hours)
Use the supplier's own wording. If a quote doesn't say, write "NOT STATED".
Then list five questions to send each supplier to close the gaps.
Don't recommend one and don't calculate totals.

Quotes: [PASTE EACH, LABELLED A, B, C]

A "NOT STATED" in one column, next to a detail in another, is where you find the extra cost.

Work out the real annual cost yourself in a spreadsheet, using the same assumptions for all three: same users, same term, same extras. The AI can list the assumptions. It shouldn't do the arithmetic.

Send the questions before you shortlist, and get the answers to "is that included?" in writing.

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