Vendor Sourcing in Ramp Procurement

Overview

Early Access. Your business must opt in before this feature becomes available. See Enable Sourcing from What's new for enrollment steps.

Vendor Sourcing lets you run structured sourcing events to evaluate and compare vendors before starting a procurement request. You create a sourcing event, build a questionnaire (RFI, RFP, or RFQ), invite vendors to respond, and use AI-assisted grading to compare their answers side by side. Once you select a winner, the awarded vendor transitions directly into the procurement intake flow.

Sourcing events support AI-generated questionnaires, NDA signing via DocuSign, weighted section scoring, and a Vendor Portal where invited vendors submit their responses.

Prerequisites and access

Vendor Sourcing is currently in Early Access and requires opt-in before it becomes available. To use Vendor Sourcing, your business needs:

An active Procurement Add-on subscription or free trial
The Sourcing feature enabled from What's new — see Enable Sourcing from What's new below
A Sourcing permission assigned to your role. Business Owners and Admins have Manage Sourcing and Administrate Sourcing by default when the feature is enabled. A Custom Role can have the same permissions. To assign permissions to another role, see Customizing Roles and Permissions .

Vendor Sourcing is not available for businesses on the GovCloud environment.

Enable sourcing from What's new

Businesses with the Procurement Add-on (active subscription or free trial) can enable Sourcing directly — no need to contact Sales or Support.

Go to What's new.
Find the Sourcing tile and toggle it on.

Note: The Sourcing tile only appears for businesses with an active Procurement Add-on subscription or free trial. If you do not see it, confirm that your business has the Procurement Add-on.

Enabling Sourcing is a business-level setting. Once enabled, users with Sourcing permissions can access the parts of the feature that their role permits.

Create a sourcing event

A sourcing event is the top-level container for your vendor evaluation process. Each sourcing event contains exactly one RFX (Request for Information, Request for Proposal, or Request for Quotation).

Use the AI chat (recommended)

Navigate to Sourcing under Manage spend in the left sidebar, select New event , and begin talking with the AI chat.
Describe what you are looking to buy. For example: "Create an RFP for contract management software" or "Help me source an AI note-taking tool for customer calls."
The AI assistant generates a sourcing event with sections and questions based on your description. You can continue the conversation to refine the questionnaire, add vendors, or adjust details.

Start from scratch

Go to Sourcing under Manage spend in the left sidebar.
Select New event, then choose Start from scratch.
Enter the event name and, optionally, an estimated cost. You can enter one amount or a range and select the currency.
Build the questionnaire manually, or select Upload to replace form to upload one file up to 50 MB.
Select Save to create the event and RFX.

Build the RFX questionnaire

The RFX questionnaire is organized into sections, each containing one or more questions. Sections can be reordered by dragging, and questions can be reordered within sections.

RFX fields

RFX name — the title vendors see when they receive the questionnaire
Cover sheet — a rich-text description shared with vendors that provides context about the sourcing event
Supporting materials — upload up to 20 files (50 MB each) as reference documents for vendors

Enable the pricing sheet

To request structured pricing from vendors, go to Pricing in the RFX builder and enable Collect pricing from vendors. When enabled, configure:

Currency — the currency for all vendor-submitted pricing line items (defaults to USD).
Instructions — a rich-text description of what you want vendors to price. For example: "Please include per-seat licensing costs, one-time implementation fees, and ongoing support/maintenance. We're evaluating for approximately 500 seats over a 3-year term."

Collect pricing from vendors is enabled by default when creating a new RFX. You can turn it off if you don't need structured pricing for a particular request.

Note: Once the RFX is published, pricing settings (currency and instructions) are locked and cannot be changed or disabled. See Request vendor pricing for the full pricing workflow.

Supported question types

Type	Description
Text	Short free-text response
Paragraph	Long-form text response
Number	Numeric value
Boolean	Yes or No response
Date	Date picker
Single select	Choose one option from a list
Multi select	Choose multiple options from a list
File upload	Vendor uploads a document or file
Link	URL input
Email	Email address input
Contact	Contact information
Address	Physical address

You can also add questions from your organization's Global Question Library. Library questions appear with a lock icon and their type cannot be changed.

Section weights and grading

To enable weighted scoring, toggle Assign collaborators to grade sections on the RFX form. When enabled:

Each section receives a weight as a percentage. Weights across all sections must total exactly 100%.
Use Distribute evenly to auto-balance weights, or set them manually.
Each weighted section must have at least one grader assigned.

If weighted scoring is not enabled, Ramp uses AI-suggested grades that are automatically accepted on the event owner's behalf.

Invite vendors

You can invite between 1 and 10 vendors to a single RFX. Each vendor can only be invited once per RFX.

On the RFX detail page, go to Overview.
Click Add vendors.
Select an existing vendor from your business, or click New vendor to create a provisional vendor that does not yet exist in your system.
Select or add a vendor contact with a valid email address. This is the person who will receive the invitation and fill out the questionnaire.
Click Add .

Note: Vendor invitations are not sent until you publish the RFX. In draft, you are building your vendor list.

Managing vendors

After adding vendors:

Remove a vendor — available while the RFX is in Draft. Removes the vendor from the invitation list entirely.
Revoke an invitation — available after publishing. The vendor can no longer access the questionnaire and sees a notice that they have been removed as a candidate.
Change vendor contact — available at any time. Updates which person at the vendor company receives the invitation.
Send reminders — send response reminders to vendors who have not yet submitted.

Publish the RFX

Publishing the RFX sends invitations to all vendors and opens the questionnaire for responses.

On the RFX detail page, click Review before publishing.
Set the required dates:

RSVP due — deadline for vendors to accept or decline the invitation
Responses due — deadline for vendors to submit their completed questionnaire. Must be on or after RSVP due.

Optionally configure an approval workflow. If enabled, the RFX must be approved before it is published.
Optionally require an NDA (see NDA and eSign integration ).
Click Publish .

Publishing requires:

Between 1 and 10 vendors invited
An RSVP due date and a responses due date set
All section titles must be unique and non-empty
No other published RFX already active in the same sourcing event

Your business must have a DBA (Doing Business As) name configured before invited vendors can view the RFX content. See Edit company details to review how company details are managed.

Once published, the RFX status changes from Draft to Open. Each invited vendor receives an email invitation with a link to the Vendor Portal.

Request vendor pricing

When you enable pricing collection on an RFX, vendors must submit structured pricing alongside their questionnaire responses. Vendors submit pricing as individual line items — either entered manually or extracted automatically from uploaded documents — so you can compare vendor-confirmed costs side by side.

How vendors submit pricing

When pricing is enabled, vendors see a Pricing step in the questionnaire flow (before the final review step). The vendor sees your pricing guidance and the required currency at the top of the step.

Vendors can add pricing line items in two ways:

Manual entry — Add line items directly by entering a description, unit price, quantity, and billing frequency (total, monthly, quarterly, or annual). This works the same way as line items on purchase orders.
Upload documents — Upload pricing documents such as quotes, invoices, spreadsheets, or PDFs. Ramp automatically extracts line items from the uploaded documents using AI. The vendor can review, edit, reorder, or delete the extracted rows before submitting.

Vendors can also add optional pricing notes for additional context, save their progress as a draft and return later, and upload multiple documents (extracted line items are additive — they do not replace existing items).

Note: At least one complete pricing line item (description, unit price, quantity, and frequency) is required when pricing is enabled. Once submitted, pricing and questionnaire answers cannot be edited.

Compare vendor pricing

After vendors submit their responses, the Pricing tab shows an AI-generated summary with annualized cost rows and a pricing table for each vendor. The tables include submitted line items, pricing notes, and attached documents.

Note: AI-derived cost estimates are provided for comparison purposes only. They are clearly labeled as AI-generated and include any assumptions made. The vendor-confirmed line items are always the source of truth.

How pricing flows into procurement

When you award an RFX to a vendor, their confirmed pricing line items and notes are automatically carried forward as structured context into the procurement intake process. Ramp AI uses the vendor-confirmed line items to suggest line items for the procurement request. You or your procurement team make final edits and approvals on the generated spend request.

Vendor response collection

After publishing, vendors go through this process:

Receive invitation — vendor receives an email with the RFX name, type, sourcing event name, and deadlines.
RSVP — vendor accepts or declines the invitation. If an NDA is required, the vendor must sign it via DocuSign before accessing the questionnaire.
Complete the questionnaire — vendor fills out each section in the Vendor Portal. Vendors can save as draft and return later. If pricing is enabled on the RFX, the vendor must also complete the Pricing step by entering line items manually or uploading pricing documents. See Request vendor pricing for details.
Submit — vendor reviews their responses and submits before the deadline.

You can track vendor status on Overview. Each vendor has one of these status badges:

Waiting for RSVP — vendors who have not yet accepted or declined
Participating — vendors who accepted and are actively responding or have submitted
Not participating — vendors who declined or whose invitation was revoked
Responded — vendors who submitted their responses

Vendor clarifications

Vendors can submit clarification questions about the RFX. As the event owner, you can respond and choose whether each clarification is visible to all invited vendors (public) or only to the vendor who asked (private).

Grade and compare responses

Ramp uses AI to generate initial scores for each vendor response on a 1–5 scale:

Score	Meaning
5	Exceptional response that thoroughly addresses the question with specific, relevant details
4	Strong response that addresses most aspects of the question well
3	Adequate response that meets basic requirements but lacks depth
2	Below average response that partially addresses the question or is vague
1	Poor response that fails to adequately address the question

When multiple vendors respond, AI scoring is comparative — scores reflect relative quality across vendor answers. When only one vendor responds, scoring is based on absolute quality.

AI grading behavior

AI grading behaves differently depending on whether you enabled the Assign collaborators to grade sections toggle during RFX setup:

Toggle off (default): AI grades are automatically accepted as the final scores. No manual review is required. The RFX transitions to Graded once all vendor responses have been scored.
Toggle on (manual grading): AI grades become suggestions only. Assigned graders must review each AI-suggested score and either accept it or override it with their own score before the grades are finalized.

In both modes, AI-graded answers display a reasoning tooltip explaining why the score was assigned.

Comparison view

The Responses tab on the RFX detail page shows a side-by-side comparison grid with:

One column per vendor
Section rows with per-vendor section scores
Question rows with each vendor's answer and a 1–5 score badge

The grading page provides a side-by-side view where graders can compare vendor answers to each question and assign or adjust scores.

Grading insights

After grading is complete, Ramp generates an AI recommendation card on the Responses tab that identifies a recommended vendor and explains the recommendation.

Award a vendor

After all responses are graded, the RFX status changes to Graded and you can award a vendor.

On the RFX detail page, click Award.
Select the winning vendor. The AI-recommended vendor is pre-selected. If there is no AI recommendation, the top-scored vendor is pre-selected. You can choose any vendor who submitted a response.
Click Award vendor to confirm.
On the RFX detail page, click Create request.
Select a Procurement program to start the procurement intake flow with the awarded vendor pre-filled.

Note: Ramp never auto-awards a vendor. All vendor selections require explicit user action. If an award approval workflow is configured for the sourcing event, the award must be approved before it is finalized.

If pricing was enabled on the RFX, the awarded vendor's confirmed pricing line items and notes are carried forward as structured context into the procurement request. See How pricing flows into procurement.

When a vendor is awarded:

The awarded vendor receives an award notification email.
Participating non-awarded vendors receive a notification that they were not selected.
The RFX is automatically closed.
The sourcing event status changes to Awarded.

NDA and eSign integration

You can require vendors to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) before they can access the RFX questionnaire. This uses DocuSign integration.

During the publish step , enable the NDA requirement.
Select a DocuSign template. The template must have exactly one signer role and at least one signature tab.
When a vendor accepts the RFX invitation, a DocuSign envelope is automatically sent to their contact email.
The vendor must complete the NDA signing before they can view or respond to the questionnaire.

If you revoke a vendor's invitation, any pending DocuSign envelope is automatically voided.

To use the NDA feature, your business must have the DocuSign integration connected.

Permissions

Vendor Sourcing uses four permission levels:

Permission	What it allows
View Sourcing	View sourcing events available to you
Draft Sourcing	Create and edit draft sourcing events available to you
Manage Sourcing	Create and manage your own sourcing events and RFXs
Administrate Sourcing	Full access to all sourcing events across the business (requires Manage Sourcing)

Within a sourcing event, users have one of three roles:

Owner — full control of the sourcing event and all its RFXs. Automatically assigned to the user who creates the event.
Collaborator — assigned per RFX. Can edit the form and vendors while in Draft, and has read-only access after publishing.
Grader — assigned to specific sections. Reviews and scores vendor responses for their assigned sections. Graders are automatically granted Collaborator access to the RFX.

Frequently asked questions

How do I enable Sourcing for my business?

Sourcing is in Early Access. If your business has the Procurement Add-on, go to What's new and toggle on the Sourcing tile. See Enable Sourcing from What's new for details.

Why don't I see the Sourcing tile in What's new?

The Sourcing tile only appears for businesses with an active Procurement Add-on subscription or free trial. If your business does not have the Procurement Add-on, the tile is not visible. Contact your Account Manager to add the Procurement Add-on to your plan.

How many vendors can I invite to a sourcing event?

You can invite between 1 and 10 vendors per RFX. Each vendor can only be invited once per RFX.

Can I have multiple RFXs in one sourcing event?

No. Each sourcing event contains exactly one RFX.

What happens if a vendor misses the response deadline?

Vendors cannot submit responses after the response submission deadline has passed. The vendor sees a notice that the deadline has closed.

Can vendors edit their response after submitting?

Vendors can redact their submitted response. They cannot edit a submitted response directly.

Can I use Vendor Sourcing without AI grading?

AI grading runs automatically when vendors submit responses. If you enable manual scoring, assigned graders can review and adjust the AI-suggested grades before they are finalized. You cannot disable AI grading entirely, but manual scoring gives graders full control over final scores.

What RFX types are available?

Three types: RFI (Request for Information), RFQ (Request for Quote), and RFP (Request for Proposal). The type determines default response timelines and sets vendor expectations about the scope of the evaluation.

Why can I not publish my RFX?

Publishing requires between 1 and 10 vendors, an RSVP due date, a responses due date, unique non-empty section titles, and no other active RFX in the same sourcing event. Check each of these if Review before publishing is disabled.

What happens to non-awarded vendors after an award?

Participating non-awarded vendors receive an email notification that they were not selected. The RFX closes and no further responses or changes can be made.

Can I require vendors to submit pricing with their RFX response?

Yes. When you enable Collect pricing from vendors in the RFX builder, pricing becomes a required step for vendors — they must submit at least one complete pricing line item before they can submit their response.

What currencies are supported for vendor pricing?

You select a single currency when setting up the pricing sheet. All vendors submit pricing in that currency. USD is the default.

Can vendors upload their own pricing documents instead of entering line items manually?

Yes. Vendors can upload quotes, invoices, spreadsheets, or PDFs, and Ramp will automatically extract line items from those documents. Vendors can review and edit the extracted items before submitting. They can also add items manually alongside uploaded documents.

Can I edit the pricing settings after publishing an RFX?

No. Once an RFX is published, the pricing currency and instructions are locked.

How accurate are the AI pricing comparisons?

The AI comparison provides estimates to help you evaluate vendors side by side. Estimates include the assumptions used and are labeled as AI-generated. Always refer to the vendor-confirmed line items as the authoritative source for pricing decisions.