Manager's Guide
Everything Procurement Managers need: the manager dashboard and KPIs, overseeing team RFQs, and reviewing purchase decisions.
What Is a Procurement Manager?
Procurement Managers have organization-wide visibility and control in Buyer24. While buyers focus on their own requests, managers can see and act on all RFQs across the team, manage supplier relationships, and monitor procurement performance. The role is typically held by procurement team leads, senior buyers responsible for oversight, or procurement directors.
What managers can do:
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| View all org RFQs | See every request created by any buyer in the organization |
| Manage any RFQ | Edit, archive, or take over any request — not just your own |
| Contact suppliers | Send messages on any active RFQ |
| Manage supplier directory | Add, edit, and remove suppliers and contacts |
| Access manager dashboard | View KPIs, activity feeds, and team performance metrics |
| Review purchases | Take action on RFQs flagged for review (e.g., budget overruns) |
| Create your own RFQs | Managers can also act as buyers when needed |
Managers cannot invite or remove users, change user roles, or modify organization-wide settings — those are Admin capabilities. See Understanding Roles for the full role comparison.
Tip: Managers also receive the team variant of the daily digest email — a morning summary of activity and open items across the whole team, not just your own RFQs.
The Manager Dashboard
The Manager Dashboard (click Dashboard in the sidebar) gives you a real-time overview of your organization's procurement activity: KPI cards at the top, an activity feed of recent events across all RFQs, and supplier and buyer performance metrics.
KPI Cards
| KPI | Description |
|---|---|
| Active RFQs | Total number of currently active (non-draft, non-archived) requests |
| Quotes Received | Number of supplier quotes received in the current period |
| Avg. Response Time | Average time from RFQ send to first supplier reply (in hours) |
| Completion Rate | Percentage of RFQs that moved from active to archived in the period |
| Spend Pipeline | Total value of active RFQs (sum of budgets) |
| Supplier Response Rate | Percentage of contacted suppliers who replied within the deadline |
Filter KPIs by time period (last 7, 30, or 90 days, or a custom range) using the date selector at the top.
Activity Feed and Performance
The activity feed streams events across all organization RFQs — quotes received, supplier messages, comparisons generated, new RFQs, status changes, and approaching deadlines. Click any item to jump to the RFQ.
The supplier performance section shows response rate, average quote turnaround, on-time delivery rate, and quote win rate per supplier — use it to spot unreliable vendors and recognize top performers. The buyer performance section shows RFQs created, completion rate, average cycle time, and quotes collected per team member — useful for spotting stalled workloads and coaching opportunities.
You can export dashboard data to CSV or PDF via the Export button (top-right).
Overseeing Team RFQs
As a manager, the Requests page shows all RFQs from all buyers — not just your own. Use the status views (Active, Draft, Archive, Deleted, Starred) and the filter bar to narrow down:
| Filter | Options |
|---|---|
| Buyer | Filter by the user who created the RFQ |
| Priority | Low, Medium, High, Urgent |
| Deadline | Overdue, Today, This week, Custom range |
| Status | Active, Draft, Archived, Stalled |
| Supplier | RFQs that involve a specific supplier |
You can take the same actions on any organization RFQ that a buyer would on their own: reply to supplier messages, edit details (subject, budget, deadline, priority), add a supplier the buyer missed, generate a quote comparison, archive, or star.
Internal Notes
You can add internal notes to any RFQ — visible to your team, never sent to suppliers. Open the RFQ, select Internal Note in the message composer, type, and save. Use notes to leave context for buyers about next steps, flag something for review, or record decisions.
Stepping In for a Buyer
If a buyer is unavailable or has left the team, you can manage their RFQs directly — send messages, update details, manage suppliers. There is currently no explicit "reassign" feature: the original buyer remains the owner, but managers can take any action on the request.
Stalled RFQs
An RFQ is considered stalled when it has had no activity for more than 7 days (configurable). Stalled RFQs are highlighted on the dashboard and in the Requests list. To unblock one: review the last activity, then either send a supplier follow-up, add an internal note for the buyer, or archive it if it's no longer needed.
Prioritizing the Team's Work
- Deadline within 48 hours — high urgency; the buyer may need support
- No quotes received after 5+ days — suppliers may not have responded; follow up
- Multiple suppliers contacted, only one replied — chase the others
- Budget overrun — received quotes exceed the set budget; review before proceeding
Tip: Sort the Requests list by Deadline (ascending) to see the most urgent requests first.
Reviewing Purchases
Buyer24 helps you stay in control of purchase decisions through a combination of budget alerts, internal notes, and direct manager action.
Budget Overruns
When a received quote exceeds the RFQ's set budget, the RFQ is automatically flagged, the buyer is notified, and managers see the flag in the Requests list and dashboard feed. To review: open the flagged RFQ, check the Quotes tab, compare the quoted price against the budget, then either approve the overrun (leave an internal note confirming it), ask the buyer to negotiate, or add an alternative supplier for a competing quote.
Reviewing Quotes Before a Decision
When a buyer asks you to review quotes:
- Open the RFQ from the Requests list or the dashboard activity feed
- Click the Quotes tab to see all received quotes
- If a comparison hasn't been generated yet, click Generate Comparison (requires at least 2 quotes) — the report includes side-by-side pricing, delivery dates, payment terms, and an AI-written recommendation
- Add an internal note with your decision — e.g., "Approved — proceed with Supplier A" or "Get one more quote from Supplier C before deciding"
The buyer sees your note in the thread.
Escalations
For purchases above a value threshold that need additional sign-off (e.g., from a director or finance), Buyer24 does not yet have a built-in multi-level approval chain. Manage escalations manually: record that escalation is needed in an internal note, get the approval externally, then add a confirmation note so the buyer can proceed. Formal approval chains with configurable thresholds are not yet available.
Reviewing on Mobile
Notification emails and alerts link directly to the RFQ in the mobile-optimized Buyer24 app — review the quote details and comparison, add your internal note, and the buyer sees your response when they next open the RFQ. Configure which events alert you in Alerts & Notifications.