Quotations and purchase orders for trading and contracting in Qatar

One chain, four documents

The quotation states the price and terms you offer. The sales order records what the customer accepted, with quantities and delivery. The invoice bills what was actually delivered or completed. The payment closes it. Each step should refer to the one before, so you can start from any document and walk back to the beginning.

Keep the numbers in each series in order. A gap in the quotation numbers shows a lost offer. A gap in the invoice numbers needs an explanation. Gaps are easy to see when numbers run in sequence and very hard to see when they do not.

Quotations for contract work

Contracting quotations carry more risk than a simple price list, because the scope can drift. Describe the work in plain lines, state what is not included, and put the payment stages on the quotation itself. When the customer asks for extra work, issue a new quotation or a clearly marked addition, and do not rely on a phone call.

• A short description of the work and what is left out.
• The payment stages and what must be finished before each one is billed.
• The validity of the offer and the delivery or completion time.
• A reference number, so the order and the later invoice can point back to it.

Purchase orders to suppliers

Never order by phone alone. A purchase order with a number, the items, the agreed price and the delivery date protects you when the shipment arrives different from what you expected. Match what arrives to the order before you accept it, and match the supplier invoice to the same order before you pay.

When goods come through a port such as Hamad Port, delays are common. Keep the expected date on the order and update it when the supplier tells you. Your customers and site managers will ask you for dates, and you will want to answer from a record and not from memory.

Following up payments from quotation to cash

Most trade and contract work is on credit, so the real question each morning is who owes what and since when. Keep a balance for each customer, built from invoices less payments and credit notes, and agree the payment terms in writing before the first order. Riyal amounts use two decimals, so a staged invoice should add up exactly to the agreed total.

Follow up on a fixed rhythm: a reminder a few days before the due date, a call on the day after, and a statement of the account when it is a week late. Be polite, specific and consistent. Customers pay people who ask clearly and regularly, and a record of each promise to pay, with a date and a name, keeps the conversation calm.

Where TAQNIX ERP fits

TAQNIX ERP is a program on a Mac that opens in the browser. It covers the chain described here: quotations, sales orders, invoices and credit notes with sequential numbers, purchase orders, payment tracking and what each customer owes, with documents in Arabic and English.

It does not include stock control, accounting for tax returns, project costing or a shipping module. It keeps the paperwork between you, your customers and your suppliers in one place.