Supplier Email Templates: Quote, Order, Chase, Dispute an Invoice

Most small businesses write to suppliers from whichever address is open, and then cannot find the order confirmation when the delivery is wrong. The six templates below are written to be sent from one address, purchasing@ or office@ with accounts@ in copy on anything about money, with the purchase order number in every subject line. That number is what makes the thread findable in a year, and what makes a dispute short.

Before you write

• Pick one address for supplier correspondence and use it every time; the billing address guide explains the split between ordering and paying.
• Give every order a number, even if it is just the date and a counter, and put it in the subject line of every email about that order.
• Attach the document, state the key facts in the body anyway. Suppliers read on phones too.
• Keep the whole history. Supplier threads are evidence in a dispute and proof for the accountant; the retention guide says how long.

1. Request a quote

Subject: Quote request - [item / service] - [Company]

Hi [Name],

Could you quote for the following:

- [Item, specification, quantity]
- [Item, specification, quantity]

Delivery to [address] by [date], if possible. Please include your lead time, delivery cost, payment terms and how long the quote is valid.

If you need anything else to price it, reply here.

[Name]
[Role], [Company]
[Phone]

2. Place an order

Subject: Purchase order [PO number] - [Company]

Hi [Name],

Please accept our order, PO [number], attached and summarised here:

- [Item, quantity, agreed unit price]
- [Item, quantity, agreed unit price]
Total: [amount] excluding [tax], per your quote [reference] of [date].

Deliver to [address] by [date]. Please confirm the order and the delivery date by reply, and quote PO [number] on the invoice and the delivery note.

[Name]
[Company]

3. Chase a late delivery

Subject: PO [number] - delivery overdue

Hi [Name],

PO [number] was confirmed for delivery by [date] and has not arrived. Could you tell me today where it is and when it will be delivered?

If it cannot reach us by [new date], we will need to [cancel the order / source elsewhere / discuss a reduction], because [one line on the impact].

[Name]
[Company], [phone]

4. Reject faulty or wrong goods

Subject: PO [number] - goods rejected

Hi [Name],

The delivery for PO [number] arrived on [date]. [n] of the [items] are [damaged / not to specification / the wrong item]; photos attached and the delivery note is marked accordingly.

We are rejecting those [n] units. Please confirm by [date] whether you will [replace them by date / collect them and credit the invoice]. The rest of the order is accepted.

[Name]
[Company]

5. Dispute an invoice

Subject: Invoice [number] - query before payment

Hi [Name],

We have received invoice [number] for [amount] and cannot approve it yet because [the quantity differs from PO number / the unit price differs from quote reference / delivery was charged when the quote said included].

By our records the correct amount is [amount]; the working is attached. Could you issue a corrected invoice or a credit note? We will pay the undisputed [amount] on [date] regardless, so this does not hold up what is owed.

[Name]
Accounts, [Company]

6. Verify bank details

Subject: Confirming payment details - [Company]

Hi [Name],

Before we make [our first payment / a payment to new details], our policy is to confirm bank details by phone with a person we already know. I will call [name] on [the number we have on file] on [date] to do that.

Please do not send bank details in reply to this email; we will not act on details received by email alone. This protects you as much as us.

[Name]
Accounts, [Company]

Why the last one matters

Changed-bank-details fraud is the most common serious loss for small businesses that pay suppliers by transfer, and it arrives as a polite email from an address that looks right. Template 6 sent at the start of every supplier relationship means a later "we have changed banks" email is met with a phone call, not a payment. Say it in the accounts@ signature too.