Create Purchase Quotes for Contacts in Business Central

The public preview for Dynamics 365 Business Central 2026 release wave 1 (BC28) is now available, and there are some really useful features in this update. One that caught my attention is the ability to create purchase quotes for contacts that aren't yet associated with a vendor. If you've worked in purchasing, you know the friction here. Let me walk you through it.

The Problem This Solves

Until now, if you wanted to create a purchase quote in Business Central, you needed to have a vendor record already set up. That sounds reasonable in theory, but in practice it creates unnecessary work. Think about it: you're exploring a potential purchase from a new supplier. You're not even sure the deal will go through. But before you can even draft a quote, you have to go create a full vendor record. That's wasted effort if the purchase never materializes.

How It Works

The concept is straightforward. You can now create a purchase quote and assign it to a contact that isn't linked to any vendor. Business Central lets you fill in the quote details, add your lines, and work with the document just like you normally would. The key difference is that you don't need a vendor number to get started.

Here's the step-by-step process:

1.    Create a Purchase Quote and select a contact that isn't linked to a vendor. The Purchase Quote will be created without a Vendor No., and that's perfectly fine at this stage.

2.    Choose a vendor template if multiple templates are available. Business Central selects the template based on criteria like territory code, country/region code, and contact type. 

3.    Enter the quote details as you normally would. Add your lines, quantities, prices, and any other information you need.

4.    Release the quote or convert it to an order. At this point, Business Central automatically creates the vendor record using the template. The vendor is created only when you actually need it.