RFQ, PO, GRN and retention in plain language

Money does not move on a fit-out because someone asked nicely. It moves along a chain of four documents, and each one proves something different. Skip one and you lose the ability to argue later — about quality, about quantity, or about what was actually agreed.

The cleanest way to learn the chain is to follow a single marble supply from the first phone call to the last payment.

The marble supply

A villa reception needs 22 square metres of Crema Marfil feature cladding. Here is the chain, end to end.

Step	Document	What it proves	Who raises it
1	RFQ — Request for Quotation	That you asked a defined question, to named suppliers, against a spec	You, the contractor
2	Quotation	What the supplier offered, at what rate, on what lead time, valid until when	The supplier
3	PO — Purchase Order	That you committed to buy the agreed thing, at the agreed price, for the agreed date	You, the contractor
4	Delivery note	What physically arrived, when, in what quantities	The supplier’s driver
5	GRN — Goods Received Note	That you checked what arrived against the order, and accepted or rejected it	Your site team
6	Invoice	What the supplier is now owed, against the accepted delivery	The supplier
7	Retention release	The final slice paid after the defects period	You, the contractor

Read the table left to right and it looks bureaucratic. Read it as a story and each document is doing one job — closing off one argument before the next can start.

RFQ — asking the question properly

The RFQ is the question you send to suppliers. Its job is to make sure every supplier is quoting the same thing, so the numbers you get back are actually comparable.

A weak RFQ says “marble for the villa, give me a price”. Three suppliers will quote three different stones, three different thicknesses, three different lead times, and you will have learned nothing.

A proper RFQ names the stone, the thickness, the finish, the square metres, the delivery address, and the date you need it. Now the only variable is the supplier’s number, and the comparison is honest.

PO — committing to buy

The quotation told you what the supplier would do. The PO is you committing to it. Until the PO is raised, nothing is ordered and no lead-time clock has started.

The PO also locks the price. Without it, the supplier can invoice at today’s rate, which on long-lead stone can move noticeably between order and delivery.

GRN — the line between their problem and yours

The GRN is the most under-used document on site, and the one that costs the most when it is skipped. It is the record of what you actually received, checked against what you ordered.

When the marble lands, the site team opens the crates before the fixing gang touches it. Right stone, right thickness, right finish, right quantity, no chipped edges. If it matches the PO, the GRN is signed and the goods are accepted. If it does not, it is rejected on the spot, the supplier is notified, and the disputed marble stays in their name.

This is the single most expensive habit on a fit-out. Stone checked on the pallet is the supplier’s problem. Stone checked on the wall is yours.

Retention — the leverage that stays until the end

Retention is the slice of each payment held back until after the defects period. Common practice is five to ten percent of the supplier’s valuation, retained and released only when the work is confirmed sound at the end of the defects liability period — often three to twelve months after handover.

It is not a penalty. It is leverage. The supplier knows the final slice is held against the small defects that always surface after the main work is done — a hollow-sounding tile, a joint that opens, a polish that dulls. Fix them, and the retention releases. Ignore them, and the client holds it.

Pay the supplier in full against each invoice and you have surrendered the only tool that makes them come back. Retention is what keeps the after-care honest.

What goes wrong when one is skipped

The chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Skip the RFQ and you cannot compare quotes honestly. Skip the PO and you cannot prove what was ordered, or lock the price. Skip the GRN and you cannot reject defective goods — you have accepted them by fixing them. Skip retention and you cannot compel the supplier to return for defects.

Each document closes one argument. Miss one, and that argument arrives later, when it is more expensive and harder to win.

What this looks like in Taskity

A purchase order is raised against a BOQ line, with a supplier, a rate, and a delivery date. When goods arrive, a goods-received entry is logged against the PO, accepting or rejecting quantity. Invoices and payments — including the retention held and later released — all attach to the same order, so the chain from request to final release is one record.

Check what you learned